Sausage Stuffing

A plain sausage forcemeat of the kind this book supplies for birds and boned joints. It is short enough that the two things worth attention are the crumbs and the fact that raw pork is going inside something else.

• Dried bread-crumbsIn this period the term generally meant crumbs from bread dried out in a slow oven and rolled fine, rather than the sandy commercial crumb sold in a canister today. Stale open-crumb bread torn and dried in a low oven, then broken up coarsely, comes closest to the texture intended; packaged crumbs tend to absorb more fat and pack solid.
• Onion-juiceGrate half a small onion on the fine side of a box grater and press the pulp through a sieve to get the tablespoon called for. Substituting the same volume of grated onion adds water and raw bite; substituting onion powder is closer to a quarter teaspoon.
• Sausage-meatBulk breakfast sausage, uncased and unsmoked. Modern bulk sausage is already salted and often sage-heavy, so taste a pinch fried in a pan before adding more salt to the mixture.
• Cooking temperatureRaw pork stuffing must reach 165F in the centre of the stuffing itself, not just in the surrounding meat or bird. Take the reading in the middle of the packed mass; the centre of a stuffed cavity lags well behind the breast.
• Stuffing looselyPack it in loosely and only just before it goes in the oven. Tightly packed stuffing insulates itself and is the usual reason the centre stays under temperature while the bird overcooks.
• Baking it separatelyThe mixture bakes well in a buttered dish at 350F for about 35 minutes, covered for the first 20. Moisten with a few tablespoons of stock, since it will not receive drippings from a bird.
• YieldRoughly three cups, enough for a 4 to 5 lb chicken or a small boned pork loin. Double it for a turkey.