Sunday, October 14, 2012

Caramelized Onion-Challah Stuffing Muffins


Definition:  Comfort Food – Noun:    “Food that is simply prepared and associated with a sense of home or contentment”.  Psychological Studies:  Comfort foods may be consumed to positively pique emotions, to relieve negative psychological affects or to increase positive feelings.


Comfort food favorite family recipes are filled with delicious flavors that say home as nothing else does.  But re-creating those dishes isn't always easy.  Maybe it's a unique technique, a subtle variation from the printed recipe or simply Mom's loving touch.  Spend some time with Mom capturing Mom's tricks and tips, and you'll have treasured recipes and memories to last a lifetime - and to pass on from generation to generation.

I'm happy to share one of my family favorites at Thanksgiving. Nothing fancy about this stuffing, just plain good!  My mom cooked very plain with not a lot of spice, but its our comfort food.  The Challah bread is a slightly sweet, egg bread which I think gives richness to this stuffing.

Our last event had me craving this stuffing.  Too early for Thanksgiving?  Heck No!  The stuffing is great with roast chicken or any meal.  Have some Spicy Cranberry Relish on hand, sliced deli Turkey, add the stuffing and some gravy and you have the best sandwich!

Caramelized Onion Challah Stuffing
Ingredients:
1 lb. plain challah cut into l/2" cubes
6 Tablespoons butter
2 large yellow onions, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 tsp. ground thyme (or to taste.  I have used fresh thyme and dried thyme leaves, but it never tasted the same.  Use sparingly as it is a strong flavor)
l/2 c. chopped fresh parsely
3-4 cups chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten until blended.

I usually cut up my Challah bread 3 or 4 days in advance, spread out on a baking sheet and let dry.  If you don't have the time, you can easily toast the bread in the oven.
Preheat oven to 400.
Spread challah cubes in single layer in a large baking pan.  Bake, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl.  In a large, heavy frying pan over medium high heat, melt butter.  When hot, add the onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.  Transfer onion and celery to bread cubes.  Add stock( my mom always added warm stock), a little at a time until the bread is completely moistened, but not mushy.  Add ground thyme, parsley and salt and pepper.  I do not add the egg until I have the seasonings just right.  Mix in egg and stir to combine.
Fill the cavities of the turkey with stuffing and truss.

This is a basic bread stuffing.  Variations could include dried cranberries, chopped walnuts or pecans, granny smith apples - whatever your family enjoys!  I did add some dried cranberries to two of the muffins to try.  If I changed this recipe I would be shot!
Holiday Hint:  Instead of baking remaining stuffing in a baking dish, try making "Stuffing Muffins"!






Butter 6 large or 12 standard muffin tins.  Use an ice cream scoop to fill and mound up the stuffing in the muffin tins.   Bake until set and crisp on top; 15-20 mins.  Everyone gets their own individual crispy Stuffing Muffin!
  • Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!




30 comments:

  1. I love Challah bread and I've made the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes version several times! Stuffing always sounds good to me Patti... Even with my 5AM cup of coffee:@)

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  2. This recipe is incredible! I love that it´s in muffin shape, the flavors and the fact that it uses challah! Great idea.

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  3. I've been drooling over these since I saw your teaser post! YUM!

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  4. This is just brilliant! I've been waiting for you to post the recipe ever since I saw the sneak peak! Definitely on my must bake list. :)

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  5. I love this. In bite size! perfection in a muffin tin!

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  6. I love my Mom's dressing (stuffing) too. Nobody else's ever tastes as good, but yours looks darn close. Love the muffin effect!

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  7. Stuffing Muffins!!! My Mom is going to have a field day with this recipe on Thanksgiving. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  8. I saw your sneak peek of these and they are brilliant!!

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  9. Thank you for sharing, this is a delicious recipe.

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  10. These muffins are adorable, and I love that they're individual servings. Yum! Pinned.

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  11. You just made my life complete. Stuffing muffins. Need I say more.

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  12. The stuffing muffins are adorable, and I love the ingredients! Also great for portion control: I have a hard time controlling myself when it comes to yummy comfort food like this...

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  13. Challah is so good, and this stuffing sounds fantastic. I love the individual muffin size :) I will have to make it for our Thanksgiving Meal :)

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  14. This looks great! Thanks for sharing. I will have to try it soon.

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  15. Wow, I love that you made muffins! And these look fantastic! Thank you for sharing!

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  16. I love the idea of stuffing muffins. I bet this would be fun to do for Christmas dinner.

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  17. Oh man, this looks so good! I love carmelized onions, but have never had Challah bread! Must try!

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  18. Oh man, I love caramelized onions, but have never had Challah bread! Must try!

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  19. Stuffing Muffins, are you kidding me???!!! This is a must try on my list. Beautiful pictures also!!

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  20. These look amazing! I absolutely love Challah bread, one of my favorites and my daughters too. Will definitely be trying this out. Wow, very impressed :)

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  21. those would be perfect for Thanksgiving! Love this recipe!

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  22. Yes please...stuffing is good anytime of the year! And I like using challah for stuffing! Thanks for sharing!

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  23. Too cool, never thought of muffin style stuffing!

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  24. I love this idea. Stuffing as a muffin. I am so using this idea for Thanksgiving this year. Thank you for sharing. And there is nothing more comforting than stuffing. Yum

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  25. Ooh these look like fancy muffins to me. I could eat a few I think ! Love caramelized onions ! Lovely pics :)

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  26. Love the individual serving idea. Stuffing is pretty much my favorite thing at holiday dinners!

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  27. I came across these when looking for recipes for my round-up of Thanksgiving Stuffing recipes on my Friday Five – Thanksgiving Stuffing addition and I featured your recipe over at Feed Your Soul Too. – http://www.feedyoursoul2.com/2013/11/friday-five-thanksgiving-stuffing-addition.html

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