Home Made Stuffing... (Sunday 4th Jan 2015)

Dear Sal, 

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the food, the turkey, the cranberry sauce and the stuffing, oh good lord the stuffing. It has been one of the few foods that I didn't realised I miss so much until December come rolling around. Now back at home, I used the packet stuff, just add water and stir. However this essential item in no where to be found out here in Korea, and believe me I looked. Not very hard, but I looked no the less. Disappointed but not defeated I took it upon myself to make my own, and it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Ingredients: You will need eight slices of bread, One onion, some celery, a few garlic cloves, salt, pepper, rosemary, sage and any other herb you want to throw in. Chicken stock, plenty of butter. Oh, and two large eggs, or three small. 

Step One: You need about eight slices of bread, I don't know why I said about, you will need eight slices of bread. Leave them out over night to let them go stale, or if your in a hurry place them in the oven on a low heat for about twenty minutes to dry them out. Once they are, blend them into crumbs and add pepper and salt to taste.

Step Two: Finely chop one onion, about five cloves of garlic and two stems of celery. This is very tedious, and if you prefer your stuffing to have big chunks in it then by all means, but I do not.

Step Three: Add a large amount of butter in to a frying pan, I never really measure butter, I know that about a table spoon isn't enough, so use two. Once it has melted slowly over a low heat add the garlic, onions and celery and cook for ten minutes until the onions start to go translucent. Add as much or as little herds as you want, just make sure you have a generous helping of sage.

Step Four: While this cooks add two eggs to the bread crumbs in a large mixing bowl, I don't have a large mixing bowl so I use a cooking pot, classy I know. Adding any additional herbs you  may want. Go on, add a little more sage.

Step Five: Combine the contents of your pan to the bowl and mix well together, using chicken stock to help bind it. Did I mention the chicken stock? You should have made chicken. I use a little less then a pint, you don't want it too watery.

Step Six: Butter a roasting tin and fill with the mixture, place in the middle of a prep heated oven for about forty to forty-five minutes. Or until it looks good enough and you can't wait any longer to eat it. 

My first roast dinner in nearly ten months and I was not disappointed and it's all because of my home made stuffing. It has become very popular among my friends and I have had many requests to make more. Maybe because it's so delicious, or more likely because you can't get it anywhere out here. 

Love, hugs and maybe a little more sage. 

Samuel James.

P.S) It makes a very good sandwich filling with a little bit of mayo, trust me on this one.