Easy Turkey Stuffing Recipe, Make Regular, or Gluten Free!

 I saw this recipe online and I have used it a few times.   LOVE it!   I like the Stove Top brand of stuffing / dressing, but its always nice to know you can still make it if there is any reason you can't buy it at the store.   Maybe you were too late on grabbing some stuffing on the shelves, or you live outside town, or the weather is bad?  Or maybe you just want the bragging rights of making your own.  Feel free to jazz it up too, if you want (add cranberries, nuts, whatever you like!).

IDEA:  For "Gluten Free" stuffing, just grab a loaf of gluten free bread, an follow this recipe!  

Ingredients

• 8 slices of bread (or 2½ cups store bought dried plain bread cubes or croutons)
• 4 tbs unsalted butter
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
• 1 tbs dried parsley
• ½ tsp sage
• ¼ tsp marjoram (optional)
• ⅛ tsp pepper
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• 11/3 cups chicken stock

TIP:   If you are using store bought bread cubes, skip the bread toasting directions.  If you are making your own bread cubes, follow all of the directions.

Making Bread Cubes

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the bread evenly on a sheet pan and toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
2. Then flip the bread slices and toast until the other side is golden brown, roughly 6 minutes more.
3. Remove the toasted bread from the pan and dice into ¼ -1/2 inch cubes and set aside.

Making the Stuffing

1. Dice the celery and onion and portion out the remaining ingredients so that you have them on hand.  This makes the preparation quicker and easier.
2. In a large sauce pan, melt the butter and kosher salt over medium heat.
3. Add the celery, onion and garlic and cook until the veggies are softened and the onion starts to become translucent. Roughly 5 minutes.
4. Add the herbs, spices and chicken stock to the mix and stir. Bring to a boil.
5. Once the mixture hits a rolling boil, add the bread cubes. Quickly mix in the cubes to the liquid and then cover.
6. Remove from the heat and let the pan sit for 5 minutes. Using a fork fluff the mixture and serve.

Dad's Fried Rice

My Dad not only spent some time on R&R traveling in Asian countries during his tour in Vietnam, where he learned a few things. But he also worked as a cook in a place called “The Straight” during his young adult years. That place served a little bit of everything, from traditional American favorites to Mexican food, to Chinese. He learned a lot of cooking basics there. So he actually knew how to make some tasty fried rice. One thing-- not everybody adds drained bamboo shoots or water chess nuts to fried rice, but Dad LOVED them and always put those in. That’s how he learned it. So I’m proud to share his recipe here:

Dad’s Fried Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken, beef or pork, cut in small cubes and sautéed until done

4 cups cooked medium to long grain white rice (cold or leftover, DO NOT use freshly made)

Sweet peas 1 cup or 1 can, drained

Green onion 8 talks, thinly sliced

1 can (about 8oz) water chess nuts, drained

1 can (about 8oz) bamboo shoots, drained

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 large carrot cut in small cubes

Salt, pepper to taste (white pepper is traditional)

Garlic 2 cloves

3 eggs, whisked together

1 tablespoon cooking oil

Directions:

Use the largest pan or wok you own (12 to 14 inch is best), and do not over crowd it.

1.        Heat oil over high heat, swirl around in pan. 

2.        Reduce heat to medium, add garlic and onion. Stir, let it sweat about 15 to 30 seconds. Add carrots, cook until tender, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the other vegetables (except peas), fry for a few minutes.   

3.        Move all ingredients to one side of the pan.  Pour eggs into the cleared space in the pan and scramble them until they are almost completely cooked but slightly soggy, about 1 ½ to 2 minutes. Gently blend with vegetables.

4.        Add meat and peas, mix well, but gently. Followed by rice. Stir and toss everything together between each addition.  Use your spatula to break up rice clumps. 

      Add soy sauce, salt, pepper and stir. Be sure to stir everything quickly until the rice is well coated and colored (some bits of white here and there is fine). Everything should be heated through. This should take about 5 minutes.   Add extra oil if the pan is too dry.  But not too much, and reduce the heat so nothing will scorch. Taste while adding flavors, to make sure you have the right amount of seasonings to your liking.    

6.        Remove from heat. Serve hot.  

Dad's Perfect White Rice

So many people go out and spend money on "rice cookers" because they are frustrated with how their pot-cooked rice turns out.   Or they are intimidated by the "art" of rice cooking.   But my Dad showed me an amazingly SIMPLE way to get rice-cooker-quality steamed rice from a pot/pan, with little or no effort.   This method is so easy, its literally "walk away for 20 minutes, come back and its done!".  It has worked for me for 20 years, without fail.   Follow this method and among the foodies, you will always be known as "the one who makes great rice".   Below is a simple basic recipe, with helpful tips and information down at the bottom.   You can double/triple the recipe as needed.   

Dad’s Perfect White Rice  

(Works for most kinds of rice, but brown rice might need more time) 

Ingredients:

1 cup long grain white rice (regular or Basmatti)

2 cups cold water

TIP:  

Rice has an easy "2 to 1" formula.  Meaning 2 cups of water for every 1 cup of rice.   And the cooked rice will always be equal to the water you use.    To be clear, here is a little reference chart:

1 cup uncooked rice + 2 cups water = 2 cups cooked rice

2 cups uncooked rice + 4 cups water = 4 cups cooked rice

3 cups uncooked rice + 6 cups water = 6 cups cooked rice

Etc., etc.  This recipe is simple:  Boil the water, add the rice, cover and walk away for 20 minutes-- DONE.   That's it.   Easy.   

Directions:

1.        Use a pan or pot large enough to hold all the water with at least an inch or so left at the top.  Bigger is great too.    Be sure your pot/pan has a tight-fitting lid.   Pour water into into the pot/pan and bring to a boil over high heat. 

2.       As soon as the water is boiling, dump the rice in.   Use a fork to immediately stir the rice for about 10 seconds, gently mashing out any clumps that may form. 

3.       Make sure the rice is all even under the water (at a flat level).   Wait until the rice starts to boil.   Cover with a tight lid.  

4.       Turn the heat down to LOW.  Then walk away.   Come back in about 20 minutes to check if it is done.     DO NOT STIR OR LIFT THE LID DURING THIS TIME.   Any steam/heat that escapes will greatly affect the quality of your rice and the cooking time.   Steam is very important to rice cooking and must be kept inside.  

5.       After 20 minutes, remove the lid and tilt the pan to the side to see if any water remains.   If not, taste a small spoonful of rice from the center (for some odd reason most under-cooked rice is in the center).   It should be in individual grains and tender.  If the water is gone and the rice is tender—its done.   Remove from the heat and let it stand 5 minutes.    Fluff gently with a fork and serve.  

Tips:   If the rice is crunchy and water remains, cover and continue cooking.  But if it is crunchy and there is NO water, add a little water and continue cooking.

Helpful Rice Information:  

Rice cooked properly, with the correct water/rice ratio and the right temperatures, should be fluffy, in individual grains and tender.  This method cooks on a low heat, so there is no burning, and therefore no stirring, which means less stickiness.   Plus the exact measurements means all the water is absorbed, and there is no straining needed.

Rice should not be soupy, gloppy, mushy or crunchy.   Stirring rice throughout cooking can cause it to be extremely sticky (from the starches moving around), and even mush it all together, almost like mashed potatoes.   You really should not stir rice, except for a few seconds in the beginning, to break up clumps.   When it is done, try not to touch or stir the rice for at least 5 minutes.   Rice is extremely brittle with it is first done.   It needs a few minutes for the grains to settle into their shape.   After 5 minutes, it is ok to gently fluff the rice with a fork. 

Did You Know?-- The Chinese sometimes purposely make their rice extra sticky, so it is easy to pick up in chunks, with chop sticks.  Or so it will stick and form on sushi better.  But for other dishes, its better for the rice to have single grains, and be fluffy.  

Dad's Baked Beans

This tangy, sweet-savory dish was one of Dad's favorites. He preferred to use bacon, but if he didn't have that, he would use Polish Sausage links, or even hot dogs, cut up. Or he would make it without meat, and have it on the side with an entree. He also loved making it when we had a barbeque dinner, with either potato or macaroni salad. He didn't like it really soupy or too runny, he preferred it to be really thick, so it would stand in a pile on his plate. So he used a little extra sugar and baked it a good length of time. Even right now, I can still smell that sweet, bacon/onion smell that used to fill the house, whenever he made this.

Dad’s Baked Beans

Ingredients:

6 to 8 pieces bacon cooked and chopped, save drippings

1 large onion, diced

2 cans (16 oz. each) pork and beans (we use Van Camp's)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 cup BBQ sauce (hickory or mesquite)

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

1.      Keep bacon slices stacked together and cut them into 1-inch slices, while raw. Cook bacon in a medium cast iron skillet, over medium heat until done/brown. 

      

      Remove bacon from pan, place into a bowl, and set aside. Keep the drippings in the pan. Add onions to pan, cook until onions are just soft. Put bacon back in the pan with the onions, as you will use this pan to make the entire dish. Remove from heat, and set aside. 

2.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

3.       In a cast iron skillet add all other ingredients (including the juice from the bean cans) to the bacon and onions. Gently blend well, so you don't smash the beans.  

4.       Bake the bean mixture uncovered, for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, place on a heat-safe surface,  and let stand 10 minutes. Serve.