Help with one pot chicken and stuffing

[HeyItsSara]

I have a lot of leftover and unloved bread cubed in the freezer and would like to make a one pot chicken and bread chunk stuffing on the regular.

I've baked the chicken on top of the crisped spiced bread but it's been dry and it hasn't been great. Any tips?
thanks

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Stuffing recipe for moist stuffing:

First, understand that bread dressing/stuffing is a savory bread pudding that relies in water, oil, and eggs to give it the proper consistency. To mush liquid will make it soggy. However, it is better soggy than oily, or dry as it can be cooked longer to evaporate extra moisture. Also, always season with broth, herbs, and spices before adding the raw egg.

Dried bread cubes, or dried bread bits are used as they can absorb more broth than soft bread. They are also sturdy enough to hold up to mixing.

This is a pretty standard ingredient list;
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing baking dish
2 medium stalks celery, finely chopped
1 medium onion, minced
1 onion, rustic chop
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 lb. pork breakfast sausage, browned and crumbled
cooked giblet, heart, and liver, minced
Meat from cooked neck
½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) dried marjoram
21 ounces (595.34 g) plain dried bread cubes
3½ cups (840 ml) chicken stock (made from boiling liver, giblets, heart, and neck)
1 cup chestnuts, roasted and chopped (optional)
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Placs the water into a sauce pan and add the giblets, liver, heart, and neck. Bring to a boil and cover. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook for twenty minutes. While the broth is simmering, chop onion, celery. Brown tghe sausage. Put ausage, and chopped veggies into a large bowl. Add all the rest of the ingredients, except the egg, and fold until completely combined.

Remove the broth and strain into a separate bow to let cool for ten minutes. Remove meat from the neck. Chop neck meat, and other contents from the pot into small dice. Add to the dressing bowl. Beat eggs into the cooled broth and pour over the dressing, stirring until everything is moist. Transfer dressing into a buttered baking dish, and place into a 350' F pre-heated oven. Bake for 40 minutes.

If the chicken is spatchcoked (butterflied), you can place the dressing on the bottom of the roasting pan, and decrease the liquid in the dressing by a half cup. Place the seasoned chicken on a rack above the dressing. Roast until a meat thermometer reads 155 in the thigh/body joint, and 165 in the dressing.

I'm sure there will be others with great dressing/stuffing recipes.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[HeyItsSara]

Wow that is very wonky. I just wanted an easy way to use up leftover bread!!!

 

[GotGarlic]

The Chief's recipe is more of a celebration dish, like for Thanksgiving. Here's an guide to a simple stuffing. You can change up the seasonings if you want. The bread needs to be moistened and covered to prevent drying out during the bake time.

For two servings:

3 cups stale bread, cubed
4 oz. butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried sage
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350F/170C.

Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add onion and celery and stir to coat. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add bread and herbs, stir and cook for a few minutes, then stir in chicken stock. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Place mixture in a baking dish and bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 15 minutes to crisp the top.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Any stuffing for chicken has to be moist. Not dry, not wet, but moist.
The cooking juices from the chicken will soak into the bread, but if it´s too wet then perhaps the chicken might not cook inside. You can add herbs, or spices, or perhaps crushed nuts (chestnuts would work) and any other aromatics you like: onion, garlic, celery, etc.

 

[HeyItsSara]

Ok thanks all!

 

[Kathleen]

Question for you, Sara: Are you seeking a way to cook/make the dressing while cooking the turkey as in the dressing is mixed up and topped with chicken and baked together? OR are you intending to use cooked chicken to finish it all off?

I may have suggestions for either.

 

[HeyItsSara]

I am intending to use up old bread by putting a stuffing in the bottom of a baking pan then topping it with raw chicken thighs then baking it all together. Is that a bad idea?

 

[Ksm]

I am intending to use up old bread by putting a stuffing in the bottom of a baking pan then topping it with raw chicken thighs then baking it all together. Is that a bad idea?

I make a dish like you are talking about. I make my bread stuffing, place in the bottom of a baking dish and top with either cream of chicken soup.(I have used the canned and I have made my own.) or a chicken gravy. I like to remove the skin from the thighs and place thighs on top of stuffing. I then put a mixture of panko crumbs and melted butter on top the thighs. I sometimes even coat the chicken with shake n bake instead of bread crumbs. Bake at 375 for approximately 30-40 minutes. I tried it once with the skin on the thighs and we thought it was to greasy.
It makes a nice dinner and you can even make it ahead and just bake when needed.

I have also cheated and used stove top stuffing. ?

 

[GotGarlic]

I am intending to use up old bread by putting a stuffing in the bottom of a baking pan then topping it with raw chicken thighs then baking it all together. Is that a bad idea?

You can do that, but it's a little more difficult to moisten the bread evenly that way. You'll need to experiment a bit.

 

[jennyema]

This might be the best thing youve ever tasted


https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/zuni-roast-chicken-with-bread-salad-56389456