4ozgizzard confitpreferably turkey, see note (chicken hearts or a mix off cooked chopped offal are good too)
5cups10oz diced bread, cubed ½ inch, if you use an artisan sourdough or similar, consider removing the crusts if they’re hard
4oz1 stick unsalted butter plus 2 T duck or poultry fat is a good substitute
2tablespoonsthinly sliced fresh sage or chopped fresh thyme
2-2.5ozdried morel or other dried mushrooms
3cupsgood homemade meat stocklike turkey, hot, see note
1large egg
1large clove garlic
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
Small handful chopped fresh Italian parsley optional
Instructions
Leave the bread out in a container in a single layer to dry out for at least 24 hours, preferably a few days.
Rehydrate the morels and or other mushrooms in the stock for at least 30 minutes (overnight rehydrating is fine too, as you are transferring the mushroom flavor to the stock here). Swish them around to remove grit, remove the mushrooms, squeezing the stock from them back into the container.
Coarsely chop the mushrooms, trying to keep them in semi large pieces especially if they’re small. When in doubt, you want larger pieces of mushroom as opposed to smaller.
Let any debris in the stock from the mushrooms settle, then pour it carefully into a small pan, leaving the debris at the bottom of the container, sacrificing a tablespoon of stock to ensure there’s no grit in the stuffing. Reduce the stock by half, or until it’s roughly 2 cups, then reserve.
When the stock is cooled enough to not cook the egg, beat the egg in well, along with ½-1 teaspoon salt (or to taste) along with generous grinds of black pepper, about 10-15. If your stock or butter are salted, you will want to salt it to taste.
Sweat the gizzards or bacon, sage, onion and celery in the 4oz of butter, grating in the garlic using a microplane (alternately you can mince the garlic). If you’re using regular commercial bacon, render it first until crisp first before adding the butter.
Add the rehydrated mushrooms and a couple grinds of pepper and cook over medium heat (a steady bubble) for 10 minutes for the flavors to meld.
Put the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl, then pour in the stock-egg mix, and then the buttery vegetable mix making sure to scrape every last drop of goodness into the bowl with the bread.
Gently mix the stuffing, adding the parsley if using, and set the mixture aside to hydrate before baking for at least an hour. It's also fine to leave it overnight, and it will benefit from the extended hydration.
To bake it, bring the stuffing to room temperature, then preheat the oven to 350. Melt the two extra tablespoons of butter, drizzle evenly over the top, bake for 30-45 minutes or until browned.
Notes
Gizzard Confit
To make gizzard confit, trim the gizzards of all membranes and discard, then season with 1-1.5% of their weight in salt, along with a generous pinch of chopped fresh sage, thyme, or rosemary.Refrigerate the gizzards overnight. To cook, put the gizzards in a small pan along with a clove of garlic, cover with rendered tallow, cover with parchment, then with foil and bake for 3 hours at 250F. Cool and roughly chop the gizzards and reserve until needed.
Leftover stuffing
One of my line cooks used to mix leftover stuffing with an egg and fry it in patties for sandwiches with cranberry preserves and turkey. I like it warmed up with a fried egg.