Challah Bread Stuffing

Years ago I used to put a stuffing into the cavity of the turkey or chicken that I was roasting. But then there was a lot of information about this that it was not really the best idea for food safety. I am not a food safety expert but I decided to make my stuffing in a casserole dish so now it is kind of a savoury bread pudding…but I still call it bread stuffing!

I have adapted this recipe over the years and have come up with this one that I love. It is tender & crunchy on the outside.

I can serve it to any vegetarians at my table & for those that aren’t, I suggest they put the turkey gravy on top of this, or we usually have sweet & sour meatballs at the table so the gravy from that is…well no other way to describe it except saying it is …so yum. Another option to add some extra flavour to this is to pour a bit of chicken soup broth over this (if you are having soup).. before serving! But, if you season it really well then the flavour is good as it is so you won’t really need to do anything to it except enjoy it!

I add the seasonings to some water, taste it to check the flavour & adjust to your taste. I had to add extra salt… you want this to be very highly seasoned because as it cooks the flavour tends to get more subtle.

It is a simple recipe that you can adjust to your taste… I put celery in it but if you don’t like celery you can omit it… you could add sautéed mushrooms if you like…sometimes I have put in grated carrot… but we like it this way!

This freezes well. I cover the dish with foil, freeze it then warm it in the over covered until it is hot. You can take it out of the freezer the day before you are going to serve it so that it defrosts which will let it warm up quicker! Or, even take it out in the morning…that would work too!

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

2 Challah … I get them without any seeds for this & unsliced, but if you can only get sliced go ahead

2 onions

3 celery stalks

1 cup oil

4 cups water

1 tbsp chicken stock powder…or use vegetable if you prefer that flavor

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp poultry seasoning…if you don’t have this use sage

4 eggs

Method

You will need a large casserole dish.. I use a foil chicken roasting pan *** I serve this in a bowl, but if you want to serve it right from the baking dish, use a nice casserole dish

1. Cut into the challah into 1/2 inch thick slices then into cubes & put into a really big mixing bowl
2. Chop the onions & celery
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet, then add the onions & celery. Over medium high heat, cook until soft but not brown..stirring often to prevent the bottoms from browning. Turn the heat off when this is done & set aside.. its good if it cools a bit, it will be easier to handle
4. In a 4 cup measuring cup or bowl big enough, mix the water with the chicken stock powder, add the salt, pepper & poultry seasoning. Mix well & taste. Adjust the seasoning to your taste…more of the spices if you prefer, set aside
5. Add this liquid to cubed bread & mix well. You can taste this now to see that it is flavourful enough
6. Now, add the sautéed onions & celery with all of the oil to the bread mixture, Mix well, I like to taste it again…
7. Beat the 4 eggs in a bowl & add to the bowl with the bread… mix really well so that all of the bread is moist
8. Spray the casserole dish or foil pan, if you don’t have cooking spray use oil to grease the pan
9. Put the bread mixture into the baking dish. Even it out & press it down to compact it a bit
10. Bake in a 350f oven for an hour or until the top is brown & crispy!

Enjoy!