Ground Beef Stuffing Recipe

If you're Vietnamese, you've probably heard your mom say "tội chết" ("dreadfully sinful" in Vietnamese) in regards to wasting food. The lesson was definitely hammered into me, and now that I'm an adult, I intend to follow in my mom's footsteps and teach the same values to my daughter.

I love Acme brand green onion slab bread. It's very flavorful, moist and delicious. I went a little over-board buying 4 loaves at Costco. I made panini sandwiches the day before and had one left-over on the kitchen counter. Today, my goal was to come up with a creative way to use it all. I made stuffing using the onion bread with ground beef, artichoke hearts, tomato paste and mozzarella cheese. I moistened the bread with beef stock I had stored in the freezer. It makes a wonderful one-dish meal once the little casserole dish is heated and broiled in the oven. And if the slightly stale bread didn't have green onion in it, I could have made pain perdu (french toast) as well!

Ground Beef Stuffing Recipe

If you're Vietnamese, you've probably heard your mom say "tội chết" ("dreadfully sinful" in Vietnamese) in regards to wasting food. The lesson was definitely hammered into me, and now that I'm an adult, I intend to follow in my mom's footsteps and teach the same values to my girl.

I love Acme brand green onion slab bread. It's very flavorful, moist and delicious. I went a little over-board buying 4 loaves at Costco. I made panini sandwiches the day before and had one left-over on the kitchen counter. Today, my goal was to come up with a creative way to use it all. I made stuffing using the onion bread with ground beef, artichoke hearts, tomato paste and mozzarella cheese. I moistened the bread with beef stock I had stored in the freezer. It makes a wonderful one-dish meal once the little casserole dish is heated and broiled in the oven. And if the stale bread didn't have green onion in it, I could have made pain perdu (french toast) as well!

Plantain Stuffing Recipe

We had a little bread left-over from the Superbowl party, and instead of wasting it, I turned the stale bread into a delicious side dish. I added plantains, water chestnuts and green beans, then finished the dish with crumbled goat cheese. I paired the plantain stuffing with veal scallopini.

Cornbread Dressing

The trick to making good cornbread stuffing is to cut the cornbread into bite-sized cubes and then to sear them a bit before adding them to the vegetables and stock. The reason for this is that cornbread is much more crumbly than croutons, and will fall apart if not treated beforehand.

I made my cornbread dressing with commonly used winter and root vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, celery and button mushrooms to keep it very simple and not overpower the homemade cornbread itself. Cornbread is after all the star of the show. You can also repeat the flavors from the cornbread in the stuffing itself.  Roasted jalapeño, bits of corn and cheddar cheese would work, though I would use shredded cheese in that case.

Pecan Stuffing with Rosemary, Fennel and Fresh Water Chestnuts

Here's a stuffing recipe that really packs a crunch. Pecans and water chestnuts provide flavor as well as a nice texture contrast. I added a fennel bulb for a mild licorice flavor, mushroom salt and a small amount of jalapeño for a bit of heat.

For a fancier stuffing, you can add some crumbled blue cheese to the croutons. I finished the pecan stuffing with a little parmesan for a salty (but not overpowering) note.

This recipe is far more savory than the cranberry apple stuffing I made last week. The differences between the two versions really demonstrate the versatility of stuffing. Whatever your preference, there's a stuffing that you and your family will love.