- Nicola
Stress-Free Thanksgiving Series: Sous Vide Apple Sage Dressing
Updated: Apr 13, 2020

DRESSING VS STUFFING: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Apparently there’s a debate over the difference. Some people believe that they are basically the same, except one is cooked inside the bird, and the other is cooked outside the bird. There are other people who use two terms interchangeably, but essentially believe the terms are the same. I never put much thought into it, but I always used the terms interchangeably. Which side of the debate are you on?
WHERE TO BUY TURKEY STOCK?
In this recipe, you will notice I used a carton store-bought turkey stock from the shelf rather than making my own, *spoiler* the turkey will be boneless, so we needed something store bought to make the stuffing/dressing and the gravy. Normally when I make the entire turkey, I would have enough drippings for the gravy and stuffing/dressing. However, since we aren’t making the entire turkey, we need this, plus this Thanksgiving series is all about a Stress-Free dinner, so no need to stress over making stock. Feel free to substitute the Turkey stock with Chicken Broth. I bought the Turkey stock from Whole Foods Cambie in Vancouver BC. Alternatively, you can check out the frozen section at Whole Foods or even at Windsor Quality Meats on Main and E King Edward Avenue, as they also have frozen Turkey stock.
DRYING THE BREAD
Bake the bread cubes in a preheated oven at 275 degrees F, until completely dried, about 45 minutes total, alternatively, the night before, cut up the bread slices into cubes, and spread on a baking sheet to dry. Sometimes I cheat and skip this step altogether, but the stuffing tastes much better if you do this step. The bread will be a better vehicle to absorb and retain the flavours.
Sous Vide Apple Sage Dressing Serves 8
Ingredients:
1 loaf of bread cut into bread cubes ¼ cup melted unsalted butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 1 celery stalks, diced 1 carrot, diced 1 medium granny smith apple, diced 1 garlic cloves, crushed 1/2 cup dried cranberries 2 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley, rough chopped 2 tablespoon fresh sage, rough chopped 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, leaves removed from twigs 1 teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper 2½ cups low-sodium turkey stock or chicken broth
Directions:
Bake the bread cubes in a preheated oven at 275 degrees F, until completely dried, about 45 minutes total.
Prepare the water bath by adding warm tap water to the container.
Then set the sous vide machine to 185 degree F
Place the bread cubes into a large bowl.
Heat the butter and oil in a skillet on medium heat.
Sauté onion, celery and carrot in a large skillet over medium heat 4 minutes.
Add garlic and apple; sauté 1 more minutes.
Stir in dried cranberries, parsley, sage, thyme, salt, pepper, and stock.
Bring to a boil. Then turn off the heat.
Pour the hot stock mixture over the bread, and fold with a spatula till the bread and stock mixture is well blended.
With a spoon, scoop the stuffing mixture into a zipper closure pouch or vacuum seal pouch.
Seal the pouch.
Submerge the pouch in the water and cook for 1 hour.
After 50 minutes, preheat the oven to broil.
If you are making this ahead of time, remove the pouch from the water bath and chill in a ice water bath for 10 minutes before placing in the fridge, if not, move on to the next step.
Cut open the pouch or unzip the pouch.
Spoon the bread mixture into a well-greased 3-quart or 13- x 9-inch baking pan, make sure it is evenly distributed in the pan.
Broil in a preheated oven set to broil for 5 minutes or until the top is crusty and brown. Garnish with flat leaf parsley, if desired.
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