Ingredients
2 loaves good bread
4 large onions
1-2 heads garlic
2 pounds carrots
1 pound mushrooms
1 bunch fresh parsley
olive oil and/or butter
2 Tablespoons each of dried sage, rosemary, thyme
1 quart vegetable or chicken broth
salt and pepper
Details
This is classic "stuffing", originally intended to be stuffed in a large bird while baking, but I don't recommend that, because it creates some danger of food poisoning, and more important, it soaks up juices that rightfully belong to the
gravy. Also this is a big recipe that should easily serve 15 people, so you might want to cut it in half.
For the bread, I recommend whole grain, either sprouted or sourdough. I like to use one loaf of each, ideally Ezekiel or Alvarado sprouted bread and local whole wheat or partial-whole wheat sourdough. Or better yet,
make sourdough bread yourself!
The first thing you have to do is cut the bread up into cubes, put it on a couple big trays in the oven, and toast/dry it for about an hour at 200 degrees. This will drive out the flavorless water and make room to replace it with broth.
Next, cut up the onions, peel the garlic, and cook them with the oil in a big covered pot on the stove. The exact quantities of veggies are not that important. I've found the easiest way to process garlic is not to cut it, but just throw the whole cloves in with onions, and then mash them with a fork when they get soft. Keep the temperature low enough that the onions don't turn black. Cut up the carrots and throw them in when the onions are mostly soft. Then cut up the mushrooms and throw them in, and also the dried spices. (If you're using dried parsley instead of fresh parsley, add it now.) Cook until the carrots start to get soft. I know stuffing usually has celery, but I don't like it, and also it's one of the more toxic natural foods.
Now, if your pot is big enough, add the bread, the parsley, and the broth, and mix it all up. If your pot is not big enough, you'll have to do the mixing in multiple smaller pots or bowls. I use Imagine broth, because it's higher quality than Pacific, the other major organic brand. Also I prefer low-sodium broth because they all use refined salt and I like to add my own unrefined salt.
Now you might want to put all the stuffing in a couple glass pans and bake it in the oven for 20 minutes or so, to brown the top and mix the flavors. Then eat it!
(public domain, anti-copyright, 27 november 2008, last updated November 2009)