Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 1 large 20+ pound turkey
Oven bag, dusted with flour (all-purpose or gluten free)
1 stalk celery, cut into both long and shorter pieces
2 onions, sliced into 4 pieces
2 apples, quartered, with seeds removed
1 pear, quartered, with seeds removed
For dressing:
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1½ giant onions, chopped
2 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped
1-2 pears, peeled and chopped
1 stick of butter, melted or ½ cup oil
1 16-ounce aseptic container of Swanson chicken broth
2+ cups dried white or dark raisins and/or Craisins
2–2½ loaves whole wheat bread (or 4 packages gluten free whole grain bagels), dried
black pepper
sweet basil
thyme
salt
combination of sweet and hot Hungarian paprika
For gravy:
2 pounds sliced mushrooms
¼-½ cup butter or olive oil
broth from turkey
additional seasonings
⅓ cup or more flour (I use brown rice flour, but you can use all-purpose)
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Directions: |
Directions:3-5 days before you plan to cook the turkey (depending on turkey size), defrost turkey in the fridge. If turkey is still semi-frozen on the day you make the dressing, you can finish defrosting turkey in sink full of cold water. Leave turkey in plastic wrap, and change water every half-hour until turkey is soft enough to take out giblets and neck. Pat turkey dry, wrap up and then return turkey to refrigerator.
The day before you plan to cook the turkey, dry wheat bread or gluten free bagels in the oven. Spread slices on rack and set oven at lowest temperature. When bread gets crusty, turn over so that both sides get dry. You may have to flip slices several times before bread is dry enough to crunch. (Be careful not to burn the bread – a light brown color is fine.) Remove bread from oven. After it has cooled down enough to touch it, crunch or tear up into small pieces (about 1 inch cubes).
In separate saucepan: Cover giblets (heart, gizzard, liver) and neck in chicken broth, add a little pepper and sweet basil, simmer slowly for about an hour. (If there isn't enough chicken broth to cover the giblets and neck, add a little water.) Remove neck and giblets and add raisins. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, then add to the following onion mixture.
To make dressing: Sauté the following in a Dutch oven: celery, onions, apples, pears, and butter or oil. Add a generous amount of black pepper, and smaller amounts of sweet basil and thyme. Add a small amount of paprika to the mix. (A little of both the sweet and hot paprika is best.) Salt to taste.
Cook until onion mixture is slightly soft, but not mushy. Then add raisin mixture to pot. Cool slightly, and then add dried bread. Mix together until moistened, adding water, if necessary. If you are going to cook the turkey right away, you can stuff it immediately. Otherwise, cool dressing in the refrigerator, and then stuff turkey just before baking, or bake separately in a greased covered casserole dish. If baking separately, pour a few cups of the gravy on top of the dressing just before you put it into the oven; bake covered for about an hour, and then uncover for an additional 15 minutes, to make it a little toasted on top.
To roast turkey: Use an oven bag to cook the turkey. Add a few tablespoons of (rice) flour to the bag, shake it up, and lay in roaster. Make a layer of celery ribs (crisscrossed), sliced onions and pears and granny smith apples, quartered, but not peeled. Stuff turkey after rubbing inside with a tablespoon or so of salt. (This pulls more juice into the dressing, making it taste even better.) Cook according to the oven bag directions. After the turkey is done, strain the broth from the turkey bag, making sure to squeeze all the juice out of the onions and celery in the bag as well. Save broth for the gravy.
Gravy: Sauté 2 pounds sliced mushrooms in olive oil or butter, stirring for 20 minutes, or until some of the mushroom juices have evaporated, and the mushrooms have begun to brown. Stir in the flour, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for another 2 minutes. Whisk in 1 cup of the broth from the turkey. Once incorporated, pour in the rest of the broth, and add the seasonings. Bring back to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Serve hot.
This recipe is easily made gluten-free by using rice flour and gluten free bagels. |
This recipe for Turkey and Dressing is from