Fruit Stock

So just the other day I was cutting up fruit for a fruit platter, and had quite a few extra fruit peels. I was about to toss them out, when I thought that was kind of a waste. After all, we save all the vegetable scrap odds and ends to make stocks, all the meat bones and fat and trimmings, why not fruit???

So I threw my cantaloupe peel, honeydew peel, lemon rind, extra orange slices I found in the fridge, and random grapes in a pot with water, along with some fresh mint, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cloves for a little extra flavor. It didn't take very long to simmer to extract the flavor, not even two hours.

 I then strained the stock and tasted it. It was quite citrusy, like a light orange juice, with a hint of spice. I added a simple syrup with some maple, poured it over ice, and made a quick fruit punch. The flkavor will differ depending on what sort of fruit scraps you have - but don't throw them out! Fruit stock does work.

Turkey Stuffing

This post may be coming a little late, considering turkey dinners with stuffing and all the trimmings tend to be most popular during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. But here is the stuffing I made for our New Year's turkey feast. Stuffing is a good, basic dish to know how to make, and can be used in a wide variety of dishes - chicken, turkey, goose, duck, even pork and fish. It can also take on a range of flavors - add some cranberries, nuts, or other vegetables. Stuffing is an incredibly easy dish to make, almost as easy as those box mixes, which seem to be popular, but just cannot beat the flavor of homemade. Some homemade recipes just don't seem to turn out great, so it is important to find a really good one. This is a really good one, in my opinion anyway. I'm not really a stuffing fan, I never eat the boxed mixes and have tasted and not really cared for some homemade versions, but this one I love. It's definitely got the typical stuffing seasons, along with a few vegetables and plenty of bread - and it is a bit on the wetter side, just the way I like it!

Turkey Stuffing
1/2 cup clarified butter
1 medium white onion, small dice
2 stalks celery, small dice
one pound stale white bread, in small cubes (use baguette, French, Italian, sandwich, rolls, or a combination)
1 egg, beaten
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste
1 1/2 cups turkey or chicken stock (use less if you like a drier stuffing)

Heat the butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and sauté, without browning, until onion is translucent and vegetables are quite soft.
Meanwhile, toss together the bread, egg, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and seasonings together in a large bowl. Stir in the vegetables and butter from the pan. Pour the stock over top and mix in.
Place mixture in a buttered 9x13 inch rectangular dish or casserole dish of similar size and cover with foil. The stuffing can then be refrigerated if prepared in advance. 
Bake covered at 350◦F for 45-60 minutes until hot. Stuffing is pretty forgiving if you put it in a little late or need to keep it in longer while the main course is still being prepared. It also reheats well. Makes approximately eight servings.