Thanksgiving and Christmas Stuffing — Old School

Thanksgiving and Christmas Stuffing — Old School

Since publishing “A Very Plain AMISH Christmas Cookbook“, I have been hounded for the recipe that I and my son use every holiday season.  The Pennsylvania Dutch Potato Stuffing is an excellent recipe that I prepare days ahead, and even months ahead, taking time to freeze it in small batches.

This great Thanksgiving and Christmas Stuffing can be stuffed into the bird or cooked in the oven or on the stove top.

Looking for great kitchen cheats?  For those who are feeling somewhat bankrupt for gluten free ideas.  There is a great gluten free Thanksgiving and Christmas Stuffing alternative, the bread used in this recipe can be gluten free bread.

To make this Thanksgiving and Christmas Stuffing a little bit more seasonal, I like to add cranberries, and broken cashews (amount depends on personal taste) to the recipe.  The cashews really bring a great flavour to the mix.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Stuffing

Pennsylvania Dutch Potato Stuffing

(This recipe can be traced back to the late 1800’s and makes a huge serving. Feel free to cut this recipe in half.)

30 medium potatoes

2 large onion

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

6 eggs

4 cubes chicken bouillon (12 g each)

24 oz evaporated milk

2 cups hot water

1 ½ cups of light olive oil or canola oil

2 loaves of fresh white bread

2 TBS seasoned salt or sea salt

 

Directions:

(Yields 20 to 24 cups of potato stuffing. This recipe is good for a 24 pound turkey. For a 15 pound turkey, consider cutting the recipe in half.)

Preheat oven to 325°.

Peel and dice the potatoes. Peel and finely chop the onion.

Add oil to large sauce pan and heat over medium high heat. When oil is hot, add potatoes and onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Fry potatoes and onion until onion is translucent and edges of potatoes turn a light brown. Remove pan from heat and set aside.

Stir chicken bouillon in hot water until it dissolves. Whisk eggs in a large bowl. Add evaporated milk and continue whisking until combined. Add chicken bouillon broth and whisk again until combined.

Tear loaf of bread into small pieces and add to liquid mixture. Stir until bread is coated with liquid. The bread will crumble taking on the appearance and consistency of batter.

Add potatoes and onions to liquid mixture and gently stir until all is mixed.

Grease a large roasting pan and place turkey into pan. Stuff stuffing into the chest cavity of the turkey.

Sprinkle salt on the turkey and over the stuffing.

Bake at 325° for the amount of time stated on the turkey packaging, being prepared to increase baking time by up to 30 minutes in order to compensate for the density of the stuffing.

Baste the turkey with the drippings from the pan every 45 minutes to an hour.

For the final 10 to 15 minutes of baking, uncover the turkey so it can brown.

Note – If there appears to be stuffing left over, the remaining stuffing can be placed into a casserole dish and cooked in the oven. If doing this, try to reduce the amount of salt used by half to one-third.

 

Author — James C. Tanner