thanksgiving recipes (3 of 4): traditional stuffing

photo from mykitchencraze.com

stuffing was never my favorite t-day side (it always looked so mushy and full of i have no idea what...just multi-colored glob), but the last few years i've tried to make my own and tailor it to what i like and it's grown on me a bit. and make it so i can SEE the actual ingredients and know what i'm getting into (same way i've approached coleslaw...another past mush-mystery). Kyle wanted a "traditional" stuffing this year (no apple, no cranberry, nothing sweet), which was surprisingly hard to find a recipe for. i went with the recipe from mykitchencraze.com, which fit the bill and turned out really good adapting it a little bit for our taste/serving size (i actually ate an extra-large serving of it).

K did not love the sweetness from the cornbread, but that's part of the reason i liked this recipe... i like the layered bread approach. to each their own. 

ingredients list: 

- 1/2 the pan of a 8x8 dish cornbread (i used 1 box of jiffy which seemed to be enough)

- 1 loaf of french bread (i used 6-7 gigantic pieces of sourdough, since i needed to use it up)

- 1/2 stick butter

- 1 medium onion, diced

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 4 stalks celery, chopped

- 3 cups low sodium chicken or veggie broth (+ extra if needed)

- 1/2 tsp dried basil

- 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

- 3 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

- salt to taste

to make: 

preheat oven to 350F degrees. prep the bread by chopping into 1/2 - 1 inch cubes. spread the cubes across 2 large baking sheets, and bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until it's just toasty (you could also leave the bread out overnight to get crisp, if you're a planner : ) 

prep a large 9x13 baking dish with grease and set aside. 

in a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. when melted, add in the onions and celery, cooking for 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent. add garlic for the last minute of cooking. 

in 4 cups of broth and bring to a boil. add in basil, thyme, rosemary, and parsley, and stir to combine. in a large mixing bowl, mix together the dried bread and broth mixture, adding the broth mixture little by little so no parts of the bread get overly soggy. if it looks wet enough, leave the remaining broth to the side to use while baking.

pour stuffing into baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown, adding additional broth mixture if desired.