Sheldon Hefner’s Turkey Stuffing
This is a recipe given to me a long time ago by former Moab resident and funeral director, Sheldon Hefner. He suggests that the stuffing be cooked in a covered dish rather than being used as a true “stuffing” inside the turkey.
Double recipe of corn bread on box
Bake & cool—then crumble
½ stalk of celery—grated with medium grater
2 large onions—grated with medium grater
5 good-sized carrots—grated with medium grater
1 cube butter, melted
Poultry seasoning or sage
Pepper and salt
Add some water to moisten
Mix—cook 45 minutes to one hour. Keep covered for steam.
Very Expensive Turkey Stuffing
1 fine young hen turkey
1 pound lean ham, diced
2 pounds of truffles
¼ tsp. Nutmeg
¼ tsp. Pepper
1 bay leaf, minced fine
Clean and prepare turkey for roasting. Put a saucepan on the fire and put in the diced ham. When hot add two pounds of the very best truffles and the grated nutmeg, the pepper and a minced bay leaf. Stir over the fire for about fifteen minutes. Then take off and let cool. When it is cold, stuff the place at the neck of the turkey whence you take the craw, and sew up and arrange as indicated for dressing a turkey. Stuff the body of the turkey with the remainder of the truffles and sew it up and truss it. Set it in the oven and roast. This is a very expensive dish.
Chanukkah Stuffed Turkey
If this year you decide to celebrate Chanukkah instead of or in addition to Christmas, try this interesting alternative stuffing.
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/3 Cup cold water
4 Tablespoons schmaltz (rendered chicken fat)
½ tsp. Salt
Pinch of white pepper
2/4 Cup matzoh meal
½ medium onion, finely chopped
½ tsp. Thyme
1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh parsely
Beat the eggs plus the egg yolk lightly with the water. Add 3 heaping tablespoons chicken fat and stir until the fat dissolves. Add the salt and pepper. Stir in the matzoh meal.
Saute the chopped onion in 1 tablespoon fat until it is very soft and bright yellow; do not let it brown. Add a little more fat if needed. Stir into the matzoh-meal mixture along with the thyme and parsley. Adjust the seasoning.
Stuff into your poultry or veal breast at once. Do not let this set, as when making matzoh balls.
It is not recommended for birds larger than six pounds.
Kasha Stuffing
Here is another stuffing appropriate for either Chanukkah, Thanksgiving or Christmas and is excellent in duck, goose and chicken in addition to turkey
2 cups kasha* (buckwheat groats)
preferably fine, but medium will do
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups boiling water
1 tsp. Salt
6 Tablespoons schmaltz (rendered chicken fat,) sweet butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ pound fresh mushrooms, coarsely chopped,or
2 large, dried Polish mushroom caps, soaked for 10 minutes in hot water, washed, and chopped
White pepper to taste
*You should be able to find kasha at the Co-op.
Put the kasha in a bowl and add half the beaten egg, stirring until the egg is absorbed. Turn into a cold skillet and slowly heat, stirring frequently, until the kasha grains are dry and separate and just beginning to brown. Pour in the boiling water and salt. Stir once, then simmer, uncovered, over moderately low heat until all the water is absorbed and the kasha is half cooked—about 10 minutes.
Melt the fat in a skillet, and in it slowly saute the onion until it begins to soften; do not brown. Add the mushrooms, raise the heat, and saute for a minute or two, or until their liquid evaporates. If you are using dried mushrooms, simply stir them into the sauteed onion and cook for a second or two.
Combine the sauteed onion and mushroom with the kasha and stir. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Stir in the remaining beaten egg.
Note: This stuffing can be prepared ahead and refrigerated, but should not be put into the bird or meat until just before roasting.
For turkey with an Italian flair, try this Lombardy stuffing:
Lombardy Stuffing
1 10-to-15-pound turkey, with giblets
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 small onion
2 tsp. Salt
½ pound chestnuts
3 sweet Italian sausages
½ pound twice-ground beef
2 eggs
4 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
½ tsp. Nutmeg
½ pound fresh mushrooms
2 fresh sage leaves
1 to 2 tsp. Rosemary
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook giblets with carrot, celery, onion and 1 tsp. Salt in boiling water. Boil for about ½ hour.
Slice through the outer shell of the chestnuts, bring them to a boil and cook them for ½ hour. Peel and mash the chestnuts. They should be somewhat chunky. Grind the sausage and beef. Add eggs, cheese, nutmeg and chopped mushrooms. Chop the cooked giblets and add to this mixture. Add the chestnuts and mix well.
Make little slits in the skin of the turkey under the wings and where the legs join the body and in the fleshy part of the breast. Stuff each slit with a bit of sage and rosemary. Stuff the turkey with the sausage mixture and roast.
Pinyon Nut Stuffing
This is an excellent stuffing using our local Pinyon nuts that are available this time of year.
½ cup butter
1 cup finely chopped shallots or finely cut green onions
1 ½ Tablespoon dried or
3 Tablespoons fresh Tarragon, finely cut
1 Tablespoon salt or to taste
1 ½ tsp. Freshly ground pepper
½ cup pinyon nuts
Additional melted butter, if needed
10 to 12 cups fine fresh bread crumbs
Melt the butter in a heavy skillet—a 12-inch one if possible. Add the shallots or green onions and the tarragon and allow to cook until the shallots are just wilted. Add the salt, pepper, pinyon nuts, and then additional butter as needed—I should say about ½ to 1 cup butter, depending on the amount the onion has absorbed. Finally add the crumbs and toss well. Taste the mixture and add more of any of the ingredients required. A clove or two of garlic may also be added to this mixture.
This works equally well with duck, goose or turkey.
Louisiana Stuffing
1 ½ quarts Corn bread
3 or 4 slices whole wheat bread
3 cups chopped celery
3 cups chopped onions
3 cups chopped parsley
1 pint mushrooms with juice
2 cups chopped pecans
6 hard cooked eggs
Salt, black and red pepper, to taste
¾ cups long grain rice
Mix corn bread and whole wheat bread; add celery, onion and parsley. Dampen with stock from boiled neck and gizzards in seasoned water. Mix dressing thoroughly and fry in a small amount of salad oil until celery and onions look wilted. To this, add eggs, mushrooms with juice and pecans. Season well with salt and pepper. In another skillet, fry, in small amount of oil, the rice (do not wash rice, just pick over it) until golden brown. Add just enough stock to cover rice and cook about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add rice to first mixture; mix well. Stuff bird or bake separately.
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