fnar fnar. etc.

My stuffing was especially successful this year, even stuffing unfriendly mother wanted the recipe.  I am trying to remember it and preserve it for re-use.  As with most of my savoury things, it’s a little random so.. you know.. caveat coquus. Or some other latin bastardisation.

No Pork Stuffing for Poultry

2 x onion bagels, whizzed to crumbs (any breadcrumbs will do)

10 dried apricots, whizzed or chopped (soak them for 10 mins in boiling water if they’re a bit hard)

10 dates, whizzed or chopped  (soak them for 10 mins in boiling water if they’re a bit hard)

2 x eggs

zest of one unwaxed lemon

3 x large anchovies, or maybe 5-6 of they tincey ones

c. 75g butter

1 x large onion, chopped small or whizzed

4 x garlic cloves chopped small or whizzed

about 5 knuckle scrapings worth of ground nutmeg (maybe a level teaspoon?)

salt and pepper, generous amount

The anchovies and butter are to replace the flavour and fattiness that the traditional pork mince gives to the stuffing, to keep the breast lovely and moist while the legs cook.

1. Fry up the chopped onion and garlic in butter until they’re golden brown.
2. Turn off the heat. Pop the rest of the butter and the anchovies in and let it all melt in together. This will cool the mix down enough that it doesn’t start cooking the eggs when you mix them together, and deglaze the pan a little to take as much flavour out as possible.
3. Mix together the breadcrumbs, apricots, dates, nutmeg, lemon, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
4. Mix the eggs in the large bowl
5. Once the butter is all melted in the pan, mix the anchovies in til they’re all mushed, and mix in with the rest of the ingredients.
6. Add a little water if it’s too dry.
7. Stuff between the bird’s skin and breast etc

If you don’t have or don’t want to use dates or apricots, you can just sub either in totally, 20 total.

Recipes often call for you to stab the turkey leg in lots of places and stuff the holes with pancetta or bacon etc. This year’s experiment was to make one hole in the top of the drumstick, and use a finger to (carefully) separate the skin, then pour a melted butter and anchoving goo mix into the created pocket, then stuffed the hole with rosemary.  It worked pretty well and required less faff.

I forgot to take photos. It looked great.