In her superior Greek cookbook, The Olive and The Caper, Susanna Hoffman offers this typical poultry stuffing brimming with very-Greek ingredients. Suzi and I are pondering this question: will we use this stuffing this year in our Thanksgiving turkey.
I think we will, but our discussions have reminded us of something that probably haunts you as well: that Thanksgiving meal is so iconic that any deviations from turkey-potatoes-gravy-stuffing-pumpkin-pie, well, any deviation is just hard to contemplate. Yet, when we consider a bird filled with figs, brandy, onion, chestnuts, pine nuts, and ground pork, we are tempted to experiment. After all, we always have Christmas to fall back on, a chance for a turkey dinner that is “standard” down to the whipped cream on the pie.
Susanna does offer a couple of notes to this recipe. First, a real Greek would add the bird’s liver sautéed and chopped to this stuffing but turkey liver is strong so Susanna suggests skipping this ingredient. Second, although fresh chestnuts are a bother to peel, the effort here pays off; peeled canned chestnuts are quite different and will disintegrate and become mushy in the stuffing — something that is not authentic and not tasty. A little chestnut labor will have you bonding with your bird.
Pork, Chestnut and Fig Stuffing
Yield: 3 pounds or 7 cups, enough for a 10-12 pound turkey
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup dried golden figs, preferably Kalimyrna, coarsely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon anise seeds
- ¾ cup brandy
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- ¾ cup chopped celery leaves
- 1 ½ pounds coarsely ground pork
- ½ cup pine nuts
- ¾ pound (about 18 large) chestnuts, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 ½ cups coarse fresh bread crumbs
- ¾ cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
- 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves, or ¾ teaspoon dried
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
Place the figs, anise seeds, and brandy in a covered bowl or jar and set it aside, covered, in the refrigerator overnight, or for several weeks. Drain, reserving both the fig mixture and the liquid.
Melt the butter in a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery leaves, and the drained figs and anise seeds. Sauté until the onions are well wilted, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.
Place the pork, pine nuts, chestnuts, bread crumbs, parsley, sage, salt, pepper, and reserved brandy in a medium-size bowl, add the onion mixture and mix well. Use right away, or cover and store in the refrigerator for as long as overnight. Bring to room temperature before using.
Source: The Olive and The Caper by Susanna Hoffman [Workman, 2004]