HAVE STUFFING...ADD BISCUITS!
Stuffing or dressing? Call it what you wish -- it is a personal thing. Very much like your favorite biscuit. Many times it all comes down to your traditions, what you grew up with. I always laugh when foodies argue the "stuffing versus dressing" terms. Does it really matter? Just pass it to the left and give me some.
In our house growing up in Ohio, it was "stuffing." My mother stuffed our turkey with mounds of white bread she would tear by hand. I remember her adding chopped celery, onion, mushrooms, melted butter, and Bell Turkey seasoning. She crammed as much as she could into the bird and sewed it in with a needle and thread. The stuffing that didn't make it into the bird was put into a pyrex dish and baked.
That was before all the bacteria scares we have today and the strict advice to "never stuff your bird." For the recored, we never got sick...and to me -- that was and is the best dressing in the world. My mother is gone now, and I've never had any stuffing as great as hers -- perhaps that is the way it should be.
Then, when I moved to the South, I was surprised to learn that most dressings or stuffings here are made with stale biscuits and cornbread. My first Thanksgiving in Nashville I was an invited guest, I recall politely chewing with smile on my face -- as I wondered?...What is this? Where is my childhood stuffing fix?
So now, I live between both worlds. My now Southern home and my very Yankee past. So this year, I wanted to get my biscuits into my Thanksgiving meal and keep my own family traditions. So, I attempted to make my mom's stuffing (out of the bird and into my big cast iron skillet) and topped it with homemade biscuits. I love how this marries my memories of my childhood and my love of Southern Biscuits. I baked the stuffing for 45 minutes..then placed my biscuits on top to bake. I'll feature this biscuit recipe in my next post. It is super easy, takes minutes. A recipe was given to me by a biscuit homemaker, Phyllis, who shared her recipe with me.
In our house growing up in Ohio, it was "stuffing." My mother stuffed our turkey with mounds of white bread she would tear by hand. I remember her adding chopped celery, onion, mushrooms, melted butter, and Bell Turkey seasoning. She crammed as much as she could into the bird and sewed it in with a needle and thread. The stuffing that didn't make it into the bird was put into a pyrex dish and baked.
That was before all the bacteria scares we have today and the strict advice to "never stuff your bird." For the recored, we never got sick...and to me -- that was and is the best dressing in the world. My mother is gone now, and I've never had any stuffing as great as hers -- perhaps that is the way it should be.
Then, when I moved to the South, I was surprised to learn that most dressings or stuffings here are made with stale biscuits and cornbread. My first Thanksgiving in Nashville I was an invited guest, I recall politely chewing with smile on my face -- as I wondered?...What is this? Where is my childhood stuffing fix?
So now, I live between both worlds. My now Southern home and my very Yankee past. So this year, I wanted to get my biscuits into my Thanksgiving meal and keep my own family traditions. So, I attempted to make my mom's stuffing (out of the bird and into my big cast iron skillet) and topped it with homemade biscuits. I love how this marries my memories of my childhood and my love of Southern Biscuits. I baked the stuffing for 45 minutes..then placed my biscuits on top to bake. I'll feature this biscuit recipe in my next post. It is super easy, takes minutes. A recipe was given to me by a biscuit homemaker, Phyllis, who shared her recipe with me.
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