Everything Old is new again...

The following comes mostly from an old post from 2005. With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I would repost for my non-vegetarian foodie freak friends...

Lola’s Stuffing

Lola was my great grandmother. I guess she's still my great grandmother, she just isn't living any more. She died when I was an infant or toddler. But while she was alive, I'm told, she never let me cry. And she spoke only Castilian Spanish, though she understood a great deal more English than she let on. Because my Dad and Mom decided to wait to have children, Lola called my Dad "pendejo" and "mediohombre," implying that he was incapable of knocking up the Moms. Because she often looked after me, some of my first words were Spanish- while most kids had a “pacifier,” I had a “chupa.”

Anyway - Lola's stuffing is without question, the best stuffing in the known Universe. Here's the recipe:

½ - ¾ lb ground veal
½ - ¾ lb ground pork
1 green apple
1 or 2 chopped onion
3 stalks celery chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
¼ cup parsley chopped
2 eggs
1-3 cups of croutons
½ cup raisins (soaked in hot water, drained)
½ cup of butter

Brown onions, celery, garlic, and parsley in 1 cube of butter (5 min)

Add meat, apple, croutons raisins, salt, and pepper. Cook until done.

Remove from heat. Add eggs slightly beaten. If stuffing is runny, add more croutons or breadcrumbs.

Prepare the night before and let sit in refrigerator overnight.


I know there's some vagueness in this recipe - like a 50% swing in the amount of meat. I like a little more meat and a few more raisins. But mess around a bit. Add stuff until it smells right. And this year, I could not find ground veal. Normally, I would never buy veal anyway, but it's a family tradition. But this year I could not find any at three different grocery stores. So I think I'm going to sub a bit of ground beef and a bit of ground turkey. The point is for it to have beef flavor and be a bit moist. I hope it works. (Update for 2009 – It does.)