- [Babish] This episode of Basics
is presented by the Singleton.
The Singleton is an award-winning single malt
that tastes great over ice neat or mixed into a cocktail.
Much like the Singleton, I believe that good food
and great drinks are better when enjoyed with friends.
So on today's episode, I'll be making
a few different kinds of Thanksgiving stuffing.
To accompany them, I'm making a spiced apple punch,
a fall cocktail that's easy to make in a batch
to drink with friends or family this holiday.
Let's get down to basics.
(calm music)
All right, so we've made traditional
American turkey stuffing many, many times on this show.
If you wanna see how to make it,
click the link in the upper right hand corner right now.
So today, we're gonna take a crack
at some different spins on stuffing.
First up, the ever popular cornbread stuffing.
I've got two packages of store-bought cornbread here
that I'm preparing with a great deal of difficulty
cracking my eggs, gently whisking to combine
and that's how you make store-bought cornbread batter.
Till next time, I'm Andrew Rea
and this has been Basics, I'm kidding.
Now, instead of preparing according to package directions,
we are greasing and parchment paper lining
a large rimmed baking sheet
spreading out evenly, maybe giving a few heartfelt taps
against the countertop to release any bubbles
and into the oven it goes.
400 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 15 minutes
or until browned and cooked through.
Let it cool in the pan and then we're gonna invert it out
and as you can see, we have cornbread
with much more surface area than normal cornbread.
This will hopefully add a little crunch
and prevent the cornbread from turning into mush.
Go ahead and cut this into a grid of one inch squares.
Go on and get back in there, little guy.
And then as a further anti-mush measure,
we are spreading these out on another rimmed baking sheet
and then drying out the way we would
for any other bread stuffing
either in a very low oven for a few hours
or left out uncovered for a couple days to stale.
Now, stuffing isn't the only stuff in stuffing.
There's other stuff,
usually some parcooked meat, vegetables and broth.
For the cornbread,
I'm gonna prepare what we would normally prepare
for standard stuffing,
browning and crumbling one pound of sage sausage
in a large cast iron skillet,
scooping it out with a slotted spoon
onto some paper towels to drain
and sauteing half a large chopped onion in the sausage fat
about three minutes or until well sweated
and then we're adding a couple chopped ribs of celery,
about another three minutes,
adding a large clove of chopped garlic
in the last 30 seconds.
Once the garlic is fragrant, we're gonna kill the heat
and add a few tablespoons of chopped fresh sage.
Let the stuff cool off just a little bit
and then in a large bowl,
we are combining the dried cornbread cubes,
sausage, vegetables and of course stock.
You could use chicken or vegetable
but of course for the most classic Thanksgiving flavor,
you wanna go turkey.
In spite of the store-bought cornbread,
you ideally wanna use homemade stock
as this is gonna become one of the predominant flavors
in your stuffing.
Add the stock a little bit at a time
giving it a mix between additions
along with one large beaten egg for structure.
We wanna get the cornbread saturated with stock
to the point that it's almost falling apart
but still retaining its shape.
Now, normally, I am a staunch opponent
of raisins in stuffing
but in cornbread, it kinda makes sense.
It's sweeter, it's a little cakier and like many people,
I prefer not to actually stuff my turkey with stuffing.
It basically guarantees
that you're gonna overcook the rest of your turkey
by the time the stuffing comes up to a safe temperature.
Plus, if you set aside a few dozen cornbread chunks,
you can press them into the top
both to add a little crunch, a little visual flair
and to really drive home that this is cornbread.
Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and bake at 375 for 25 minutes
removing the foil and baking
for an additional 15 to get some nice brownage on the top.
And there you have it.
After you let it cool for like 10 minutes,
you got cornbread stuffing
that doesn't turn into a pile of cornbread paste.
Just watch those moisture levels because it wants to
but you can't let it.
The stuff is delicious but as far as this episode,
this is where tradition stops
because now we're venturing into the brave new world
of stuffings we made up.
First off, what is apparently my knee-jerk reaction
whenever I need to put a spin on something?
Italian style stuffing.
For this, we're using a small loaf
of store-bought olive focaccia.
Make sure not to use the oily gourmet stuff
otherwise you're gonna get greasy stuffing.
Now, instead of sausage, I thought a cool way to go
might be fried pancetta and prosciutto.
So I got about half a pound of pancetta here
that I'm browning and crisping
and then in the pancetta fat,
I'm going to fry the prosciutto.
The only reason I'm cooking this one
is because I wanna put as little fat as possible
into the stuffing
so that we don't end up having to dab it with a napkin
like a slice of pepperoni pizza.
Once the roughly four ounces of chopped prosciutto
are crisped up,
we're continuing with the vegetables as before
just without the celery.
That is the only difference.
Oh, we're also doubling the garlic.
Oh and we're also adding two ounces
of chopped sun-dried tomatoes
and three ounces of chopped artichoke hearts.
Oh and an ounce of pine nuts but that's it.
We're sauteing these all together for about three minutes
until, I don't know, cooked.
Dumping it over our air or oven dried focaccia cubes.
I think I made way too much meat
so I'm only adding about half of what I prepared.
The website's recipes will reflect as such.
And then from there on out,
it's actually the same procedure as the last stuffing.
Greased cast iron baking vessel wrapped in aluminum foil
350 for 25 minutes,
uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Optionally grating some Parmigiano Reggiano overtop
before returning it to the womb
after which it will emerge golden brown, crisp
and ready to confuse and delight your Thanksgiving guests.
This stuff tastes distinctly Italian
and it deliciously stands on its own
but it's gonna play nice
with whatever you mash it together with
on your Thanksgiving plate.
Next and last, I wanna try something really and truly crazy,
biscuit stuffing.
Yes, of course you could make your own biscuits
but I'm just using the biscuits out of the pop can
both because it's way easier
and because homemade biscuits might commit the sin
of being flaky, buttery and tender
whereas these are more like biscuit style products
which once cooled completely,
slices easily into stuffing appropriate cubes
which we're gonna give the same treatment as the rest.
Meanwhile, for the meat,
since we're already going kinda crazy with this one,
let's use bacon, a lot of bacon.
So large, they require a splash of water
to help the fat render out
during the earlier parts of cooking
preventing them or their fat from burning
by the time they get crisp.
Let those drain on paper towels
and saute our onion and celery in the reserved fat,
killing the heat and finishing with one teaspoon each
chopped rosemary and thyme,
about half a teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg
and a tablespoon of chopped fresh sage.
Let those flavors just barely get to know each other
talking corporate Christmas party
and then likewise, combine them in a large bowl
with the biscuit cubes and giant chunks of crispy bacon.
Saturate with stock until just barely fully saturated,
mixing between each addition,
adding an egg after the first addition,
et cetera, et cetera
and why not, eight ounces of grated cheddar cheese.
About as ridiculous and unhealthy a thing
as I can possibly imagine.
What better way to celebrate America?
Dump and press into a well buttered baking vessel.
Cover with aluminum moon foil and then same procedure,
350 for 25 minutes then uncover and 15 to 20 minutes more.
And there you have it, biscuit, bacon, cheddar stuffing.
Hubris in a bowl.
Every bit as delicious and irresponsible and awesome
and loaded with saturated fat as it sounds.
So if you wanna take a break
from all the traditional Thanksgiving salads
and fresh fruit,
this could be a new bold direction to go in.
It'd also make a really great breakfast casserole
if you mixed a few more eggs in there.
Now all we need to complete our Thanksgiving table
is a turkey probably and a great cocktail
and I think something hot and malt will be just perfect.
So I'm simmering 24 ounces of apple cider
with a few cinnamon sticks
and some freshly grated nutmeg for about 10 minutes
then fresh off the boil,
we are straining it into a heatproof container
and adding nine ounces of the Singleton Single Malt Scotch
giving it a spirited mix and that's it.
Serve in a glass mug with a cinnamon stick
and some freshly grated nutmeg for garnish
and we got here is autumn in a glass.
Thanks again to the Singleton Single Malt Scotch Whiskey
for partnering with me on this episode
and more episodes to come next year.
The Singleton, it is super versatile and mixable,
a good choice for those
who are still learning about whiskey.
With notes of honey, brown sugar and cooked apples,
the Singleton is a great complement
to whatever you're cooking this fall.
To get a bottle of this award-winning
single malt for yourself,
head to the link in the video description.
(calm music)