New Orleans-Style Stuffing

By Kathleen Walls Freelance Writer

In New Orleans, where I grew up, food is almost a religion. Like any religion, there are traditions that must be followed. One such custom is believing any holiday, whether Christmas or Thanksgiving, when you cook a turkey, that bird must be stuffed!

Mom and Dad worked full time, so my maternal grandmother who lived with us did the cooking and taught me to cook. Nannie, as I always called her, was old-fashioned Irish. She always used cast iron pots and pans. Plus, she always did things from scratch. No cake mixes or premade stuffings for her. Did I mention she was blind? That didn’t stop her from being a fantastic cook.

I used Nannie’s stuffing recipe, similar to the one below, but she never used Cajun seasoning, oysters nor pork sausage. When I married Martin, his mother, Azema, a full-blooded Cajun, had a similar recipe for her stuffing. However, she never added the fresh herbs. Her recipe added pork sausage and oysters, along with a generous helping of Cajun seasoning. I find it interesting how they were so similar and yet so opposite.

Following is the adaptation of those recipes that I use whenever I cook a turkey. I also use it in a smaller amount when I roast a whole chicken. I often make it without the oysters, but I never skip the Cajun seasoning. It’s very flexible. You can use as little meat as what comes with the turkey or buy extra liver and/or gizzards. You could probably do it with just pork sausage, although I never choose to do it that way. The main thing is to cook the gizzards first as they are much tougher and take longer to cook than the other meats. Also, never add too much liquid. You want it moist.

Turkey Stuffing New Orleans Style

1 lb. chicken gizzards

1 lb. chicken liver

½ lb. ground pork sausage, casing removed

8 oz. oysters (optional)

1 egg (optional)

¼ cup cooking oil

1 medium onion

1 small bell pepper

2 stalks celery with greens

½ loaf stale French bread, broken into small pieces of about an inch diameter

1 cup chicken broth (water with a chicken bouillon cube may be substituted)

Touch of Cajun seasoning (depending on how spicy you want it)

Salt and pepper to taste

You can also add a bit of other spices such as oregano, thyme, basil, or rosemary, either fresh or dried.

Instructions:

Meat amounts are flexible. Use as much or as little as you like. Also use liver and gizzards of turkey if they are provided.

A large cast iron frying pan or Dutch oven is best for cooking this. Cut gizzards into small pieces, drop into oil heated to medium heat. Cook slowly stirring a lot. When gizzards are almost cooked, add liver and ground pork, and stir until it gets about half cooked.

Meantime chop trinity (onion, bell pepper, and celery) into small pieces. Chop the celery greens and any fresh spices separately to add later. Add the trinity when the pork and liver is about half cooked. Stir frequently. When trinity is soft and tender, add the chopped greens and any other fresh spices finely chopped. Also add the oysters, finely chopped. Stir for just a minute or two.

Add the bread pieces while stirring gently. Pour in the broth or bouillon slowly until the bread is soaked but not soupy.

Add salt pepper, and Cajun seasoning and gently stir in a beaten egg. (The egg will give you a stuffing that is more solid. Not using the egg gives you a crumblier stuffing.) I put the stuffing mixture into the turkey right when I’m ready to put it into the oven. You can cook it separately, but baking inside the bird gives it a lot more flavor. As it cooks inside the turkey it will absorb more moisture.