Thanksgiving: Leek and Wild Mushroom Stuffing
I love making stuffing. It is basically a savory bread dish served as a traditional side for Thanksgiving. I've found many types of bread dishes from a variety of cultures; and yet, this particular dish is all about the fall harvest. Wild mushrooms, vegetables, herbs with homemade focaccia and simmering stock. My local farmer's market is my guide - what are they selling at their last harvest market of the season? Onions, leeks, mushrooms, celery - all are available late November where I live in the PNW. I can get fancy and add in some of those oyster or chanterelle mushrooms - or just stick to everyday white mushrooms. It all works.
The trick to good stuffing is to make each part of the dish tasty in its own way. Using a carton of stock? Simmer it with herbs and half a head of garlic. Try the stock - does it taste yummy? Buying bread from the market? Get a loaf of uncut sourdough and dry out big thick slices to cut up. No fresh herbs? Find dried sage and thyme in the spice aisle. When sautéing the vegetables and you've simmered them with wine - taste it. Do you think those mushrooms and leeks with celery need something extra?
The beauty of this dish is that it can be recreated anywhere - with boxed ingredients and dried herbs. My Uncle Larry used to add in oysters and water chestnuts. Others may choose to add lots of onions or peppers with a loaf of store bought bread.
The flavors of all the different parts are going to "marry" which simply means that the components are going to come together for the final baking. The stock, vegetables, bread and herbs become a savory bread pudding.
STUFFING:
You are going to need:
- Butter/oil
- 1/2 cup sage leaves picked off the stems and set aside.
- Salt/ pepper
- 2-3 leeks– diced (about 2 cups)
- Mushrooms – sliced (1-2 cups)
- Garlic – diced thin
- 3-4 stocks of celery – diced thin
- a dry white wine
- 6 cups bread – cut up into 1 inch chunks. I like to use focaccia
- Stock - homemade is best but I'll show you a way to make boxed stock taste better
DETAILS:
- Making Stock - a reference for stock making. You can make stock days ahead and freeze.
- Prep your veggies and pick sage leaves off stems.
In a sauté pan (skillet) – melt a little butter and oil on low/medium heat. Lay about half those sage leaves you bought in the butter. Let them sizzle a bit and then use some chopsticks to turn them over. You are looking for just a little browning – frying. Remove the sage leaves to a couple paper towels – sprinkle with salt.
Add some more oil/butter and – keeping heat low/medium – add leeks and celery. We aren’t trying to brown the leeks – we want them to slowly cook down so we capture the sweetness. Add some salt. After they’ve wilted – add in your garlic. Stir this around until its aromatic.
Add some more butter and throw in your mushrooms. Push the leeks to the side so the mushrooms can fry a bit in the butter. NOW add in a ½ cup (ish) of wine and let the wine simmer down until you almost can’t see any left in the pan. Add back in your sage, add salt/pepper to taste. Pour your veggies over the bread.
Now you are going to start adding the stock to your bread mixture.
Toss with spoons or fingers, you don’t want the bread sopping wet so be careful. The vegetables will still add moisture during the finished bake. I try to hit the point where adding more stock might make everything mushy. I want my bread to still have its form but be coated in stock.
Taste it. What does it need? More herbs? Salt? Pepper?
When it tastes okay – put it into your baking dish. You can mash it down to fit. (If you made too much – just store the leftovers and bake when you have your pan again).
Bake the stuffing for about 20 minutes until the top is starting to brown a bit and the center warm. Stuffing is great to let sit for a bit. You can spoon it into another container now if you want to use the dish for other cooking. Stuffing will reheat easily in microwave.
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