[Sca-cooks] Re: stuffing cooked for Thanksgiving

[Devra at aol.com]

        Fruit Stuffing - Modified from a recipe in Bon Apetit 

Bread mixture
one and a half cups half-inch cubes of firm white bread (2 slices?)
1 C half & half (used half heavy cream, half milk)
2 large eggs
scant half cup grated Parmesan cheese (6 oz)
1 T thinly sliced fresh sage (or, presumably, 1 t dried)
1 T chopped fresh parsley 
one quarter + one eighth t salt
one eighth to one quarter t ground black pepper (but I used white)

Filling
one half pound thick-sliced bacon, cut into one-inch pieces
1 C chopped onions (I used frozen)
half pound tart green apple, cored & cut into half inch cubes (I didn't 
bother peeling it) - about 1 and half cups, or one nice sized apple
1 jar peeled whole chestnuts (should be about 7 oz)
one-half C three-quarter inch cubes of peeled celeriac (celery root) - get 
the smallest one they have!
2 t chopped fresh thyme (I might have used a little more)
salt and pepper to taste
one-half C sherry (they wanted dry; I had Harvey's Bristol Cream)
3/4 C chicken broth (I used canned)
one-half C pitted whole prunes, packed - cut into halves or quarters

1) Preheat oven to 350. Spread bread cubes on large rimmed baking sheet, and 
bake about 7 minutes, until almost firm. Cool on sheet.
2) Whisk other bread mixture ingredients in large bowl to blend.
3) Stir in bread, cover, and let soak in fridge until bread absorbs custard, 
at least three hours. Can be prepared day ahead.

[I was told that the filling overwhelmed the bread topping, and that I needed 
more. Maybe more bread cubes, maybe more of the entire thing.]

4) Preheat oven to 400.
5) Saute bacon in large ovenproof skillet over medium high heat until fat 
renders, about 7 minutes.
6) Drain all but 1 T fat. Reserve fat for other use.
7) Add onions to bacon in skillet and cook until soft, about 10 min. (Less if 
using frozen onions.)
8) Add apples, chestnuts, celeriac, and thyme. Sprinkle with salt and pepper 
and saute 5 minutes to blend flavors.
9) Add sherry and boil until juices thicken to syrup consistency, about 2 
minutes.
10) Add chicken broth and bring to boil. 
11) Place skillet in preheated oven and bake uncovered until apples and 
celeraic are tender, about 20 min. Check on it - my bacon got a little burnt.
12) Mix in prunes, and season to taste with salt and pepper. [Here the 
original says to use whole prunes and add another T of the reserved bacon fat. I say 
that you should cut the prunes into halves or quarters, and that there's 
plenty of fat already. Of course I may not have gotten it all out in the initial 
draining.] May be prepared one day in advance and stored in fridge, covered.
14) The day you plan to eat it, preheat oven to 325. Spread filling in 
casserole dish with deep sides, and cover it with the bread mixture. Spread bread 
evenly over filling.
15) Bake until pudding is puffed, golden brown, and firm to touch in center, 
about 45 min. Let stand 10 min before serving. (Let's get real here - it went 
into the oven when the turkey came out, and when it was done, the turkey was 
rested, and we ate it.)

Makes 4-5 nice servings.
     Devra
Devra Langsam
www.poisonpenpress.com
devra at aol.com