Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 To: StBedes@list.via-caritas.org From: Molly Wolf Subject: yo, cooks out there... Does anyone have a recipe for bread stuffing with chestnuts? (for turkey -- we're having Thanksgiving a week late). Molly ------------------------------ From: "Jeffry P. Barnes" Molly Wolf wrote: > Does anyone have a recipe for bread stuffing with chestnuts? (for turkey > -- we're having Thanksgiving a week late). I asked my wife -- who won't cook turkey unless it's chestnut season. She's appropriately vague about the proportions, but this is what she says. SEE RECIPE: Chestnut Stuffing ------------------------------ From: "James R. Guthrie" Indeed -- if you think I'm roasting chestnuts while it's still 70+ degrees outside, you're crazy. The Oyster bit is neat coming from Jeffry of the Plains . I'd throw in liver sausage muyself, but have to avoid anything with wheat or gluten. Cheers, Jim ------------------------------ From: "roger.stokes2" At 12:14 AM 13/10/01 -0400, James R. Guthrie wrote: >Indeed -- if you think I'm roasting chestnuts while it's still 70+ >degrees outside, you're crazy. Jim, That's why chestnut puree was invented. Cooking and peeling chestnuts is being too purist for me. Roast chestnuts when seeing the Christmas lights is one thing, doing them at home to make chestnut stuffing is totally another. Even the best chefs will cit corners like that at home. Peace, Roger, ------------- From: Molly Wolf Subject: chestnut stuffing ... turned out okay, although my usual stuffing was better. I made both. "Stuffing" is a misnomer, as I don't stuff the turkey but steam the stuffing separately. Turkey was beautiful. The only way to roast a bird, IMNSHO, is unstuffed, untrussed, and breast down for at least 2/3 of the cooking time, basting at half-hour intervals. Ob Anglican: recipes are always ob Anglican. Molly ------------------------------ From: "Jeffry P. Barnes" Molly Wolf wrote: > ... turned out okay, although my usual stuffing was better. I made both. > "Stuffing" is a misnomer, as I don't stuff the turkey but steam the > stuffing separately. You're right its a misnomer. Only stuffing that has been stuffed in a bird is really good stuff. The unstuffed stuff is sort of ersatz stuffing, but isn't bad stuff if you haven't any real stuff and you have lots of real gravy, not the stuff that comes in a can. Unless the stuffing stuff comes in a box called "Stovetop Stuffing" or some such, in which case it is awful stuff, the kind of stuff that should be stuffed down the garbage disposal or sent to the maker of the stuff. I was quite amused that the technical description for the material my M.Div hood was made out of was "stuff." In our house, many things are called stuff, and the hearer is left to figure out what "Bring me the stuff on the washer" means from context. We are big on context in the Barnes house. Particularly when referring to stuff like the "watchamicallit in the little room over there." Stuffily yours, Jeffry (whose son-in-law started getting worried when he realized he actually understood a conversation between his wife and her mother) -- The Rev. Jeffry P. Barnes ------------------------------ From: "Gillian R. Barr" At 10:07 PM 10/14/01 -0500, Jeffry P. Barnes said: >I was quite amused that the technical description for the material my >M.Div hood was made out of was "stuff." Eighteenth century descriptions of furniture or clothing use the term "stuff" in this way too. "1 chair made of fine red stuff." It's been a while since I've pored over colonial inventories. Perhaps Father Brother Tom of NC could remind us of the particular syntax, and the technical definition of "stuff" in the 18th C. Gillian ------------------------------ From: Molly Wolf >You're right its a misnomer. Only stuffing that has been stuffed in a bird is >really good stuff. Jeffry, you have not tasted the substance in question, so you can't characterize it as anything less than brilliantly good stuff(ing). The addition of ladles of rich, concentrated turkey stock (from the previous bird) more than makes up for the absence of the breastmeat juices that moisten stuffed stuffing. The texture is far lighter and fluffier if the dressing is steamed instead of stuffed. And the meat is much the better for unstuffing, *and* you can make superb stock with the unstuffed carcass. >Unless the stuffing stuff comes in a box called >"Stovetop Stuffing" or some such, in which case it is awful stuff, the kind of >stuff that should be stuffed down the garbage disposal or sent to the maker of >the stuff. ACK! Stovetop Stuffing??? I challenge you with basting syringes at five paces! Molly ------------------------------ From: "Edith" We got to be host to a couple of Palestinian Episcopalian students a couple of years ago -- very interesting and great fun! They were wonderful young men. On the first or second day they were with us, they confronted us with a question; "What is 'stuff'? Americans keep saying 'stuff'." It was pretty tricky trying to explain it to them. We do use it rather oddly. Edith ------------------------------ From: "Tim Stewart-stsams" Edith said: "We got to be host to a couple of Palestinian Episcopalian students a couple of years ago -- very interesting and great fun! They were wonderful young men. On the first or second day they were with us, they confronted us with a question; "What is 'stuff'? Americans keep saying 'stuff'." It was pretty tricky trying to explain it to them. We do use it rather oddly." In Hawaii the word is da kine. It means roughly "the subject or item being discussed." Or maybe thingamajig or whatchamacallit. Tim Stewart ------------------------------ From: "ELLEN RAINS HARRIS" Edith, If they spoke French (which many Palestinians do), you could have told them "stuff" was like "machine." My African and Asian Francophone friends use "un machine là" like "that thingy over there." And sometimes "la machine" is a couch or a book. Ellen ------------------------ From: "Louise Laughton" Where I come from originally, coastal North Carolina, it was always "dressing" baked in a separate pan with stock for moisture, onions and celery sauted in plenty of butter until limp, and sage for flavor -- along with salt and pepper. We always had oyster dressing and a pan of dressing without them for the people who didn't like oysters. Nobody in my childhood memory stuffed the bird. ------------------------------ From: "Judy Goans" Dressing/stuffing around these parts has about equal parts cornbread and white bread crumbs along with celery, onions, sage, and broth. Dressing is baked in the oven, which gives it a nice crust. We are a little leery of actual stuffing that's been stuffed into the bird, as opposed to the stuffing that's really dressing, because of the risk of food poisoning. My mother-in-law used to pat sausage on her turkeys to give them more flavor, but around my household, we just use salt. As you can imagine, oysters are not a staple of East Tennessee cooking. Judy ------------------------------ From: klewis Louise wrote: > Where I come from originally, coastal North Carolina, it was always > "dressing" baked in a separate pan with stock for moisture, onions and > celery sauted in plenty of butter until limp, and sage for flavor -- > along with salt and pepper. We always had oyster dressing and a pan > of dressing without them for the people who didn't like oysters. Nobody > in my childhood memory stuffed the bird.> I'm from NC too, (Piedmont, not the coast) but this is my experience too, except the bread in our dressing was cornbread. (but no oysters!!) Peace, Kris ------------------------------ From: "Jeffry P. Barnes" Louise Laughton wrote: > Where I come from originally, coastal North Carolina, it was always > "dressing" baked in a separate pan with stock for moisture, onions and > celery sauted in plenty of butter until limp, and sage for flavor -- along > with salt and pepper. We always had oyster dressing and a pan of dressing > without them for the people who didn't like oysters. Nobody in my childhood > memory stuffed the bird. Yes. Stuffing gets stuffed. Dressing gets baked separately. Or steamed. Everybody in my childhood memory stuffed the bird. Not having any relatives in Medford, Oregon, that means, "My mother stuffed the bird." Peace, Jeffry ------------------------------ From: "Louise Laughton" We always had cornbread in the dressing, too. It was real cornbread, and that means white corn meal, no sugar. I've lived my whole adult life in Central New York (Syracuse) but still make dressing the right way. The crusty corners are indeed best, imo. ------------------------------