October 11
This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving and we were invited last minute to a Thanksgiving dinner for everyone that doesn’t have family around this time of year. To be honest, I don’t have very strong memories of Thanksgiving and so I don’t have many traditions that I draw on in my mind. Of course I think of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce but those are things that I haven’t eaten for years. So, when I was thinking of things I could bring, a vegetarian stuffing and gravy came to mind right away. I have been wanting to make a vegetarian gravy for a very long time (especially to be able to use on poutine) and whenever there was stuffing that wasn’t stuffed in the bird or made with meat stock, it was always a treat.
To be honest though, I feel kind of bad posting this recipe at this point. By the time this is posted, Canadian Thanksgiving is pretty much over. Recipes have been sourced, dishes have been cooked and eaten, and my little recipe is making it’s appearance too late by many standards. I always appreciate those food blogs that cook and post things in anticipation of the recipes that people will need coming up. I certainly take advantage of them. So, I hope that this reaches some fellow Canadians in 2016 (and beyond!) or (which I have to remember more often) that it reaches some tables outside of the holidays because who doesn’t want some stuffing and gravy on a random, chilly, night in the middle of January?
As I mentioned, this was my first time making both stuffing and gravy. As I always do with a new recipe, I read up on all of the different approaches to making it and took bits and pieces of the similarities and also some of the more interesting things that I could find. I chose to go with a gravy with a mushroom base with a bunch of different herbs and flavours to give it some depth. For the stuffing, sourdough sounded very appealing and I kept it simple with apples, celery and some brussel sprouts. The gravy is flavourful and complex. It tastes great puddled over the stuffing which is the perfect balance between wet and dry. The bread is still a little bit chewy but the apples, celery and shallots melt in your mouth. The brussel sprouts are chunky and give some extra texture. I can imagine this stuffing, served in a skillet and topped with a few fried eggs for a potluck style brunch. These are definitely two dishes that can be thrown in with meals throughout the colder months that are on their way.
Stuffing recipe is barely adapted from Smitten Kitchen and gravy is barely adapted from food52.
Depending on how salty your vegetable stock is, you may want to add some extra salt or an extra tablespoon of soy sauce to the gravy.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and lay your chunks of bread in an even layer. Bake 10-15 minutes until golden brown (stirring occasionally). Set aside to cool.
Use 1 tablespoon of butter to grease a 9 inch square baking tin. Set aside.
In a large pan, heat up remaining 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat and saute celery, onion, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper until they start to become translucent (3-4 minutes).
Add apple and brussel sprouts and saute until it start to become tender (2-3 minutes).
Place bread in a large bowl and add the sautéed onions, celery and apples on top.
Stir in parsley and sage.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and 3/4 cup of the stock. Pour on top of the bread mixture.
Wait 10-15 minutes for the bread to soak up the liquid and add the remaining 1/4 cup of stock if it looks dry.
Pour into the greased pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and there is no excess liquid.
Bring the vegetable stock to a boil and pour over dried mushrooms
Soak mushrooms for 20 minutes, remove and mince mushrooms (keeping the stock aside)
In a medium pan, melt the butter and saute shallots for 3-5 minutes over medium heat, until softened. The shallots will start to brown a bit and the butter will be frothy. That's ok.
Add flour to the butter and shallots and mix constantly, for 3-4 minutes until it turns a chestnut brown colour.
Add all of the stock to the pan (straining out any mushroom sediment), stirring well to incorporate. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened (about 2 minutes).
Stir in minced mushrooms, thyme, soy sauce, wine, cream, and pepper and heat through.
Taste and adjust seasoning (you may want to add some salt or 1 more tablespoon of soy sauce).
http://mysecondbreakfast.com/vegetarian-stuffing-and-gravy-recipe/Vegetarian Stuffing and Gravy was last modified: October 11, 2015 by