Sweet n' Salty Stuffing

Entirely random unsegue into a stuffing recipe: I have strange food-habits, which I've no doubt mentioned before. But this morning, while grabbing a utensil to take with me for lunch, I realized the following one takes the cake when it comes to irrationality...

I have this one fork in my collection of forks that I hate. As in, when I pull it out of the fork drawer, I get angry. And I usually try to avoid using it, unless absolutely nothing else is clean. Why? Because it has a wide base and short tines. Which for some reason fills me with intense hatred.

And now: the stuffing I raved about incessantly yesterday:

                                       from bakingsheet

I'm a big proponent of the salty-sweet combination in a dish. There's just something incredibly delicious about the way the two contrast on the tastebuds.

Case in point: For a long time, my mom used to make fun of me because when we'd hit up a movie and grab a late-night snack somewhere after, my order would usually consist of toast and ice cream. Or toast and pie. Or toast and cake. Get me? Salty-sweet: love it.

And that's what I dug so much about this dish: It's got the saltiness going on from all things vegetabley and bouillony, but the apples and cranberries counter it with a delightful and delicate sweetness. AND, not only does this stuffing represent when it comes to the sweet/salty combo, it also does so with the soft/crunchy. Smushy gushy bread and soft veggies blessed with an occasional crunch from the pecans. How stuffing is meant to be.

I doubled this recipe, but I'm just reposting the original. It doubles easily. I just baked it in a 9x13 glass baking dish (or something along that line of measurements), and I think I added on maybe 10 or 15 minutes to the baking time, but only because I added a little too much broth.

Anyways, there were only six of us, and even with double the quantity, there were very little leftovers. And it was the dish most raved about at T-day. So hopefully that's enough stuffing-flattery to get you try this recipe out.

(Ps. Allularpunk: If you try it, lemme know what you think!)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 c. onion, diced


• 1/2 c. celery, diced


• 1/2 c. apple, peeled and diced


• 2 t. dried or 3 T. minced fresh parsley


• 1/2 t. dried sage


• 1/4 t. salt


• pinch cayenne pepper


• 4 c. bread cubes (white or whole grain)


• 1/2 c. dried cranberries


• 1/4 c. chopped pecans


• 10-12 T. strong vegetable broth* (up to 3/4 cup)

*Use strong veggie broth for the best flavor. (I used double the amount of bouillon that you'd usually use for 3/4 c. water. Also, as bakingsheet mentions, you can add a tbsp of soy sauce to boost the flavor if yours isn't particularly flavorful.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease a 1.5-quart baking dish.

In a small frying pan, sautee the onion, celery and apple until tender with the parsley, sage, salt, cayenne (or regular pepper, if you prefer). This should take about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes with onion mixture, cranberries, pecans, vegetable broth, adding slightly more if the bread is very absorbant (some need more liquids), and mix well. Taste one of the cubes and, if necessary, add additional salt or pepper.

Pour into prepared casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until top is crisp and golden.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

(from bakingsheet)