Thangsgiving...

There is a fun fact that never ceases to amaze me in the Thanksgiving tradition. I noticed it the first time I was invited to Thanksgiving diner (last year) . We were all sitting and eagerly looking at the smoking turkey, the gravy, etc. Then somebody said "Well let's go" and off we went. A few minutes within the diner, a charming lady smiled at me and said in a soft voice: "Eric, could you please pass me some stuffing?". "Sure!" said I, eager to please. And then, I did what I had seen my father do for many year: I sttod up, took the knife and fork from the Turkey plate, and proceeded to search inside the Turkey's belly. This caused a lot of amusement among my US friends, because you see, in the US, stuffing is actually cooked aside the Turkey.

My cooking side (I watch Top Chef on Bravo) yells at this. The stuffing is suppose to stuff the Turkey...

So for those of you who would like to really stuff a turkey here is a short recipe. A gallon of this stuffing is enough to stuff a 22 lbs turkey

75 g [1/3 cup] butter500 mL [2 tasses] diced onions
500 mL [2 cups] diced mushrooms
500 mL [2 cups] diced smoked ham [1/2 lb]
375 mL [1 1/2 cups] hacked celery
2 garlic pieces, thinly mashed
2,5 mL [1/2 teaspoon] salt
2,5 mL [1/2 teaspoon] pepper
2,5 mL [1/2 teaspoon] thyme
2,5 mL [1/2 teaspoon] rosmary
3 litres [12 cups] small cubes of hard bread
250 mL [1 cups] parsil cut
125 mL [1/2 cups] grilled nuts
1 egg
125 mL [1/2 cup] chicken broth

In a big pan, melt the butter. Pour in everything except the bread, parsil, and nuts, and cook for 30mn, until the veggies are tender and the mix very full of fragrances.
Put in a big bowl, add the bread, parsil, and nuts, add salt and pepper if necessary.
You should do the stuffing the day before. NEVER stuff a Turkey with hot stuffing, you would break the cooking rules, and overcook the Turkey.
To stuff the Turkey, slightly cut at the level of the belly, fill in the beast, and sew it with some food-ready thread and a big needle.

You can make any stuffing your own by changing any of the ingredients. I love to add some ground cloves, and mix different sorts of meat, for example ground beef with pork and beacon, and loads of mushrooms, if you have truffle that is the place to use it.
Eat with a nice Pinot Noir from France or California or Oregon.

That's it!
I have Thanksgiving with my Texas Friend Sean, can't wait! I will sourly miss my sweetheart, though, she likes Turkey very much.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF YOU!!!