Chestnut Stuffing
September 25th, 2008The Fireside Cook Book
James Beard
1949
Doug and I cannot figure out why the secret isn’t out yet. Every Saturday morning we go to the farmers’ market and buy a pack of turkey thighs from Dipalo Farm and they are SO FABULOUS. Moist, meaty, flavorful, versatile, they are by far the best part of the turkey. Juicy thighs totally kick dry, tasteless breast meat ass. I have roasted thighs, fried them, glazed them, tandoori-ed them, and this week I stuffed them! Well, to be perfectly honest, I brined them, and then roasted them on top of a glorious heap of stuffing made from The Fireside Cook Book.
The stuffing contains 1 pound of chestnuts roasted, shelled and peeled, 1 large onion, 4 Tbl fat, 2 Tbl parsley, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp rosemary, 3 cups dried bread crumbs, 1/4 cup melted butter or other fat, and chopped giblets. Beard has a little side bar on this page that offers variations and I opted for the 1/2 cup raisins soaked in sherry. The recipe couldn’t be easier. The onion is cooked in the fat (I used Duck fat because why the hell not?), the herbs are added and then everything else is blended. I added an egg because I felt that it needed a binder and after all the duck fat I couldn’t bring myself to add another 1/4 cup of melted butter. Also, because I didn’t have giblets, I chopped and added the crispy duck skin that was the result of rendering the fat. The turkey thighs cooked on top for about an hour, dripping all their yummy goodness into the stuffing.
The turkey was divine, as always, and the stuffing was artery-clogging delicious.
A moment here to acknowledge the wonderful illustrations provided by Alice and Martin Provensen for this book:
p.s. This last illustration, if you can’t read it, says: “Four persons are wanted to make a salad. A spendthrift for oil, a miser for vinegar, a counselor for salt, and a madman to stir it all up.” I love that!
September 25th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire… Hey you’ve got me singing Christmas songs and we haven’t even had Halloween yet.
The stufing sounds delicious. Thanks for the great post.
September 29th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
That sounds amazing! I can’t wait to try turkey thighs.
And I love those pictures!
September 30th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Great advice it sounds delicious
October 5th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
That looks perfect! I cannot wait until chestnuts are readily available here, thanks for your recipe.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:14 am
I’m still using some of my ancient cookbooks. See if you can find “Gourmet Cooking for One (or more)” by Robert Graham Paris - Atheneum, 1968; and Children’s Gastronomique by Christine Ripault, Trans & Adapted for US by Charlotte Turgeon, Crown Publishers, 1968. Original french ed., 1966. These were my bibles for years, and I’m still using some of these recipes. The second is one I would still be giving to new mothers if I could get it. It’s perfect for giving instruction on correct portions by age of child and really great recipes for creating a young omnivore gourmet. And I was delighted to see the Vincent Price Great Recipes book - it’s still on my shelf. I’m going to try your meat muffins soon!
October 17th, 2008 at 6:54 am
What a fun cookbook :)!