Stuffing Recipe

Stuffing Recipe - from the NY Times. Mark Bittman gives a scrumptious stuffing recipe in the NY Times:

The orginal James Beard Stuffing Recipe. Mr.Beard was reportedly the first to suggest that his Stuffing recipe for stuffing should be cooked outside the turkey, which would produce a light, buttery, crunchy side dish.

Here is Mark's version of the James Beard Stuffing Recipe:

Fresh Bread Stuffing
Yield 6 to 8 cups, enough to stuff a 12-pound bird or serve 8 to 12 people
Time About 1 hour
by Mark Bittman

Summary
To vary the dressing, you can use olive oil or dried fruit, cooked chestnuts, gizzards, crumbled sausage or mushrooms (cooked with the scallions), or any combination of these.
Ingredients
8 to 9 ounces French or Italian bread
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups chopped scallions, onions or shallots
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon or sage leaves or 1 teaspoon dried crumbled tarragon or sage
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Tear bread into chunks, and put them in the container of a food processor; you may need to do this in batches. Pulse until you have coarse, irregular crumbs, no smaller than a pea and preferably larger.
2. Melt butter over medium heat in a large, deep skillet, Dutch oven or casserole. Add scallions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften, about 5 minutes. Add nuts and cook, stirring almost constantly, until they begin to brown, about 3 minutes.
3. Add bread crumbs and tarragon or sage, and toss to mix. Turn heat to low, and add parsley, along with some salt and pepper; taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
4. Bake stuffing in same pan, or put in an ovenproof casserole. Bake 30 minutes, or until stuffing is lightly browned on top. Serve hot. (Stuffing may also be cooked in turkey, if desired.)

Source: The New York Times