Holiday Stuffing

So Thanksgiving is long gone, and Christmas is still a month away. What better way to stay in the festive mood than to enjoy the delicious side dishes we all love more than the actual turkey? Technically this is dressing, since it's not cooked inside the body cavity of a large fowl. Either way, it's the best part of the meal and the easiest to play around with. I make it the way my mother has always made it (very English/Anglo/Canadian, I imagine) with a few changes.

Stuffing is basically bread, of course, which is probably why it's so comforting and delicious. I used white french bread this time, but I also like using whole wheat, or those fancy breads with pumpkin seeds. The night before, cut a large number of slices into cubes, place in a large bowl and cover generously with poultry seasoning. With delicious herbs like thyme, marjoram and sage, it's the quintessential Thanksgiving flavour. Leave it out on the counter overnight so the bread can dry out. For her stuffing, my mother buys tubes of ground pork. For mine, I usually go vegetarian, but this year I had bacon on hand so bacon it was!

I sliced 4 or 5 pieces of bacon and fried them in a large pan with one diced onion and two diced celery stalks for 6-7 minutes. Stir the veggies into the bread, and mix in whatever else you'd like. Usually seeds, nuts and fruit make a good mix. I used fresh cranberries, sunflower seeds and pecans. Place in a well-greased, large ceramic dish. Now, since this stuffing is not actually being stuffed into something, it needs some added moisture or it will just be toasted bread. Unlike my mother, I follow the classic food magazine recipes which call for chicken stock, but I don't add too much. I usually just pour it straight from the carton and do a couple turns around the dish, Rachael Ray-style.

My mother instead uses large spoonfuls of margarine on top. I do this too - just not as much, since I use stock as well. Any fruit you add will help add moisture too, like cranberries or sliced apple. Once you're done creating your masterpiece stuffing, place a cover on the dish and either microwave it or stick it in the oven. I used the oven, mostly because the dish was too large for the microwave. I baked it @350 for about 45 minutes, uncovering it for the last 15 minutes or so so it can get a little crispy on top. This is obviously meant to be a side dish but whether there is turkey or not, it's front and centre on my plate - a classic mix of soft and toasted bread, fried bacon, tart cranberries, crunchy nuts/seeds, and savoury vegetables. Why wait until it's a holiday to make stuffing? Perfect for any autumn meal, if you ask me!