Wednesday 24 November 2010

Make Ahead For Christmas

The Stuffing

I try to make a different stuffing every year, this years (tried and tested with chicken) is a real winner.

The following recipe is for two batches.  I usally cook one batch in a loaf tin which is just the right shape to thinly slice for all those turkey, ham , turkey/ham  sandwiches.

I pre-cook the onion and oatmeal by frying in a little oil with 2 bay leaves, until the onion is soft and the oatmeal is toasted, it adds a bit of texture to the stuffing.  Remove the bay leaves after frying.

This quantity of stuffing is for 2 batches (1 batch is enough to stuff a 6 kg turkey).

Ingredients

1.5 kg good quality sausage meat
2 x 200g vacuum packed chestnuts, chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp coarse oatmeal
10 dates, very finely chopped
Fresh herbs, about a handful, finely chopped (I used sage, thyme and parsley)
2 bay leaves
Freshly milled salt and pepper
A little olive oil

Fry the oatmeal, onion and bay leaves and leave to cool.



Add the oatmeal and onion to a large bowl with the rest of the stuffing ingredients.  Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together.  Take a small piece of the stuffing and fry it then taste and season to your liking.

Freeze in plastic containers or polythene bags until ready to use.

The stuffing can be kept in the freezer for 3 months.

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