Crumbly, Buttery Bread Stuffing
- 1-1/8 cups butter, margarine or salad oil
- ¾ cup minced onions
- 4½ qt. day-old bread crumbs or ½” squares (18 cups), lightly packed
- ¼ cup diced celery
- 1½ tsp. poultry seasoning
- ½ cup snipped parsley (optional)
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- 2¼ tsp. salt
In hot butter in deep kettle, saute onions tender. Add rest of ingredients; heat, without browning, stirring often.
Makes 10 cups, or enough to stuff loosely neck and body cavity of 10 pound ready-to-cook turkey.
VARIATIONS:
SAUTEED MUSHROOM: Add ½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced, then sauteed in a little butter; or add two 3 oz. cans sliced mushrooms, drained.
TOASTED NUT: Add 1 cup slivered toasted almonds or chopped walnuts.
ORANGE-HERB: Omit poultry seasoning. Add 1 tbsp. grated orange rind and a pinch of dried rosemary.
CRUNCHY WATER CHESTNUT: Add 2 cups sliced canned water chestnuts; their crunchiness is delightful.
RIPE OLIVE: Add 2 cups canned pitted ripe olives, drained and quartered.
SLIVERED HAM: Add 1 to 2 cups finely slivered cooked ham.
GREEN PEPPER: Omit parsley. Add ½ to 1 cup minced green pepper, sauteed in a little butter or margarine till tender, but not brown.
PARSLEYED: Increase snipped parsley to ¾ cup.
PINEAPPLE TIDBIT: Add 1 cup drained canned pineapple tidbits.
GOLDEN CORN: Substitute 2 cups drained canned whole-kernel corn for an equal amount of crumbs.
OLD-FASHIONED GIBLET: Add coarsely chopped cooked giblets.
RAISIN RICE: Substitute cooked white rice for half or all of crumbs. Add ½ cup raisins.
APPLE: Make up half basic stuffing. Add 5 cups chopped apples and a few raisins.
STUFFED OLIVE: Add 1 cup sliced stuffed or green olives.
SAUSAGE: Add ½ pound cooked sausage links, sliced.
POTATO: Substitute unseasoned mashed white or sweet potatoes (the instant white kind is so easy) for half of bread crumbs.
OYSTER: Add 1 pint oysters, drained, then cut up.
