PINEAPPLE STUFFING

Many years ago, my friend, Poppy, served us this wonderful stuffing with a ham dinner.  So enamored with the stuffing was I that I asked her for the recipe, and she was happy to oblige.  I cut the sugar in half, and we find it plenty sweet, but feel free to add more sugar if you like things uber-sweet.  I also added slightly more pineapple, and instead of using all canned, some of it was freshly cut.  Admittedly, it’s not your usual stuffing, but it goes perfectly with ham.  And everyone -- even fussy hubby --  seems to like it.

I covered the stuffing for the first 20 minutes, then took the cover off to let the stuffing brown and crisp up.  I had no problem finding someone who would take the leftover stuffing home, and I was thereby saved from carb overload.  Surely, I would have eaten it all, it's that good.

Pineapple Stuffing Adapted from Poppy Reynolds Rating:  9.5 out of 10 Click for PRINTABLE PAGE

INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup (1 stick) very soft butter 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup white sugar 3 eggs, whisked lightly 1 cup crushed pineapple with juices 1 cup fresh pineapple, cut in small chunks 8 cups firm white bread, cut in cubes, baked @250F for 1/2 hour and cooled Heat oven to 325F.  In large bowl, cream butter and sugars.  Add whisked eggs and beat well.  Fold in pineapple with juices and bread cubes.  Spoon mixture into buttered baking dish and bake, covered, for 15-20 minutes, then uncovered for an additional 25– 35 minutes, or till top is nicely crunchy and golden brown and everything is cooked through.  Serve with ham.  Yield:  8-10 servings

GERMAN POTATO STUFFING & CHRISTMAS DINNER MENU

It's a little late to be posting about Christmas dinner, but that's how far behind I am in my posts. There were only 4 of us this year: Guy, me, our son and a friend who recently lost his wife. So there's really no reason not to have good photos, except that, as I've explained before, photography is just not my thing. Here is my one lone photo of the stuffing, which tastes awesome, BTW. It's long been our favorite stuffing in this house. I use it for roast chicken and turkey and it also makes a great side dish anytime of the year. You can jazz it up with dried cranberries, raisins or cherries, none of which my fussy hubby will eat, so we have it plain. It's so good plain that I really don't miss any extras. I usually make it with mushrooms, but my son doesn't eat mushrooms, so we really had it plain this year, and it was still amazing. Everyone had seconds.

Our menu for Christmas dinner was roast turkey and gravy, ala Emeril; German Potato Stuffing; a new and easy recipe for candied sweet potatoes which will follow shortly; cucumber salad, recipe also to follow; homemade cranberry-apple sauce; crudites sans dip (celery, carrots, olives, radishes); and Pillsbury Crescent rolls. For dessert, we had Blueberry crumb pie, recipe to follow shortly.

I've made German Potato Stuffing from scratch many times; but in recent years I've taken a shortcut and used Peppridge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing Mix. I like the mix of white and wheat breads, and the mix is seasoned perfectly. Peppridge Farm is quality, so I don't mind subbing with their products. The job of making this stuffing gets cut in half with their stuffing mix. This is one recipe you should try, because it's super good and will get you rave reviews.

German Potato Stuffing (for a 15 lb. turkey)

Source: Judy's Kitchen

Rating: 10 out of 10
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INGREDIENTS:
2 medium potatoes

4 Tbsp. (half stick) unsalted butter

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

optional but good: 1 cup sliced mushrooms

optional: 1/2 cup raisins, craisins or dried cherries

1-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

4 cups Peppridge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing

Peel and quarter potatoes and boil in salted water to cover till tender. Drain; mash with fork; set aside. In very large saute pan or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add celery, onion and mushrooms (if using) and cook about 5-6 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dried fruit if using. Pour broth over veggies and stir, loosening any bits on bottom of pan. Bring to a boil; off heat; stir mashed potatoes and stuffing mix into broth mixture till combined. Remove from heat and set aside to thoroughly cool if using to stuff bird.  (Or place in buttered covered casserole dish if baking separately from bird.)

Note: You can also use leftover mashed potatoes to make this fabulous stuffing, but I prefer fresh mashed with no butter or milk added. It's nice to have little lumps of potatoes in the stuffing. And, if you use red potatoes with the skin, the bits of skin add fiber and minerals as well as texture to the stuffing.

DADDY'S GERMAN FILLING

Holidays make me a little sad. The reason for this is that we're not near our children. One son lives on the west coast, and the other lives in western North Carolina. Brothers and sisters are scattered throughout the country as well. So for most holidays, we are alone. I've tried to buffer that by inviting other "orphans" in our community to eat with us. But there aren't too many of them -- most neighbors travel to be with their children/grandchildren; others have their children/gradnchildren visiting them. This year, we anticipated sharing Christmas dinner with 7 others, but 5 of them canceled out for various reasons, leaving just 4 of us for Christmas. Four is better than 2. Two days before Christmas, our son in western North Carolina said he would come. His wife is from Hubert, and she had dinner with her family while he dined with us. Since they had to drive 4-1/2 hours one way and had to return home the same day, it didn't leave them much wiggle room. (They breed, raise and train dogs and had to get back for them.) We had a wonderful time with our friends and our son and I only got sad when our west coast son called because I wanted him to also be with us.

Guy decided he wanted to make my father's filling, which conjured up more memories for me. I grew up with this filling and am so glad that one day I sat with my father and wrote down the recipe ingredients. My father delighted in making this authentic German recipe, every Thanksgiving and every Christmas, year after year, and boasted that no one could duplicate it, because no one else had the patience to chop the vegetables fine enough. He would painstakenly peel whole mushrooms. And he chopped for hours till everything was almost a paste. As we threw the pre-washed, sliced mushrooms into the Cuisinart, followed by the other ingredients that needed chopping, I wondered what my father would think of this new way to make his filling. If he had been here to taste it, I know he would have given his approval. Shortcuts or not, it tasted just like Dad's. Everyone had seconds. To explain what it's like, I call it a sausage meatloaf. It slices like a meatloaf. It tastes divine. Thanks, Dad -- your recipe lives on.

Daddy's German Filling
INGREDIENTS: 3-4 Tbsp. butter, margarine or Smart Balance
1 medium-sized onion
1/2 green pepper
1/2 lb. mushrooms
3/4 of 1 stalk celery
Liver and Giblets of turkey or chicken
3/4 lb. plain pork sausage (My father used breakfast sausage)
2 eggs
1/2 cup -3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup plain bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste (Try 1 tsp. sea salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper)

DIRECTIONS: In food processor, chop mushrooms, onion and pepper -- each separately. (I used pulse so I could check the conditions of the veggies.) The mushrooms will chop fine enough, but the onion and pepper you may need to stop before they get too watery and then finish chopping them by hand until there are no large pieces left. In a large frying pan, slowly saute the veggies till transparent and beginning to brown in butter or margarine (I used Smart Balance). Transfer sauteed veggies to large mixing bowl. (If fry pan is large enough, you can let the veggies cool in it and then mix the filling in it.)

Chop the celery in the food processor, and finish by hand if needed, so that it is chopped very fine, almost like a paste. Transfer to mixing bowl. Chop the Giblets and Liver in the food processor. Transfer to the mixing bowl with the celery.

Add the pork sausage, eggs, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Mix with clean hands till well combined. Add enough milk to make a soft meatloaf. It should not be soupy, but it should not be firm either; it should be somewhat loose. Refrigerate overnight or bake immediately at 350F for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours (or till instant read thermometer inserted in center registers 165F).
(I baked mine in a round Pyrex dish, where I could see clearly how it was cooking. ) Serve with turkey or chicken. Serves 8-12 people, depending on appetites (Leftovers are great served cold alone or on a sandwich with turkey or chicken.)

NOTE: I do not recommend stuffing the bird with this mixture, since the stuffing, being in the center, takes longer to cook than the bird. You'll have to cook the stuffing to 165F and by that time the breast meat will be quite dry.