Stuffing is a must-have Thanksgiving side at most tables, and Gene Siegfried, executive chef with Moravian’s dining service, likes this Old-Fashioned Bread Stuffing recipe, modeled on one from chef Meggan Hill and which his team prepares for Moravian University’s annual Thanksgiving dinner.
Siegfried has been cooking since high school. He attended the Pennsylvania Culinary Art Institute in Pittsburgh and after graduating worked in a restaurant for three years. “I have been employed with Sodexo for almost 25 years,” Siegfried says, “nine years at Muhlenberg College and the rest here at Moravian.”
Old-Fashioned Bread Stuffing
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Servings (1 cup): 16
Calories per serving: 231
Ingredients
1 stick plus 5 T butter, more for buttering the baking dish
1 ½ large onions, chopped
6 ribs celery, chopped
5 large eggs
3 ¼ C chicken broth
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¾ C fresh parsley, minced
1 ½ tsp fresh sage, minced or ½ tsp dried
1 ½ tsp fresh thyme, minced or ½ tsp dried
1 ½ tsp fresh marjoram, minced or ½ tsp dried
1 ½ lb French bread, cut into ½-inch cubes and dried overnight (Italian, brioche, or challah bread also work well)
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position, and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Coat a 9- by 13-inch baking dish with butter.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. When foaming, add onion and celery and sauté until translucent, 7 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile whisk eggs in a large bowl, and stir in broth, salt, and pepper.
- To the skillet, add parsley, sage, thyme, and marjoram, and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add skillet mixture to bowl with eggs and mix well. Add bread cubes and toss to combine. Transfer to prepared baking dish.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake until mostly heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crispy edges form, 15 to 20 minutes longer.
Enjoy!