SuzzyQ

My mom used to make both dry and wet dressing with chicken & turkey. Same basic recipe and the dry went into the bird. The rest of the dressing was put into a baking pan and then she added stock, drippings, water, milk or whatever liquid she had and baked it. It stayed creamy soft and was tasty. It was the family favourite even though we had to have dry dressing in the bird too.
I've never been able to master it. And Dh didn't like wet dressing anyway so while I mastered making dressing I've never been able to recreate mom's. Closest I can get is gravy on dry dressing and then mixed in.

Does anyone else have something similar?

Battle Axe

Have you tried to add some eggs? Do you sweat the celery and onions in butter?

tranum

I remember a friend saying her MIL’s dressing was unbelievably dry, it was crunchy. Doubt I’d like that !

Tartan

I do my bread dressing in a roasting pan in the oven. The bread pieces are left out overnight to dry in a big bowl. The next day, when the turkey goes in the oven, the neck, giblets liver, heart are put in saucepan on top of the stove with water to simmer. Poultry seasoning is added to the bread pieces to taste with salt and pepper.
In another saucepan, mixed frozen vegetable, cubed potatoes and chopped onion simmer until the potatoes are slightly tender. The bread pieces get several spoons of butter on top and the hot vegatables are spooned over with a slotted spoon. I add enough of the stock from the giblet saucepan until the bread dressing is moist but not soggy. If I need more liquid, I use some from the vegetable saucepan. It goes into the roasting pan for about an hour to get heated through and the potatoes to be tender.

Anniedeb

My mother did the same thing! I haven't been able to master her dressing either. Your comment about the gravy really made me chuckle. Today, while getting every thing ready for the table, I had the dressing sitting on the top of the stove, and finished the gravy. I grabbed the gravy boat, but in my haste, started pouring the gravy on top of the dressing instead of into the gravy boat. My son yelled out at me, so it wasn't too bad, but certainly wasn't dry dressing!

farmquilter

The 'wet' dressing must be what my Mother made and baked in a casserole dish. I am still trying to find something that might work to give the results she had. Hers was soft and fluffy with a great crust on the sides and bottom but lesser on top.
I tried one version baked in a 9x13 pan but was not happy with it, dry and not much flavor. Crumbled that all up, put in more broth, chopped up turkey (from the freezer), MORE spices and added 2 more eggs then cooked in the crock pot on low for 4 hours. It came out nice and fluffy with good flavor but really want the crusty sides.

Hope someone can solve the puzzle to the 'wet' dressing.

Momala24

All measurements in this recipe are approximate! I just taste as I go till I get it right.
2-3T (or more) butter or margarine
1 cup chopped onion or more
1 Cup chopped celery or more
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 to 1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 Tsp sage
1/2 tsp savoury
celery seed
garlic salt
fresh ground pepper
1 to 1 1/2 salt (you might need more)
1 to 1 1/2 tsp hi Ken boullion (I don't always use this)
Use good bread, not the cheapest one on the shelf. Have extra bread handy in case you need it. Melt and heat butter in a large fry pan. Add chopped celery and cook till half done. Add onions and continue cooking till onions are mostly cooked. Meanwhile, rip fresh bread into cubes and put in a large bowl. When onions and celery are cooked add to bread and toss to mix. Add spices and taste to see if you have what you like of each spice. Use the spices you like best and don't be concerned if you don't use all the ones I have listed.
Add eggs, mix well,add oil starting with 1/4 to 1/2 cup and adding more if you need it. If bread is not sticking together at this point, add a little hot water until it does. It should stick together but not be sloppy. Bake in a large Pyrex pan at 335-350F., covered for about 1/2 hour. Check at that point and uncover if you want it a little crispy on top. Continue baking for another 10-15 minutes until you can see that it is cooked through. Adjust spices and bread depending upon how many people you are feeding. If you accidentally put I too much spice,just add more bread and liquid as needed.

Momala24

That should be chicken bouillon!

farmquilter

You are using fresh bread and not dried to a bone cubes. I can not recall how my mother did the bread but might have been homemade white.
Every recipe out there says to use stale/dried bread, have always wondered why we could not use fresh.

I used a recipe similar to the above but put in a lot more spices, how many eggs do you use in yours.

BARES

I always used what we called "day old" bread. My mother did also. Her dressing was always so good. The reason to not use fresh bread is because the bread becomes like glue. The old bread gets moist, but holds its texture and shape to a degree as it reabsorbs the juice/broth. Bread needs to be dry, but you should still be able to put a thumbprint in the piece. If you use something like stovetop it is bone dry and needs more broth. I don't think bone dry (like stovetop) makes a good dressing -- with or without their spices. My mothers dressing was always simple but still crusty. We cooked the celery and onion till it was soft but still crunchy in butter and a bit of oil. Had the bread torn into pieces mixed with about two tablespoons of sage and 1 tablespoon of salt in a large bowl, poured the celery mixture over it and started adding the turkey broth till moist but still not wet. Mix it all ( I use my hands or you can use a large spoon ). Taste for more salt and sage ( I like quite a bit of sage ) and add more broth till it is slightly wet. Baked for 30 to 40 minutes @ 350 degrees. Started checking it for crusty-ness on top at 30 minutes. It is what I grew up with and what I still like best. It is what my mother grew up with and she was born in 1912. She never used eggs altho I have seen many recipes call for them.