The stuffing tradition in most families seems to be that one either loves or loathes the particular recipe and searches (usually in vain) for a replacement. My family dressing has evolved over the years, but I love it more than any other part of the turkey dinner menu. It’s a very wet oyster and onion rendition that’s become richer over the years as I tweaked it, but like nearly all of its brethren, not everyone is wild about it.
One year we had someone with a shellfish allergy coming for Thanksgiving, and it was time for a second one, to be cooked outside the turkey. I found this James Beard recipe, simple, indulgent in the amount of butter, and, if you let them pick out the pine nuts, tolerable to almost all but the pickiest of eaters. It also soaks up gravy really well.
If you don’t own a kitchen scale (although in this day and age of dieting, more folks do than ever), take a loaf of bread over to the produce section in your supermarket and weigh it there, so you can figure out how much of the loaf you’ll need.
The Alternate Dressing
8 or 9 oz. French or Italian bread
½ lb. (2 sticks) butter
1 ½ c. chopped green onions, white onions or shallots
½ c. pine nuts (called pinons in Spanish)
1 Tbs. chopped fresh sage or tarragon or 1 tsp. dried sage or tarragon
½ c. minced parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Tear bread into chunks and put them into the bowl of your food processor. (You may have to do this in batches.) Pulse until you have coarse crumbs, no smaller than a pea and preferably larger.
Melt the butter in a large skillet, Dutch oven or flameproof casserole over medium heat. Add the green onions, onions or shallots and cook, stirring once in a while, until they soften. Add nuts and cook, stirring almost constantly until they begin to brown.
Add bread crumbs and tarragon or sage and toss to mix well. Add parsley, salt and pepper, continuing to toss. Re-check seasoning and adjust as needed.
Bake in the same pan or in another container for about 30 minutes, until the top is browned. You may also stuff a bird with this, of course.
Makes 6-8 cups, enough for a 12-pound bird.
–Ann