I like to say that Thanksgiving turkey is a great excuse to eat stuffing and gravy. I like a traditional bread stuffing, bursting with sage, and I don’t like the vegetables to play a prominent role. Don’t get me wrong, they’re critical, but they should stay in the background. A little sweetness is also welcome, accomplished by a sprinkling of Craisins and the use of sweet challah. The “pan” challah from Cheryl Ann’s Bakery in Chestnut Hill is my choice; its shape lends itself to cutting into perfect one-inch cubes.

This is my first attempt to formalize my recipe, so the spices are all to-taste, no precise measurements.

A note about using the stuffing: food-safety paranoia is running at an all-time high these days, so many folks aren’t stuffing their poultry any more, to assure the meat gets fully cooked. If you happen to be one of those “crazies,” here’s a tip to getting all the great taste of poultry drippings into your plain-baked stuffing. Load up a greased casserole dish with stuffing, dot the top with teaspoons of shmaltz, and bake until hot and browned.

CHALLAH STUFFING

1 one-pound “pan” challah, cut into 1″ cubes
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms
olive oil
2 cups chicken broth, heated
1/2 cup dried, sweetened cranberries
sage
paprika
thyme
salt
pepper

Heat oven to 300 degrees.

Saute onion and celery in two tablespoons of olive oil until soft. Remove from pan and saute mushrooms until soft. Add mushrooms to onion and celery and set aside.

Spread challah cubes in single layer onto sheet pan and drizzle olive oil onto cubes to moisten. Sprinkle sage, paprika, and thyme generously over challah cubes. Bake in oven 15 minutes until golden brown. Let cool. At this point, you may opt to put the vegetables in the fridge and the cooled croutons into a large zipper-top bag and assemble a day or two later.

Toss half of toasted challah cubes with half of vegetable mixture and half of dried cranberries. Moisten evenly with 1 cup of warm chicken broth, mixing gently to avoid creating amorphous mush. Repeat with remaining ingredients and combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let cool and use to stuff a bird or bake in a casserole dish.

Updated Thanksgiving 2005 with a bit more detail.