I've been test driving some Thanksgiving recipes lately. Most of them are for dining with a big group, as that's how most of us spend the holiday. In fact, it's how I myself will be spending the holiday, in New York with all my in-laws and my mom. But for the test drives it was just me and Jon eating, so I wanted to make a small enough amount that we wouldn't be eating leftovers until actual Thanksgiving.
One dish I wanted to try out was the Bacon-Sage-Caramelized Onion-Apple Stuffing from The New Best Recipe. But we're going to be cooking the turkey unstuffed this year, so I needed to practice the outside the bird version of stuffing, which when you think about it shouldn't really even be called stuffing, since it's not stuffing anything. My dad's family calls it "dressing." In fact almost everything except the turkey and mashed potatoes was called "dressing" at my grandparents' house. Cranberry dressing (that cranberry jelly that retains the shape of the can). Oyster dressing (non-stuffed stuffing, with oysters in it). Regular dressing (without oysters). The only thing that "dressing" did not refer to was salad dressing, because they didn't serve salad on Thanksgiving.. But there were things that were called salad, even though they were not. Like jello molds made of lime jello, pineapples and cottage cheese.
I don't think I'll be adopting that particular Morgan family tradition, but I will go ahead and use the d-word for my downsized bread casserole. This recipe turned out absolutely delicious. As they say on Iron Chef, anything with bacon is pretty much guaranteed to be good. And caramelized onions are one of my other go-to flourishes that I try to sneak into every recipe, so it was bound to be good. A new Thanksgiving favorite. Now I only hope my in-laws will like it as much as Jon and I did!
Bacon-Sage-Caramelized Onion-Apple Dressing
Adapted from The New Best Recipe
Ingredients:
4 slices hearty white bread, left out overnight to stale (or toasted for 25 minutes in a 300 degree oven) and diced into 1/2 inch cubes.
3 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
pinch of ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped fine
1 Tablespoon fresh sage leaves, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon butter, plus more for greasing pan.
Instructions:
Cook the bacon in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp and browned, about 12 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of the rendered fat.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook the onions unil golden in color, making sure to stir occasionally and scrape the sides and bottom of the pan, about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring more often to prevent burning, until the oinions are deep golden brown, another 5 minutes. Add the apples and cook 5 minutes. Transfer the contents to a bowl.
Add the pepper, parsley, and sage to the bowl and mix to combine. Add the bread cubes.
Whisk the egg together with the broth in a small bowl. Pour the mixture over the bread cubes. Gently toss to distribute the ingredients evenly.
Transfer the mixture to a well-buttered small casserole or baking pan. Dot with pats of butter. Cover with a piece of foil that has been smeared with butter. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes, remove the foil, and
continue to bake until a golden brown crust forms, about 15 minutes longer.
Serves 2
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Posted by: Moon | 08/19/2010 at 09:22 AM