Thanksgiving Turkey And Stuffing

[elburn]

Please forgive me if this has been posted before. This is our first family thanksgiving where my oldest is allergic to wheat, corn, eggs, dairy etc. We are coping with not having the pumpkin cheesecake from grandma. But what about the stuffing?? If I cook traditional stuffing in the bird, and Chris only eats the leg and wing or some of the white meat from the top, will he still get wheat and corn? Do the proteins flow through the bird? (I always cook the turkey upside down so the juices flow through the white breast.

Help!

[tarnalberry]

Definitely he cannot eat a bird stuffed with regular stuffing. You could make gluten free stuffing. You can also cook the stuffing outside of the bird - which is more sanitary and gets you a juicier bird anyway.

[Jestgar]

You could try a different kind of stuffing

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[momxyz]

Anybody had good luck just substituting a purchased gluten-free bread in their traditional stuffing recipe?

If so, what brand bread worked well for you?

Which brands were flops?

[missy'smom]

I don't care for the EnerG bread for sandwiches but the flavor and texture work very well for stuffing.

[Ahorsesoul]

In the past I've used any leftover gluten free bread or rolls that I've had in the freezer. I'd save pieces all year long so I'd have enough for my stuffing. It turns out OK but not great, a little heavier than the real thing.

This year I'll be using Udi bread so I'm hoping it will be more like the real thing.

My Aunt Ruth's Stuffing Recipe

10 slices bread, crumbled

4-5 sticks celery chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 lb. Jimmy Dean

[Jestgar]

I think I remember reading one year that it works better if you toast it, or dry it out first, but maybe someone who's done it more recently will chime in.

[homemaker]

This is also my first gluten free Thanksgiving...I have been practicing making my own bread...and I have been saving the end slices...and the loaves that did not rise very well and I have been making them into bread cubes for my stuffing...I plan on toasting them a bit before I use them...I have about 10 cups now enough to stuff a BIG Turkey!

I have made a practice stuffing and it came out pretty good...even hubby ate it !

[Ahorsesoul]

All year long, I do something Turkey related every fourth Thursday of the month (called Turkey Day) to prepare for Thanksgiving. I might review my menu, make a shopping list or try a new recipe. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around I know how everything will turn out. (yes, I also do Rudolph Day on the 25th of each month so I'm prepared for Christmas)

This site has some recipes and ideas:

Open Original Shared Link

[glutenfreekc]

Please forgive me if this has been posted before. This is our first family thanksgiving where my oldest is allergic to wheat, corn, eggs, dairy etc. We are coping with not having the pumpkin cheesecake from grandma. But what about the stuffing?? If I cook traditional stuffing in the bird, and Chris only eats the leg and wing or some of the white meat from the top, will he still get wheat and corn? Do the proteins flow through the bird? (I always cook the turkey upside down so the juices flow through the white breast.

Help!

It is also our first gluten free Thanksgiving... so I've been toying with some different Thanksgiving recipes...

[jerseyangel]

One year I used Whole Foods Bakeshop Sandwich Bread for stuffing and it was good--though I much preferred making a loaf of Gluten Free Pantry French Bread and using that. I thought it was lighter and had better flavor and texture as a stuffing.

I used a 1/2 loaf cut into cubes, sprinkled with poultry seasoning, and baked in a 300 oven until dried out. It took somewhere around 30-40 minutes to achieve this, checking often. Then, I just made the stuffing as I always have and cooked it alongside the turkey in a separate pan.

Another delicious way is to use cornbread broken up and dried out.

[amberlynn]

There's only a few of us that eat the dressing here, so I've been saving odd pieces of bread loaves that I've baked in the freezer . Turns out, my loaves that don't rise make excellent croutons, lol! So, I'm going to cut of the pieces in the freezer and toast them for the stuffing first, then add all the ingredients and bake. We never put it in the bird.

[DMarie]

I have tried stuffing before, and it was okay...but needs improvement.

I have toasted the bread crumbs in the oven. Something seems wrong with that though. The stuffing never gets "soft." I end up adding ALOT (and I do mean ALOT) of broth, butter - something to get the toasted bread cubes to absorb the liquids to get the texture I am looking for.

Does anyone else have this problem?

I am kind of wondering about the recipes that use Van's frozen waffles. I am resistant to that though. Something seems wrong with using waffles for stuffing. Maybe I should just try it. Might be the best stuffing ever!

BUT...I have been saving bread cubes for the last month or so. So I would really like to use up what I already have. What would happen if I don't toast the bread cubes first? OR...should I just lightly toast?

[homemaker]

I have tried stuffing before, and it was okay...but needs improvement.

I have toasted the bread crumbs in the oven. Something seems wrong with that though. The stuffing never gets "soft." I end up adding ALOT (and I do mean ALOT) of broth, butter - something to get the toasted bread cubes to absorb the liquids to get the texture I am looking for.

Does anyone else have this problem?

I am kind of wondering about the recipes that use Van's frozen waffles. I am resistant to that though. Something seems wrong with using waffles for stuffing. Maybe I should just try it. Might be the best stuffing ever!

BUT...I have been saving bread cubes for the last month or so. So I would really like to use up what I already have. What would happen if I don't toast the bread cubes first? OR...should I just lightly toast?

I also noted this on my trial stuffing that I made up before Thanksgiving....It seemed as though I had to add alot of liquid or something...maybe others can commnet on their experiences...

[DMarie]

I also noted this on my trial stuffing that I made up before Thanksgiving....It seemed as though I had to add alot of liquid or something...maybe others can commnet on their experiences...

Okay, so in my searching today, I ran across something that mentioned Bette Hagman's recipe for stuffing. I have one of her recipe books at home so decided to see how she made hers.

I have to say - this confirms what you and I already experienced previously, which was that we had to add ALOT of liquid. For me in particular, drying out the cubes seemed to make it worse because it took forever to moisten back up. I don't put apple in mine (I would like it but I don't think the rest of the fam would) - but at least you can see the ratio of bread cubes to broth (and it would appear that the bread cubes do not need to be dried out). Bette Hagman says that this recipe is the closest you can get to Stove-Top Stuffing. I am going to try a mini-run with this Thursday night. We have our annual Thanksgiving lunch at work - and it would be nice to have stuffing with my turkey!

Below is Bette Hagman's recipe, from "The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods."

Apple-Celery Dressing

2-1/2 cups gluten-free bread cubes

1-2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine or butter

1 large apple, peeled, cored, and diced

1 cup diced celery

1/2 cop chopped onion

1 egg, beaten

1 cup (more or less) chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Place bread cubes in large mixing bowl. Stir in the poultry seasoning.

In a large skillet, melt the margarine and saute the apple, celery, and onion until the apple and onion are translucent. Add this mixture to the bread cubes, along with the egg. Mix in the chicken broth, a little at a time, until the dressing has the texture you desire. (If baked separately, you will probably like a moist texture. When you stuff a fowl or place the dressing next to a pork roast, the juices from the meat will add to the moisture and you may prefer a drier dressing.) Season with salt.

To bake separately, place the dression in a 2-quart greased casserole and bake for 1 hour at 375. Makes 6 - 8 servings.

[Ahorsesoul]

I've always said the best recipes are those that use strange ingredients that you'd never pair together. So waffles for suffing probably would make fantasic dressing.

I never toast my bread cubes. Just use fresh bread.

[brendygirl]

By the way, you can't get just any turkey (many are injected with broth).

Nothing a celiac eats can even touch the same cutting board, knives, dishes, etc. as anything with gluten, due to cross contamination.

My friend made gluten free cornbread stuffing last year. It was a hit with everyone. She also made a Quinoa stuffing, which was kinda good too. Everyone pigged out. The gluten-free pie was awesome. Just from a crust mix.

You SURELY can have Pumpkin Cheesecake! WHy not? Just use Gluten Free Graham Crackers or Graham Cracker crumbs for the crust. I love it. Some people mash up gluten-free gingersnap cookies for crusts. Come on, now! You can do it!

[jabberwife]

I made two different kinds of gluten-free stuffing for our Thanksgiving this year (I made them up to the point of baking and froze them - will defrost and bake on the big turkey day!) I already taste-tested them both. They're great. Check out my blog (address on my profile, can't put it here!) for the recipe. I baked my own "french" bread for the non-cornbread stuffing. For the cornbread stuffing, I baked cornbread, just substituting the flour with sorghum flour and a touch of xanthan gum, and proceeded as I did with the french bread stuffing. I didn't really "Toast" my bread cubes, just dried them out in the oven at 300 degrees for a while. I even made gluten-free gravy!

And you can make a gluten-free, DF pumpkin cheesecake. If you can find that Tofutti cream "cheese" I bet that'll work! Use any gluten-free boxed cookie for the crust. I've used gluten-free gingersnaps before as a crust for cheesecake and they worked wonderfully.

Good luck!

[jabberwife]

Oh - one more thing. Check out gluten free goddess dot blogspot dot com. She has a TON of vegan, gluten-free, corn-free recipes that can work for just about anyone with any allergy/intolerance! She has wonderful Thanksgiving recipes on there too - I plan on making her sweet potato pie. Yum...

[DMarie]

Bette Hagman says that this recipe is the closest you can get to Stove-Top Stuffing. I am going to try a mini-run with this Thursday night.

Okay, so I did make this last Thursday night, and wanted to post how it turned out. I really liked this stuffing! The texture was more of what I was looking for. I did not toast my bread cubes, just thawed them out from the freezer. When I put the broth in, I let it sit for the broth to soak in. I ended up breaking up my bread cubes a little bit to make sure it absorbed the broth as it cooked. I might not have needed to do this, but even letting it sit, it didn't seem to be absorbing all of the broth. No worries though, all was fine in the cooked stuffing.

That said, the top was just slightly crunchy (I cooked it uncovered) and under that it was soft and flavorful. Soft may not be the right word - but reminded me of stuffing that has been cooked inside the turkey.

This will be the recipe I will be following for our Thanksgiving!