Dressing or Stuffing, which do you prefer?

While the ingredients are similar here is another case interchangeable words like yam and sweet potatoes.  So what is the difference?

Dressing is used to dress up a platter and cooked in a pan.

Stuffing is stuffed inside usually of a foul.

I love dressing. Stuffing can be a bit tricky. If the cook is new or I do not know them that well, I tend to stay away from the stuffing. I know that is not fair or nice, since anyone can make a mistake.  Stuffing inside of a bird, if not cooked correctly can lead to Salmonella. Salmonella and E Coli are both food poisoning diseases you can get if your cook is not diligent cooking their holiday meal.

E Coli and Salmonella can be caught by consuming under cooked meat. The best way to know if you meat is cooked to the correct temperature is use a thermometer. Your turkey needs to be cooked to 165 degrees; the stuffing should also be cooked to 165 degrees.

 Here is where for stuffing it gets tricky! Most people will check the turkey temperature, see 165 degrees, and call it done. You cannot pull out a stuffed turkey without testing the temperature of the stuffing. If you do, you will have under cooked stuffing and could sicken everyone who eats it. What you have to do is get your thermometer into the stuffing and take a temperature reading. This means you might have to pull some of the stuffing out of the bird to get to the middle. If it is not reached 165 degrees inside just replace, the stuffing you moved and cook longer.

Our neighbor in Virginia, Cheryl, would always make two kinds of dressing, or what she called with or without. For the holidays, she would make corn and oysters along with oyster dressing, for her husband Victor. Victor was the only one who ate these dishes, I am not sure who was happier when he found out I loved to eat them too.

Oyster Dressing

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter, divided

1 cup chopped onion

2 green onions, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

4 cups crumbled cornbread

2 cups soft bread crumbs

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

salt and pepper, to taste

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 pint shucked oysters, reserve 1/2 cup liquid

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°

Combine cornbread and bread crumbs in a large bowl

In a large skillet over medium heat sauté onions and celery in the2 tablespoons butter until tender, not browned.

 Add sautéed onions, salt, pepper, and parsley to bowl of bread

Add beaten eggs and moisten with the oyster liquid until moist but not soggy

Gently fold in the oysters.

Turn dressing into a large lightly buttered rectangular baking pan.

Chop remaining butter into small chunks and place on top of dressing

 Bake about 45 minutes, until golden brown.

Ritz Cracker Dressing

Ingredients:

1 pound Ritz crackers, crushed
3 Tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
2 medium onions, diced

5 stalks of celery

1 pound of ground pork

2 tablespoons fresh parsley

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
3 eggs
1 can vegetable broth
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

In large bowl add crushed crackers and set aside

Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, reserving liquid, and mix into the bowl with cracker crumbs.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, slowly cook and stir the onion and celery in 3 tablespoons of the reserved sausage liquid until soft.

Mix the onion and celery into the cracker crumb and sausage mixture

Add seasonings, eggs and broth

Put mixture into a well-greased baking pan.

Bake, covered, at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.