Mom's Holiday Turkey and Dressing

Submitted by Suzie

"What can I say? It's a bit of work and time consuming, but it's one of those hand-me-down recipes that keeps you grounded. You know the kind. My grandmother, Baba, (Russian for old lady) learned this from the woman she worked for during the depression. Baba taught mom. Mom taught me, and I taught my 39 yr. old daughter who faithfully makes it every year. NOTE: Not sure of package size for stuffing cubes."

 

• Ready In: 10hrs
• Ingredients: 17
• Yields: 1 turkey and dressing
• Serves: 14

ingredients

• 25 lbs turkey
• 1 turkey heart
• 2 turkey gizzards
• 1 turkey neck
• 1 turkey liver
• 1 -2 lb breakfast sausage (optional, but adds flavor)
• 1 medium onion
• 1⁄4 cup parsley flakes
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper
• 1 -2 bunch celery
• 3 -5 medium onions
• 2 (16 ounce) packages stuffing cubes
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper
• 3⁄4 lb oleo (divided) or 3/4 lb butter (divided)
• 64 ounces water

directions

1. Make your dressing the day before your meal.
2. Remove heart, gizzards, liver and neck from thawed turkey and place in pan with enough water to keep covered while boiling; skim off foam.
3. Add salt, pepper, onion, parsley flakes and bay leaf.
4. Cook about 3 hours or until tender; remove from heat; save broth for later.
5. Depending on size of turkey, grind the celery, onions, heart, gizzards, liver and meat from neck.
6. In 10 inch fry pan, fry ground up mixture in 1/4 lb. oleo or butter until water evaporates; cool.
7. In a large roaster, using your hands, combine stuffing cubes and eggs with fried mixture; moisten with broth. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Refrigerate overnight.
9. To prepare turkey, stuff both cavities with the dressing and close up.
10. Melt oleo or butter; pour over turkey.
11. Cover wings and legs with foil.
12. Pour remainder of broth on turkey.
13. If needed, add water so you have 2 inches of liquid in roaster.
14. Roast at 375 degrees for 3/4 hour uncovered.
15. Turn oven down to 325 degrees; cover and continue cooking until legs begin to pull away from turkey.
16. Baste occasionally.
17. From a distance, make sure the little ones get to see that bird coming out of the oven to be basted. It's a real treat for them.
18. When done, remove stuffing to serving dish.
19. Good luck removing turkey from roaster. Carve, serve, and give thanks.

Reviews

[A Fox Named Mulder]

I tried this recipe yesterday with a very small turkey just to see if it was worth doing at Christmas. Everyone loved it, even my very picky husband! I love the simplicity of the recipe and the ingredients. Best dressing recipe we've ever had. Thanks for posting this!