December 2nd, 2009
Stuffing may be the last word you want to hear right now, but there was so much interest in my challah stuffing experiment, I thought it worthy of a follow-up.
Since E was celebrating Thanksgiving with us for the first time, I had to reconsider all of my recipes to make them kosher. My typical spinach-artichoke-brie stuffing wouldn’t work with turkey (no milk and meat mixed). I found a recipe for stuffing with fennel, apples and raisins on Williams-Sonoma (perfect!) but when my Mom shopped for baguettes she returned with challah, not wanting to trip-up with something unkosher. My feathers were ruffled at the thought of soggy stuffing since challah has a different texture but I asked for opinions on Twitter.
Since the majority of replies were favorable, I decided to give it a go. Then I encountered the next stuffing issue: milk! Milk can be substituted for soy in many recipes, so I knew what I had to do. But could challah soy milk stuffing actually be good? Oh yes it can! A bonus is that this worked perfectly for my vegetarian relatives. It really satisfies a lot of food restrictions without skimping on flavor. If you don’t need a non-dairy stuffing I would still encourage you to shake your fear of soy! It adds a lovely sweetness that works perfectly with the apples and raisins.
Here is the recipe for the “perfectly pareve” stuffing with fennel, leeks raisins and apples. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
I multiplied to yield a dish for 30 people but adjust according to your guests.
3 challah torn into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 sticks margarine
10 shallots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick
slices
3 fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 leeks, thinly sliced
3 cups toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
6 Fuji or McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and cut
into 1/4-inch dice
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 1/2 tsp. finely ground coriander
6 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
6 tsp. chopped fresh sage
3 cups golden raisins
12 cups soy milk
Directions:
Spread the challah out on a baking sheet and let dry overnight.
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Spread margarine on a 13-by-9-inch baking dish.
In a fry pan over medium heat, melt the margarine. Add the shallots and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the fennel, leeks, walnuts and apples and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is tender, 3 to 4 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, combine the bread and the shallot mixture. Add the coriander, thyme, sage, raisins and the soy milk and stir gently to mix. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until the milk is absorbed, about 30 minutes. If the dressing seems dry, add more milk as needed. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.
Transfer the dressing to the prepared baking dish and bake until browned and crispy, about 1.5 hours.
Related Posts:
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