There's a few things my grandma is known for in our family: cinnamon rolls, Christmas sugar cookies, cheesecake and dressing, to name a few. She keeps most of her recipes in a pull-down, wooden box attached to the wall in her kitchen. I'd say it's a small box, but it's actually pretty large. There's so many recipes inside that box. When I was at her home the last holiday get-together, I took pictures of every recipe inside that container hoping that one day I would bake my way through it or find her golden recipes that one day I could make for my grandkids.
Today my cooking adventure took me through the dangers of the broilers and treacherous waters of boiling veggies. Did this succeed in the end? To be determined....
The recipe from the box (word for word)
Dressing
4 C chicken, cooked and cut
4 C chicken broth
12 eggs
4.5 C milk
1 stick butter, browned
3 t salt
1 t fresh ground pepper
4 C cubed potatoes
3 C carrots
2.5 C celery
1.5 C onion, chopped
36-40 slices bread, toasted (about 2 loaves)
Toss together then pour into well-buttered pan. Bake at 300 degrees until puffed up.
So here's the carrots, onions, and celery all chopped up together. Place in large pot and almost over with water. Heat till boiling, then simmer for about 10 minutes or half-way cooked. Once half-way cooked, add potatoes below.
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When cutting up the potatoes, remember to place them in a bowl of water to prevent them from browning before use. Once added to the pot of veggies, let simmer for an additional 10-20 minutes, or until cooked. The small chunks don't take too long to soften.
Buy extra bread! I think I burned half a loaf because the broiler kept playing jokes on me. "Not done yet." Then it laughed at me saying, "Just kidding sucker, it's waaayyyy too done now."
This was the egg/liquid mixture MINUS the browned butter. Alongside of it is the cooked chicken. Mom told me that any chicken is fine to use, but bone-in meat will be juicier, and it was. I added a good little bit of water to some bone-in thighs and then microwaved till cooked. Slow-cooking or baking is fine too though. I kept this extra chicken broth from the thighs to add to the final dressing mixture when figuring out the right consistency before baking (see video to be posted below, sorry it came out sideways).
Once the ingredients are mixed together and placed into baking dishes, you're almost ready to go. At this point, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Don't leave the butter alone. On low-medium heat, stir the butter until it turns brown, hence "brown butter." Pour over dressing and throw in the oven, not literally though. That'd be a waste of hard work :)
According to the recipe, bake till puffed up. I supposed only years of cooking would know exactly how long that would be when trying to time this correctly. After a few calls to grandma, it takes around an hour or so. I baked at 300 degrees for 40 minutes and then turned it up to 400 degrees for 20 minutes since I was a little rushed. It turned out great though! If your edges start to turn brown, cover with foil and place back in oven until fully cooked.
According to the recipe, bake till puffed up. I supposed only years of cooking would know exactly how long that would be when trying to time this correctly. After a few calls to grandma, it takes around an hour or so. I baked at 300 degrees for 40 minutes and then turned it up to 400 degrees for 20 minutes since I was a little rushed. It turned out great though! If your edges start to turn brown, cover with foil and place back in oven until fully cooked.
What's great about making dressing? It can be made ahead of time and frozen! Just thaw and bake. Also, if it's already baked, freeze the leftovers if there's plenty. It'll make a great dinner later on this winter - veggies, meat, potatoes, and bread all in one dish.
From grandma's kitchen, to mine, to yours - ENJOY!!
