Sage and Onion Stuffing

When it is my turn to cook Thanksgiving dinner, I always toy with the idea of making a different stuffing than the one we traditionally make, just because I like to cook new things. I have had some delicious stuffings at other people's houses, in particular a cornbread one with andouille sausage made by a former colleague that was truly yummy. Despite all of that, I always come back to my mom's stuffing, which - though it sounds simple - is amazing.

This year, I couldn't wait for the holidays so L. and I had a stuffed roasted chicken just so that I could indulge. It actually worked out well - he doesn't particularly care for stuffing so I DIDN'T HAVE TO SHARE A SINGLE BITE!

I am politically incorrect and continue to stuff the bird, rather than cooking the stuffing, wrapped in cheesecloth, in the pan next to the bird as so many people do nowadays. I use about 5 pieces of sliced bread per pound of poultry. The recipe below is for a 3 lb chicken so please adjust accordingly.

1 whole 3 lb chicken

15 slices bread, roughly cubed

1/2 large white onion, finely chopped

4 Tbsps (1/2 stick) butter

1 tsp dry sage

Salt and white pepper

The day before, or morning of, cube the bread and spread it out on a tray to air dry. Tearing the bread is better than cubing but sometimes time constraints get the best of one...

Melt the butter over medium heat and add the onions as soon as the butter has melted. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring from time to time until the onions have softened but not browned.

Place the bread in a large bowl. Pour over the onion-butter mixture and stir to combine well. Add the sage and generous amounts of salt and white pepper. Stir again. Check for seasoning - you really want to taste the spices because they will get diluted as the bird cooks and the stuffing absorbs the cooking juices.

Taking large handfuls of the stuffing, pack them into the chicken, pushing down to ensure that you get as much in as possible.

Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil, sprinkle with ground bay, paprika and more salt and bake at 350 until the juices run clear when you stick a fork into the leg joint. My chicken took 90 minutes.

Allow to rest for 10 minutes under a foil tent and then gingerly scoop out all the custardy stuffing before carving your bird - chicken or turkey.

You could probably mix the stuffing with somewhere between 1/2 to 1 cup of stock, place it in a buttered baking dish and cook uncovered at the same time as the chicken if you wanted to avoid stuffing the bird.

#poultryandeggs