Grandma Fernanda’s Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe

My great great grandmother Fernanda’s 125-year-old stuffing recipe is a dish you have to try at the Thanksgiving table. My grandma, mother, aunts, cousins, siblings, and I continue with my great great grandmother’s traditional stuffing recipe.  This stuffing recipe truly is one of a kind and it has never been shared with anyone outside of the family. Hope you enjoy it as much as we love it!

Ingredients

This recipe makes a large portion of stuffing

• 3 boxes of  Mrs. Cubbison’s  Traditional Stuffing Seasoned Bread Crumbs- brown box
• 3 boxes of  Mrs.  Cubbison’s  Cornbread Stuffing Bread Crumbs- yellow box
• 3 pounds  of cooked lean hamburger meat with drippings
• 3 pounds of cooked Farmer John ground  breakfast sausage meat- with drippings
• 2 eggs- slightly mixed uncooked 
• 3 cups of finely chopped celery
• 1 1/4 cups of shredded/grated carrots
• 1 cup of finely diced green onions
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 1 can carnation evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon  garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 6 tablespoons of butter

Directions

1. Begin with a very large mixing bowl
2. Empty all of the 6 boxes of the traditional and cornbread stuffing into the large bowl
3. Cook the hamburger meat and season with garlic salt and pepper. Break up hamburger meat to the small pieces [crumble pea size pieces} 
4. In separate pan cook sausage, no seasoning, to pea sized pieces. It’s best to use a potato masher when cooking the hamburger meat and sausage. This helps to break it down to small pieces.
5. Once the hamburger meat and sausage are cooked, pour them into the bowl with the drippings into the stuffing mix.
6. Add chopped celery, diced green onions, and grated carrots. Mix well.
7. Allow these ingredients to cool and the flavors of the meats to soak into the stuffing mix for about 10-15 minutes.
8. Add UNCOOKED mixture/scramble eggs into stuffing mixture.
9. Add 1 can Carnation evaporated milk into mixture. Make sure to shake can well before opening.
10. Add 2 cups of  chicken broth then remaining broth a half a cup at a time
11. Mix all ingredients well, its best to mix with your hands, it will look and feel like a meatloaf texture.
12. It’s best to add the chicken broth a little at a time to make sure that your stuffing does not become too wet.  
13. Once the stuffing is all mix up place in ziplock  bags or large bowl,  refrigerate until you’re ready to stuff your turkey.

Making your stuffing a day or two ahead allows the flavors to incorporate together.

You will also have plenty of stuffing to place in a large casserole bowl, place about   4 tablespoons of butter on top of uncooked stuffing. Cover the casserole bowl with foil and bake for 40 minutes @ 350 

To stuff turkey, take the cold stuffing, stuff your turkey at the neck and chest cavity add  1 tablespoon of butter on top of the stuffing mix before baking your turkey. The reason you add the butter on top of the stuffing it adds to the flavors and keeps it from drying up.

ALWAYS USE COLD STUFFING  FOR YOUR TURKEY

If you choose not to cook all of your stuffing, you can also freeze it and use it at a later time. To stuff a chicken, turkey, or danish hen.

If you don’t have all the ingredients listed above go check out Channel Islands Harbor Farmer’s Market Fall Season Favorites!

This recipe is not for the faint of heart. So, if you want to try an easier stuffing recipe check out Remi Cruz’s website that is linked below. https://www.cookingwithremi.com/turkey-cranberry-stuffing-meatballs