Herbed Bread Stuffing (or Dressing)

Enough for an 18-pound bird. May be cooked inside the bird or in a baking dish on the side.

Serves 10

Ingredients

About 10 cups good quality, country-style white bread (such as paesano bread), diced into 1/2-inch cubes (1 large loaf)

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks)

1 1/2 cups large-dice yellow onion

1 1/2 cups diced cremini mushroooms (diced small)

1 cup diced celery (diced small)

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon coarse salt (or half this amount if using table salt)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup lightly salted Giblet Broth, not hot (or chicken broth)

1 egg

1 Tablespoon minced thyme

1 Tablespoon minced sage

3/4 cup minced parsley

3/4 cup thinly sliced scallions

Instructions

1. Dry out the cubed bread, either by letting it sit out for a day or two, or in the oven. Either way, spread the diced bread in one layer on 2 or more rimmed baking sheets. If using the oven, preheat to 275 degrees, then dry the bread on the baking sheets in the oven for about 20 minutes. (Keep an eye on things - you want the bread to dry out but not brown.)

Cubed bread for stuffing, spread out on a baking sheet to dry out.

2. Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions, mushrooms and celery and saute until tender, about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute another minute, until fragrant.

3. Remove bread from oven and increase temperature to 350 degrees. Add the diced bread to the pan and stir to combine all ingredients. Season with the salt and pepper.

4. Whisk the egg into the giblet broth and stir into the bread mixture. 

5. Add the thyme, sage, parsley and scallions and stir to combine. When the mixture has begun to simmer, taste a piece of bread add more salt and/or pepper if needed.

6. If using as stuffing (cooked inside the turkey): fill the body and neck cavities loosely with stuffing. (Stuffing too tightly packed will significantly lengthen cooking time for your turkey). Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the stuffing in the body cavity registers 165 degrees.

7. If using as dressing (cooked outside the turkey): pour into a baking dish with a lid, cover and bake for 30 minutes, until bubbling.