Monday, December 19, 2011

Dressing for the Turkey

It seems that everyone has their own "family/favourite" dressing recipe.  My Mom's dressing recipe was probably handed down from her mom and so on.  In fact, there never was a "written down" recipe - she just knew how to make it and I was lucky enough to be with her one Christmas while she was making it.  I helped her cube the bread and she warned me "don't make the cubes too small" as I was cutting narrow strips.  I wrote down the ingredients and approx. measurements as we went along because I wanted to add this recipe to my collection.  Here is how I remember her making this tasty dressing that my family loves!  There is a secret ingredient that makes this dressing taste unique and wonderful - O.K. I'll tell you - it's the cinnamon!



Mom's Turkey Dressing

Turkey Dressing (for a 10-15 pound turkey)
2 Loaves stale bread – cubed (homemade style bread that comes from our local bakery is best - as in bread that actually goes stale)
½ Cup Lard (can be substituted with oil but mom always used lard)
½ Cup Butter – heat lard first and then add the butter
Add in:
1 Tbsp. Salt
some seasoned salt
½ tsp. Cinnamon (the secret ingredient that gives it that special Mom flavour)!
Pepper
1 Cup Chopped onion
1 Cup Chopped celery
Sauté above ingredients till onion and celery are softened (not browned).
Add in:
Cubed bread – stir over low heat till bread is moistened
Add parsley (approx. 2 Tbsp. Fresh chopped parsley)
Blend together 2-3 Cups milk and 2 beaten eggs.  Add this to the dressing stirring constantly.  You may add a bit of water if more moisture is needed.  Heat through.
Mom warned that you should stuff the turkey for immediate roasting or bake the dressing in a greased casserole dish.  Dressing will go sour if not baked immediately.
I sometimes put this right into my crock pot or casserole dish and freeze it until turkey day.  I then bake it in the crock pot or oven, adding some of the turkey broth to remoisten.

6 comments:

  1. It sounds exactly like my Mom's recipe! We must be related! :)
    I made my mom write down approx. amounts as well, and I make it for my little family too.

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  2. Rosella, I am enjoying your blog so much, your recipes have been wonderful, so surprized that your mom's dressing has no poultry seasoning or sage, still sounds really yummy and very rich. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Years, and about the big 60...I'm not to sure about mine in February, I guess will have to take some time to ponder it...yikes! Your friend Theresa, not sure how to put my profile in, duh

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  3. Hi Rosella!
    I saw your name on Judy's comments and had to come over to say hello as I know a few Rosella's.

    Your recipes are wonderful! I never heard of adding cinnamon to turkey dressing but I will try it next time as I love cinnamon!

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  4. Hey Rosella, my mom made this too! LOVE IT!! except she never used eggs... I will try have to try it with it.

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  5. Rosella, I am intrigued with how you make your dressing in a crock pot. Do you mind giving more instructions on how you do this? Medium or High heat? How many hours? Can you hold it for a period of time on warm? I'd like to try this recipe for Christmas. Thanks for any help!

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous - I hope you see this. I just noticed your comment/question. I usually make the dressing ahead and then freeze it right in the crockpot till the day of the dinner. Bake in the crock pot on high (moistened with a bit of turkey or chicken broth) for about 4 hours. Then turn it to low till dinner time - approx. another 4 hours, making sure it is baked through and watching that it doesn't over bake around the edges. Give it a stir once in awhile and add more liquid if needed to prevent over browning. Good luck with it!

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