Delicious Thanksgiving Stuffing

One of the favorite dishes served at our Thanksgiving or Holiday feasts, is my husband's delicious stuffing! Each bite is definitely a true symphony of flavors all combined in one.

Prep work:

First step is to preheat the oven to 350°- 375°F. Before placing the stuffing into the oven, make sure to check the internal temperature with an infrared thermometer by pointing it on the stone inside the cooking chamber.

Ingredients:

• 2 large loaves of bread cubed
• giblets found inside the cavity of the turkey -optional- (neck, gizzard, liver and heart)
• 2-3 fresh sage leaves
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs
• a handful of fresh chopped parsley
• 3-4 garlic cloves minced
• 2 medium onions minced
• 3 large carrots minced
• 3-4 celery stalks minced
• 1 to 2 apples chopped
• cayenne pepper -optional-
• 8 cups chicken broth -about 2 liters-
• salt to taste
• 4 Tablespoons olive oil or enough to coat the bottom of the frying pan and to drizzle on top of the stuffing before baking
• 1/2 stick butter to add to the oil in the frying pan

Instructions:

Remove the giblets from the turkey and simmer everything in a pot of salted water. This broth you can use to moisten the stuffing before baking. You can also use the broth to make the gravy when you serve your Thanksgiving feast.

Choose fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme. I love to pick mine from our garden. Nothing better than fresh herbs.

Cayenne pepper is a great addition to the stuffing.

Surprisingly my husband has always added one or two apples to the mixture. The result is in no way overpowering, but rather delicious!

Mince the rosemary, sage and thyme. The aroma and flavor of these fresh herbs will add such depth to this dish.

Wash and set aside the fresh parsley, onions, carrots and celery.

Mince the celery with a sharp knife.

Mince the carrots.

Mince the sweet onions.

Press the fresh garlic in the garlic press and add it to the other ingredients.. Love this awesome utensil!

Chop the apples into small pieces. The apples will dissolve in the bread mixture once baked.

Mince the cayenne pepper with a good knife, but make sure to wash your hands as the peppers are very hot.

Sauté the onions and the garlic in a hot frying pan with a good drizzle of olive oil.

Add the minced carrots and celery to the frying pan and allow to sauté until everything caramelizes.

Add the chopped celery to the other ingredients and allow everything to sizzle a while longer.

Now add the chopped apples as you continue stirring and scrape bottom of pan with anything caramelizing and sticking.

Dice the day old bread into cubes.

Place the mixture from the frying pan over the bread.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the broth over the bread and the rest of the ingredients.

Drizzle olive oil over all the ingredients and thoroughly mix with your hands.

Now you can place some of the stuffing inside both ends of the turkey. The rest of the stuffing can be put into an oven proof dish.

One of the great advantages of the Fontana Gusto wood-fired oven, is that you can bake several dishes at the same time. Mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, are baked at the same time as the bread stuffing.

The dishes are finally ready to be pulled out of the oven and served.

If you have chosen to place some of the stuffing inside the turkey, immediately remove it from the bird once it has been taken out of the oven . Place it on a serving dish and enjoy! You know the turkey is cooked when the internal temperature of the bird reaches 165°F.

What is your favorite way to prepare stuffing?

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