Festive Stuffing
Another great traditional and essential accompaniment to any festive roast is a rich, bread based chicken liver stuffing. Being a great believer in cooking a savory stuffing separately from the turkey or poultry in order to speed up the lengthy cooking process of the bird, this recipe can be cooked in a non stick, lined loaf tin or oven proof dish. I prefer a loaf tin as it makes slicing easier when serving many guests. This stuffing can be made the day before and cooked alongside any roasting vegetables.
Ingredients
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Vegetable Filling
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60g unsalted butter
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1 medium red onion- finely chopped
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2 garlic- chopped
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2 sticks celery- thinly sliced
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100g black apricots- finely chopped
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100g button mushrooms- washed and thinly chopped
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Chicken Liver Filling
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60g unsalted butter
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450g chicken livers- trimmed and sinew removed
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280g black pudding- optional and thickly sliced
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2 tbsp sherry- optional or 2 tbsp lemon juice
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Seasoning- salt and black pepper
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200g fresh white breadcrumbs
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2 x eggs- beaten
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Decoration
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3 x lightly oiled bayleaves
Instructions
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Prepare all vegetable ingredients:
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01 Wash, clean and chop all vegetables.
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02 In a large frying pan, melt the butter allocated for the vegetable filling and cook all the chopped onions, garlic, celery until soft. Tip into large mixing bowl. Set aside.
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Prepare and cook chicken liver filling:
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03 Make sure the chicken livers are trimmed and all white sinews removed.
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04 Using the same pan, melt the butter allocated for the chicken livers and cook all the chicken livers quickly.
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05 Then add the black pudding. When both the chicken livers and the black pudding are lightly browned, raise the heat and flambé in sherry or add lemon juice if omitting the alcohol.
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06 Tip all this mixture into the mixing bowl with the vegetable filler ingredients. Now add breadcrumbs and all beaten eggs. Mix well again, and check the seasoning. Add sea salt and black pepper if required.
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Assemble to bake:
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07 Turn out into a non stick paper lined 500g loaf tin (see dimensions in Jules tips). Smooth the top and decorate with large lightly oiled bay leaves.
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08 Place in the oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes or so until firm to the touch an lightly browned.
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To serve:
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09 Allow to cool slightly in the tin before lifting out and removing the non stick paper. Serve on a plate and cut into thick slices ready to be enjoyed with the festive turkey and gravy.
Notes
Either chop the vegetables by hand or for a quick chop place onions, garlic, celery into a food processor and pulse quickly until vegetables are all relatively small pieces. Use scissors to remove any white sinews in the livers. This amazing stuffing can be made the day before and cooked in the oven alongside the turkey in its final hour of cooking. A 500g loaf tin is a standard loaf, dimensions 20cm long x 10cm wide x 5.5cm high.
