This is Marie, contributing an article about a family recipe that resembles nothing I’ve ever seen anywhere else. My great-grandfather Tony LaFreniere, who was French-Canadian, invented it, as the story goes. He’d spend all day on Thanksgiving working on it, puttering about while the rest of the feast was being prepared. I don’t need to take nearly that kind of time so either that process is being exaggerated slightly, or he took more time that necessary on purpose.
Grandpa Tony’s Dressing does not have neutral parties in either the adherents or detractors of this substance. You either really like it or you hate it. Nearly everyone, especially Grant, is in the latter camp; Even some of my cousins are less enthusiastic about it. My son actually liked the stuff until my husband made his annual fuss about how horrible he chooses to find it, and he had to follow his dad’s lead. Well, more for me, then. I make it on purpose on order to make full-scale Thanksgiving leftover feast lunches for work. Yes, I know it might make me fall asleep at my desk; it’s worth the risk.
Anyway, here it is:
Before putting the turkey in the oven, take out the neck and put it on the stove with 2-3 diced potatoes and enough water to cover, and simmer for at least a couple of hours.
1 turkey’s worth of giblets (hope they don’t give you a small turkey’s liver)
1/4 lb. ground beef (or 1/2 if you have a big turkey liver)
1/4 lb ground pork
about 1/2 small onion
1/2 tsp each: salt, pepper, allspice, sage & cloves
a couple of handfuls of breadcrumbs
2 or 3 mashed potatoes (the ones from the neck water are best)
Now, here is where I depart from the original recipe. Those of you who have been reading a while know I have an irrational but very sincere dislike of bacon. The original Grandpa Tony dressing had bacon grease. Add it if you like; you’ll be more authentic that way.
Grind together (or finely dice) the giblets, pork and beet and put them in a wide pot with the breadcrumbs and potatoes and a good scoop or two of the neck broth. Cook until well blended. Normally I’d stuff the turkey with it at this point but since the family doesn’t like the stuffing I just make sure to get a good amount of drippings into the dressing and bake it for a half hour or so in the oven on the shelf under the turkey, and then I don’t have to scrape it out. Also, since this is a dense and meaty dressing, it adds about a half hour to the turkey’s cooking time, so although it’s definitely better as a stuffing absorbing all the juices, it’s more practical under the circumstances to cook it separately.
Add more breadcrumbs if needed for texture, or more turkey drippings/neck broth if it seems to be drying out. Eat with mashed potatoes and turkey and a big slather of gravy and this is the essence of Thanksgiving.
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Marie, Let's Eat! 