Cornbread:
1 1/2 c. yellow cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 egg (lightly beaten)
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 c. milk
vegetable oil
Turkey Broth:
1 turkey neck (skin removed)
giblets and gizzard from 1 turkey
leaves from 4 celery stalks
1 celery stalk
1 quartered small onion
12 c. water
Dressing:
12 oz. herbed bread cubes
1 large yellow onion, chopped fine
3 celery stalks (chopped fine)
3 c. cooked rice (cooled uncovered overnight in a shallow dish)
1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms
2 c. roughly chopped pecans
butter or margarine
salt
black pepper
rubbed sage
thyme
The night before, make the cornbread. Preheat oven to 425 F. Thinly coat the bottom of a standard Pyrex pie plate, or 9" square baking pan, with vegetable oil. Put pan in oven while it is preheating and you are mixing the cornbread batter. In a mixing bowl, blend together the cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir in the egg and 3 Tbsp vegetable oil. Add milk and mix thoroughly by hand. The consistency should be a thick, but not "doughy", liquid. It may be necessary to add a little more milk. Pour into preheated pan and bake for 30 minutes or until slightly brown on top. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and break up into very large chunks in a large mixing bowl. Let stand overnight, uncovered. This will ensure that it is dry and stale. The night before, make the turkey broth. Bring 12 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Thoroughly rinse turkey neck, giblets and gizzard. Add turkey parts, onion, celery leaves and celery stalk to water, cover, and reduce heat to a low simmer. Simmer on very low heat for 2 hours. Strain the broth, cover, cool quickly, and refrigerate. 30 minutes before you are ready to stuff the turkey, make the dressing. Crumble the stale cornbread in the very largest bowl you can find. Add the herbed bread cubes and mix thoroughly by hand. Add the rice and mix thoroughly by hand. Briefly sauté the onions and celery in butter just enough to make the vegetables translucent. Sauté the mushrooms in butter or margarine until all the resulting liquid has evaporated. Add the sautéed onions, celery, and mushrooms, and mix thoroughly. Add the pecans and mix thoroughly. Season with salt, pepper, sage and thyme to taste. Bring the turkey broth to the boil and boil for a minute or two to make sure it is sterile. If you are going to stuff the turkey, add just enough turkey broth to barely moisten the dressing. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Very loosely stuff the abdominal cavity and breast cavity with dressing. Do not pack it in tightly. It needs room to expand. You are going to be cooking some more dressing in a baking pan beside the turkey, so there will be plenty to go around. Secure neck cavity opening with one or more poultry skewers. The abdominal cavity may be left open or (if your butcher cleaned the turkey properly and left a flap of skin) secured with poultry skewers. Add enough boiling broth to the remaining dressing to moisten it uniformly. Do not over-moisten. The baked dressing should be barely moist, not gummy-wet. Spoon dressing into uncoated baking pans. Cover with foil/plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake. One half hour before serving dinner, bake dressing, uncovered, at 425 F for 30 minutes.
Serves 8.
"Bistro cooking is good, traditional food, earnestly made and honestly displayed. It is earthy, provincial, or bourgeois; as befits that kind of food, it is served in ample portions."
David Liederman
Herbal Oils: Chop one cup of herbs, your choice and loosely pack them into a wide
mouth glass jar. Pour vegetable oil over the herbs to cover. Do make sure the herbs are covered. Stir out any air bubbles and seal the jar. Set in a warm place for 3 or 4 days. Pour the oil through a strainer and the oil is ready. Do not use virgin oils as they will drown out the herbal tastes.
