Mary Berry's Sage & Onion Stuffing

Name: Mary Berry's Sage & Onion Stuffing
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 pound (450g) onions, peeled and chopped; 1 1/3 cups (300ml) water; 1/3 cup (75g) butter melted (plus more to butter the baking dish); 1 TBS chopped fresh sage leaves; 1/2 pound/8 slices (225g) fresh soft white bread crumbs; salt and black pepper to taste; butter to dot over the top of the dish

Tuesday, 17 November 2020

I am so excited about sharing this recipe with you today for Mary Berry's Sage & Onion Stuffing. I don't know about you, but the stuffing is my favourite part of any holiday meal. I could eat just a plate of stuffing and nothing else.

I had always made my mother's stuffing and loved it, but I discovered Mary Berry's stuffing a few years ago and fell in love with it. I have been making it Mary's way ever since!

Mary Berry is not only an expert baker, as her reputation from the GBBO suggests. She is also an expert in all types of cooking. I trust her recipes implicitly. They are impeccable.

I don't know about you, but I miss her on the GBBO. In my opinion, although it is still a good show, it just has not been the same without her on it. She was the best.

One reason I have fallen in love with this stuffing is because of the simplicity of its preparation. It takes relatively few ingredients and goes together very quickly.

Simple ingredients put together in an incredibly delicious way, but then again, you would expect nothing less from Mary Berry. Just the name implies perfection.

For this you will need to peel and chop some onions. One pound to be exact, which may sound like a lot, but trust me, this is the perfect amount. These are covered with cold water and brought to the boil.

You then simmer them for about 15 minutes, until they are meltingly soft. You will need to drain them at that point. Make sure you drain them really well so that you don't end up with soggy stuffing.

Stuffing should be moist, but never soggy. Soggy is a big no, no. I return the well drained onions to the saucepan and then I add the butter, melting it into the onions. Perfection . . .

I make my own soft light bread crumbs. You can remove the crusts if you want, but I never do. I have never minded the crusts. I make them into crumbs in my small food processor, crumbing about 2 slices at a time.

Other than that all you need is some fresh sage, salt and pepper. Simple. You can use dried sage if you want to. I have had to before. Dried sage works very well actually. Just use half the amount as fresh.

I always taste and then season or add sage according to my taste. Sometimes it will need more. I am not sure why that is.

Most of the time I cook my stuffing in a buttered casserole dish rather than inside the bird. I have read that it is safer to do that. But in all honesty that is not why I choose to do this.

I like the crispy edges that the stuffing gets when you bake it in a casserole dish. It gets a buttery crispness on the bottom and on the top.

I like to stir this buttery crunch through the finished stuffing when it is done. But you can do whatever you wish. I just like the buttery crispy bits to be everywhere!

I am a nut for buttery and crisp. Sometimes I do bow to my mother's stuffing and stir some mashed potatoes into the bread crumbs prior to baking. This is a very New Germany, Nova Scotia thing.

On this particular day I didn't, but I can assure you it is very delicious with potato in it as well, although it is not as dry. It will be much moister. And heavier.

I suppose they started doing that to help to extend the amount of stuffing and then enjoyed it so much that they just kept doing it.

It is very much a Maritime tradition. I love it both with the potatoes and without. I just love stuffing, full stop.

I have never met a stuffing I did not like. When I worked at the manor I used to have to make a cornbread and sausage stuffing, which was what they preferred as a family. I suppose it is very much a traditional/regional thing.

Although it was still quite good, I preferred the sage and onion simple bread stuffing. It is what I grew up with and it is the flavour I think goes the best with a roasted bird. Its that simple.

In any case I hope you will try this sage and onion stuffing this year! I think you will agree, it is phenomenal. You just cannot go wrong with a Mary Berry recipe. You realy can't!

Mary Berry's Sage & Onion Stuffing

Yield: 8

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 20 Mincook time: 30 Mintotal time: 50 Min

I discovered this recipe for stuffing about 2 years ago and I have been making it ever since. I has become my absolute favourite stuffing to use for the holidays. Its quick simple and delicious! Trust Mary Berry! In one word, perfection.

Ingredients

1 pound (450g) onions, peeled and chopped
1 1/3 cups (300ml) water
1/3 cup (75g) butter melted (plus more to butter the baking dish)
1 TBS chopped fresh sage leaves
1/2 pound/8 slices (225g) fresh soft white bread crumbs
salt and black pepper to taste
butter to dot over the top of the dish

Instructions

Place the chopped onion into a saucepan. Cover with the cold water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Drain very well.
Return the onions to the saucepan. Stir in the butter and the remaining ingredients, tossing to combine and seasoning to taste.
Allow to cool completely if you are using it to stuff a bird. If you are cooking it separately. Place into a buttered dish. Dot butter over the top.
Cover and bake in a 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4 oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
Uncover and bake for a further 10 minutes to crisp up the top if desired.

Did you make this recipe?

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Created using The Recipes Generator

So what is your favourite way to stuff a bird? Do you cook your stuffing inside or on the outside of the bird? Why is this your choice? I really want to know!

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!

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Ham & Broccoli Casserole

Monday, 16 November 2020

I'm bringing you another Quarantine Recipe today by way of Ham & Broccoli Casserole. The latest recipe in my quest to prove that you can be stuck in a motel room for two weeks and still eat well!

Of course, it goes without saying that you don't have to be trapped in a motel room to cook these recipes. I like to think that these can be delicious no matter where you cook them! Obviously if you are at home you will have extra options in how you can add additional layers of flavour to this dish.

I call this delicious bare-bones cooking, or cooking by the seat of your pants! Ready Steady Cook cookery!

I had my sister pick me up a package of frozen hash browns to use in this recipe. Other than that I already had everything else I needed!

I have learned a few new things about Quarantine this week and how to do it successfully. When you are living in a motel room you can but hope that the room is well provided for when it comes to cooking tools and utensils.

Unfortunately my room is not that well heeled. If there was more than just me, we would be hard pressed as there is only one dinner fork and dinner knife. There are no knives at all that are suitable for cutting anything safely.

The dinner plates/etc. that they have are quite manky looking. They are discolourd and stained, etc. and not entirely suitable for putting in the microwave as they are cheap "dollar-store" plastic.

I can understand people not wanting to put quality goods in a motel room, but if you have their credit card details, and make it clear that they will be charged for anything that disappears or gets broken, surely you could fit the room with a few at least half-decent things.

There is one stained and ugly non-stick frying pan. One baking sheet, equally stained and ugly. A whole drawer full of dollar store utensils such as spaghetti forks, slotted spoon, spatula, etc. But without a pot large enough to cook spaghetti in, well . . . you know.

This little casserole dish I have used is what was in the cupboard holding stir sticks and sugars for making coffee. There are about a bazillion coffee cups by the way, as well as two smallish saucepans which would be suitable to heat up baked beans, etc. There is also a working microwave and toaster. I am not sure about the coffee maker as I don't drink coffee.

There is a can opener which does not work. Repeat. Does not work. I think, personally, they have a lot of cheek charging me over $600 a week for this place, but hey, beggars can't be choosers! I have had to ask for clean towels and garbage bags. There are no cleaning supplies, and I have not been given clean bed linens.

This town is not situated in an area that is big for takeaway or delivery food services. If you were in a larger area you wouldn't have to worry too much about being able to feed yourself if you had those services available.

Here in this small town I am very much reliant on the capacity to be able to cook for myself, and I am doing the best that I can.

Some things you might want to consider bringing with you should you find yourself in the same situation. Make sure you have a sharp knife with you which is suitable for cutting/chopping things. Likewise a small grater would be handy.

You might also want to pack yourself a good in-working-order can opener! Also a selection of cutlery, and something to use to disinfect anything that you might need to use from the room. A small bottle of dish soap would be very good to have, as well as cleaning towelettes.

You have no way of knowing how long the things have been sitting in the cupboards/drawers, or the level of cleanliness habits of the room/suite's previous occupants. I may just be ultra picky. I don't know.

One thing is for sure. I don't want to be eating on or around other people's filth, so be prepared to clean everything before you use it. You may also want to bring with you several dish clothes and tea towels. Also pot holders. There are none in this room.

I had my sister bring me down some and they are doing double duty as pot holders. I am so lucky I have someone that I can just call to bring me stuff when I need it.

Even so, I don't want to be putting her out if I can help it. I don't want to be wearing out my welcome before I even move in!

So these are just a few hints and tips that I can think of that might make your quarantine stay a bit easier to navigate. Forewarned is forearmed!

So back to this casserole. I had my sister pick me up a bag of frozen loose hash browns. In the UK you could use regular hashbrown patties, crumbled. Or you could use chopped boiled potatoes!

I also had some raw broccoli in the refrigerator as well as a few slices of deli-ham. I blanched the broccoli to use in this. It only takes a few minutes in boiling water and I used the stems chopped as well as the florets.

The ham I chopped up into a small dice. Boy I sure could have used a good knife! Never mind I am making do!

I had run out of spring onion, so I had my sister bring me an ordinary onion. I chopped a portion of this to stir into the casserole dish.

I also had some strong cheddar cheese which I chopped. Some went into the casserole wih the potatoes, ham, onions and broccoli, and some I reserved to use as a topping.

Having mixed all of that together I only needed to add something to give it some moisture. I have milk and mayonnaise and Dijon mustard.

The perfect combination and very flavourful! I added salt and pepper. Also my daughter had dropped off some summer savoury that she had bought to bring over to me in the UK. I got to use some of it now, which worked well!

I realise that summer savoury is a very Maritime thing. It can be somewhat difficult to find anywhere else. You can substitute some dried thyme in its place.

And that was it. I mixed this all together and spread it into a buttered small casserole dish.

I can't think of a casserole on earth that would not benefit from having something crisp and crunchy sprinkled on top. I thought of using some of my crunchy Cheetos, but then thought again!

I had some potato chips and crumbled some of them. With a bit more cheese added to them, I sprinkled them over top a la Mom!

Into the oven and half an hour later I was sitting down to a delicious one dish meal. I added a salad on the side. I love salad and its a great way to get in extra vegetables.

I have to say that this smelled amazing when it was baking. My daughter had dropped by to see if I needed anything and she could smell it and thought it smelled fabulously tasty also! In or out of quarantine, I hope you will give it a tasty go!!