is it stuffing or is it dressing?

Grandma always put the turkey livers and gizzards in her stuffing/dressing. It was what made it hers. Mom says my uncle used to try to swipe the finely chopped bits from the kids’ plates, but we all liked them, too. In the giant pan they were tiny treasures to those who enjoyed the surprise texture and flavor they added to Grandma’s stuffing/dressing.

It was the second Thanksgiving dinner I ever prepared and I had learned my lesson: Get help. Hubby’s great about these things and had no problem taking over the bird AND the stuffing/dressing. He got recipes from his mom and made them his own (“Just say ‘NO!’ to celery,” Hubby says.) and my Mom has raved about his stuffing/dressing ever since. It was then that her secret came out: She had never cared for her mother’s recipe … all because of the same ingredient everyone always raved about! And that leads to this point: It is impossible to 100 percent satisfy the many palettes you will try to please next Thursday. Have fun in the creating and keep a little voice in the back of your head: “Taste’s good to me!”

So, the first of these stuffing/dressing recipes is my husband’s … except for the celery. Usually he has me chop one rib just so people can see it there. :) The second recipe is one that was shared with me for a story I did several years ago for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

For more than 30 years Julius Hunter brought St. Louisans the local evening news. Before his retirement he agreed to be featured in the Food Section for Thanksgiving. It was the beginning of friendship that still brings me surprise phone calls or e-mails … each with a new tip or culinary creation he has to share. This cornbread-sausage stuffing has been done in his family for years. Aside from Thanksgiving, Hunter says it’s wonderful with pork chops or in the center of a crown roast. “But nothing, absolutely nothing under the sun is better than this stuff with eggs,” Hunter says. You can bet that next Friday morning he’ll be enjoying it topped with two eggs over easy.

Old-Fashioned Dressing
3 sticks butter or margarine
1 cup finely chopped onion
3-4 cups finely chopped celery
1 Tbsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
12 cups (about one loaf) fresh-white-bread cubed

Melt ½ cup butter in skillet over low heat. Add onion and celery; sauté until golden—about 10 minutes. Toss lightly with rest of dressing ingredients in large bowl just until mixed. Spoon dressing into neck cavity. Bring skin of neck over back; fasten with poultry pin. Spoon dressing into body cavity. Be careful not to pack it. Insert about 5 poultry pins, at regular intervals, to draw body opening together. With long piece of twine, lace cavity closed, bootlace fashion; tie with knot. Bake any leftovers in a covered casserole. Keep a can of chicken broth nearby to add to stuffing a little at a time in case it begins to dry out in casserole pan.

Julius Hunter’s Cornbread-Sausage Stuffing
This recipe has been updated from what Hunter’s grandmother, Hattie Coates, taught him years ago. For a more festive stuffing, Hunter uses 1 cup red bell pepper and 1 cup green bell pepper. And for a more cake-like texture, use two eggs in the breadcrumbs. Temper the stuffing by choosing your favorite sausage. Hunter enjoys spicy food and so usually uses hot sausage. “I say go for it,” he says. “It shouldn’t overwhelm the turkey, but it should be flavorful.”

2 cups coarsely chopped onion
2 cups coarsely chopped celery
2 cups coarsely chopped green bell pepper
4 cloves peeled, chopped garlic
1 pound pork sausage
¼ cup olive oil
Sage to taste (Hunter uses about 3 Tbsps.)
1 Tbsp. pepper
1 tsp. oregano
2 cups herbed, seasoned stuffing (white and wheat bread crumbs)
2 cups corn bread stuffing
1 level tsp. baking powder
1 egg
3 cups turkey broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sautee vegetables and garlic in olive oil until the onions are transparent. At the same time, crumble the sausage into a separate pan and brown. Combine vegetables and sausage. Add sage, pepper and oregano to the vegetables. Mix well. Cover and turn off heat. Let steam 7-10 minutes. While vegetables steam, combine breadcrumbs, egg and baking powder until egg is absorbed. Add the sausage-veggie mixture to the breadcrumb mixture and mix well. Slowly stir in broth until the bread is just moistened. Let stand about 15 minutes so broth can be absorbed. Place in a greased, 9x13 pan. Bake about 1 hour or until the sides and bottom are brown and bubbling. The stuffing should rebound when you poke it with your finger.