Mushroom-Flavored Forcemeat Stuffing

From Ruth Van Waerebeek’s “Everybody Eats Well in Belgian Cookbook.” She uses it as the stuffing in her Christmas Turkey recipe, which I use on Thanksgiving. The stuffing takes a fair amount of prep (and those porcini mushrooms can be hard to find and expensive; I've started skipping them), but people absolutely love it. It's got a rich, complex taste completely different from the traditional bread-and-herb stuffing. (I looked it up: Forcemeat comes from the French “farce,” to stuff. The forcemeat stuffing is more like a meatloaf.) This recipe is enough for a 12 to 14 pound turkey.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon dried porcini mushrooms
• 1⁄2 cup hot water
• 10  slices  stale firm  white bread, crusts removed
• 1 1⁄2 cups milk
• 1  turkey liver, trimmed of fat and discolored spots, rinsed and patted dry
• 3  tablespoons cognac
• 3  tablespoons port wine
• 4  tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1  large onion, finely chopped
• 6  ounces fresh white mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed, and thickly sliced
• 4  ounces  fresh  oyster mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and thickly sliced
• 4  ounces  fresh shiitake mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and thickly sliced
• 1  lb  ground veal
• 1  lb  ground fresh  pork butt
• 2  large  egg yolks
• 15  fresh sage leaves, finely minced (or 1 tablespoon dried sage)
• 2  tablespoons  finely minced fresh parsley
• 1  tablespoon dried thyme
• 1  tablespoon salt, plus additional to taste
• 1  teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, plus additional to taste
• 1  pinch  of freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

1. Soak porcini mushrooms in the hot water for 20 minutes. Squeeze the mushrooms dry and finely chop. Strain the soaking liquid and reserve. Tear the bread into pieces and soak in the milk. Coarsely chop the liver and marinate in the Cognac and port.
2. Melt the butter the in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add all the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are nicely browned and dry, about 10 minutes.
3. Place the ground meats in a large mixing bowl. Squeeze the soaking bread by handfuls to eliminate as much of the liquid as possible, and add it to the ground meat. Add the turkey liver with the marinade. Add the mushroom mixture, the egg yolks, sage, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Knead the mixture together with your hands until very well blended. Sauté a small bit of stuffing in a little butter; taste and adjust the seasoning.