I use the words Stuffing and Dressing interchangeably whether stuffed into the bird or baked separately. I very seldom stuff a turkey or chicken anymore. I prefer the stuffing cooked separately. Here is another stuffing recipe that I make occasionally. Usually when I am boning out a whole turkey or chicken. This is one of Moe's favourites. I think I might make this for Thanksgiving dinner this year. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Chicken - Deboned Stuffed Chicken ================================== Source: Pat Davis Cooking School, Grand Rapids, Michigan 1979 Note: A Boned out Three pound chicken will feed 6 nicely. 1 Three pound chicken or 4 Whole Chicken Breasts (not singles 3 cups Fresh Bread - Crumbled 1 small onion 1 clove garlic 1/4 pound of Sausage (I usually use one Italian Sausage) 1/4 pound of mushrooms 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoons of fresh 1 egg Butter Chicken Broth Salt and pepper to taste Sauce 1/2 cup White Wine 1 cup Chicken Broth 1 onion 2 small tomatoes 1 garlic clove . Bone out whole chicken or if using just the breasts bone the breasts but leave them whole. DO NOT REMOVE SKIN Save bones. Saute onion, and garlic in butter. Add sausage, (if using link take meat out of casing), add sliced mushrooms and saute. Season with thyme,salt and pepper and mix in coarsely crumbled bread. Add chicken broth to moisten. Add egg. Stuff chicken,(or breasts) and sew up with unwaxed dental floss. Preheat oven to 375�. Place bones in shallow roasting pan and place chicken on bones. Roast for 30 minutes and then add one coarsely chopped onion, and two coarsely chopped tomatoes,and the garlic clove to the pan. Pour in 1/2 cup of white wine and 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Chicken should sit above liquid resting on the bones. Continue roasting for another 30 to 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked. (note: Breasts take the less time) When cooked remove chicken to board to rest and remove bones from pan. Skim excess fat from pan juices add the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth and pour contents into blender. Puree to make sauce. To serve, Remove dental floss (comes out easy with one little pull). Slice breasts into nice rounds and place 3 or 4 slices on each plate. If using the whole chicken, also slice in to 1/2 inch slices and place one to two on each plate. Drizzle with sauce. Pictorial - Boning a Whole chicken

Nancy, I was very surprised by how moist and juicy it stayed, I was afraid it would be dry as I did not brine it, although I did rub the outside with olive oil before roasting. I haven't done a chicken, I don't know if smaller would be easier or more difficult, but it'll be my next "project". I do like Ann T's suggestion of roasting the stuffed rolled bird on the bones so that there are drippings available to make gravy, mine had nearly none. Oh dear, Colleen, I do hope everyone in your family recovers quickly and completely. If it helps to know, it took about 15 minutes to bone that turkey, I'm sure it'll take much less time the next time. It could easily be boned the day before and packed into a ziplock type bag for use the following day, or even tossed into a cooler and transported. After stuffing it took about 2 1/2 hours to cook through, another 10 minutes for resting time, so it's a lot faster than a traditional bird too and stuffing could be tailored to taste or dietary requirements. You could even stuff one half with one kind of stuffing and the other end with something else if stuffing is a problem. You and your family will be in my prayers. Annie

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Simple Roast Turkey - High Heat Method ====================================== Source:Barbara Kafka Roasting A Simple Art Many Thanksgivings at my house have proved the high-heat method to be ideal. A fifteen-pound turkey at room temperature takes two hours to roast. However, it may take several hours for the turkey to reach room temperature. While the turkey is sitting out, cover it loosely with a towel, otherwise the skin will dry out. I prefer a fifteen-pound turkey as it isn't too heavy for me to handle. It usually gives lots of good leftovers and is generally available. There are certain things to think of to ensure success before beginning: Remove the giblet bag from the interior of the bird. Remove the wing tips. Put everything except the livers into a pot and start Basic Fowl Giblet Gravy. By the time the bird is roasted, the gravy will be done. Use the liver in the dressing/stuffing or store in the freezer, covered with milk. Make sure there is a pan big enough for the turkey without it's touching the sides of the pan. Do not truss. Consider whether the bird should be stuffed or the stuffing served as dressing baked separately. If stuffing, think in terms of twelve cups of stuffing for a 15 pound bird, which will allow the big cavity to be stuffed and some more stuffing to be crammed under the skin flap at the neck. I seldom stuff because there are real food safety questions about the bird and its stuffing sitting out at room temperature. The oven must be very clean before roasting, or cooking at this high temperature will cause unpleasant smoke. In any case, there will be some smoke, so turn on the fan or open a window. Don't put the oven rack too high or the skin on the breast will get over cooked. For a twenty-pound turkey, the rack should be in the lowest position. Always put the turkey in legs first - dark meat takes longer to cook and the rear of the oven is the hottest area. If the top skin seems to be getting too dark, slip a doubled piece of aluminum foil on top of it. Don't move the turkey. Use an oven mitt to protect hands and forearms. Remove the foil with the same oven mitt ten minutes before the turkey comes out. Large turkeys are most easily removed from the pan by holding them with two pot holders, which will need to be washed. After the meal, get out a large stockpot to boil up the carcass and leftover bones for turkey soup and stock. 15 pound turkey, thawed, if necessary and at room temperature, wing tips removed, reserving giblets and neck for gravy, liver for stuffing. Fresh ground black pepper to taste 1 cup water or basic turkey/chicken stock . Place oven rack on second level from bottom of oven. Heat oven to 500F. Rinse the turkey inside and out. Pat dry. Sprinkle the outside with pepper. If stuffing, stuff cavity and crop, securing openings with long metal skewers. Lace them. Do not truss. Put turkey in an 18 X 13 X2 inch roasting pan, breast side up. Put in oven legs first. Roast until the leg joint near the backbone wiggles easily, about 2 hours. After 20 minutes, move the turkey around with a wooden spatula to keep from sticking. Remove the turkey to a large platter. Let sit 20 minutes before carving. Pour off grease from roasting pan and put pan on top of the stove. Add water or stock. Bring to a boil while scraping bottom of pan vigorously with a wooden spoon, loosening all the crisp bits in the bottom of the pan. These add intensity to the gravy. Let reduce by half. Serve on the side in a sauceboat or add to giblet gravy. 9 pounds stuffed 1 hour 45 minutes unstuffed 1 hour 15 minutes 12 pounds stuffed 1 hour 50 minutes unstuffed 1 hour 20 minutes 15 pounds stuffed 2 hours 30 minutes unstuffed 2 hours 20 pounds stuffed 3 hours 30 minutes unstuffed 3 hours Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Simplest Roast chicken ====================== Copied directly from Barbara Kafka's "Roasting, A simple Art" Cookbook. 5- to 6-pound chicken, wing tips removed Freshly ground black pepper, to taste I lemon, halved 4 whole garlic cloves 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 cup Basic Chicken Stock or canned, water. Fruit juice. or wine for optional deglazing. Kosher salt, to taste Preheat oven to 500°F TOTAL Roasting time 50 ~ 60 minutes Simplest Roast Chicken Serves 2 to 4 Here it is, the recipe that started the book. If there is no lemon, garlic, or butter on hand, roast the chicken without them. Or play. Use peeled shallots or a small onion, quartered. Add some leaves from the top of a bunch of celery, a couple of sage leaves, or a Bay leaf. Try a few juice orange or blood orange wedges. Vary the deglazing liquid to change the flavor of the gravy or to match what's in the bird. Basic Chicken Stock-or canned-is the starting point, but use part wine-whatever is left over, red or white-or a little vermouth. Make one third of the liquid orange juice if oranges are in the bird. This is not astrophysics. Have fun. Place rack on second level from bottom of oven. heat oven to 500°E Remove the fat from the tail and crop end of the chicken. Freeze the neck and giblets for Basic Chicken Stock. Reserve chicken livers for another use. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the lemon, garlic, and butter. if using. Season the cavity and skin with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in a 12 x 8 x I 1/2-inch roasting pan breast side up. Put in the oven legs first and roast 50 to 60 minutes, or until the juices run clear. Alter the first 10 minutes, move the chicken with a wooden spatula to keep it from sticking. Remove the chicken to a platter by placing a large wooden spoon into the tail end and balancing the chicken with a kitchen spoon pressed against the crop end. As you lift the chicken, tilt it over the roasting pan so that all the juices run out and into the pan. Pour off or spoon out excess fat from the roasting pan and put the roasting pan on top of the stove. Add the stock or other liquid and bring the contents of the pan to a boil, while scraping the bottom vigorously with a wooden spoon. Let reduce by half. Serve the sauce over the chicken or, for crisp skin, in a sauce boat.

Okay. My sealer behaved. The bag was generously wide, though a little tight around the waist. I was working on my poultry board but only had my two hands, not wanting to wait, and cross contaminated everything, so the turkey breast is vacuum sealed in cooking grade, in a carry out bag, in a handle tie tall kitchen bag, in the fridge. :) Since it's skin and bones on, I didn't bother with oil or anything. I had to make "poultry seasoning" for the stuffing, so made the whole recipe and rubbed most of it on the turkey, and put in twigs of purple sage which had dried on the counter when I didn't make what I cut it for. 151 degrees F. for 2 hr. + and I don't have to worry about the danged stuffing! Though I do need to go make the stuffing casserole and chicken stock gravy. And clean the potatoes. It's only 6:00!