Stuffing, Dressing and the Makings of Either (and Turkey Breast and Gravy and Green Bean Casserole)

First, stuffing goes in the bird and dressing comes from a pan; though, if you make both at the same meal, it’s all stuffing. You are allowed to differ.

Jim Donahue at The Velvet Blog did a post yesterday on his grandmother’s Thanksgiving stuffing. His family’s tradition is different than that of my family.

Our stuffing went in the bird and spread to pans as the extended family grew. To this day, I’ve never had stuffing made by a relative that didn’t taste exactly like that made by my Mother and Aunts.

Crumbled bread that had been put on racks on the kitchen counters and covered with towels the night before. Salt, pepper, sage, eggs, celery, yellow onion, butter. Mush it up and stuff it in the bird or scoop it into the pan. When the bird’s done, so is the stuffing.

More important is the gravy. There is no such thing as good turkey breast. Even if it isn’t as dry as the desert, the only way to make it edible is to cover it in really good gravy. (It’s kind of like eating grits or rice, it’s all in what you use to make it taste like something good.) The secret to great gravy is using the innards and the neck. Another secret to gravy is to make a lot of it. You’ve got all that white meat, stuffing and mashed potatoes. It even helps the green bean casserole that wasn’t made with enough canned mushroom soup (the secret to “good” green bean casserole). To cover all that stuff you need a bunch of gravy.

Now you are all on the right path. Enjoy or disagree as you see fit.