Turkey With Apricot-Water Chestnut Stuffing

This turkey dinner illustrates the 19th century notion that anything worth doing is worth doing on a grand scale! I got my idea for this stuffing recipe from one of my Victorian decorating magazines, but I changed many of the ingredients. My family LOVES this stuffing - We had a house full of 12 guests for Christmas this year and everyone raved about this stuffing. Definitely a hit around here! Enjoy :)

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 4 hr
• Total Time: 4 hr 30 mins
• Calories: 895 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup butter
• 1 cup dried currants
• 1 ½ cups chopped onion
• 1 ½ cups chopped celery
• 2 cups chicken broth
• ½ cup slivered almonds
• cooking spray
• ½ cup water, or as needed
• 1 (16 pound) whole turkey - thawed, neck and giblets removed
• 4 teaspoons poultry seasoning
• 1 (1 pound) loaf sourdough bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 (15 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
• 1 ½ cups chopped dried apricots

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Step 2

Spread the bread cubes out onto a baking sheet, and toast in the preheated oven until lightly browned, stirring once. Set the bread cubes aside. Turn oven heat down to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Step 3

Melt butter in a large skillet, and cook and stir the almonds until very lightly browned, about 3 minutes; remove the almonds with a slotted spoon and set aside. Cook and stir the onion and celery in the same skillet until the onion begins to turn translucent, about 5 minutes; stir in poultry seasoning and salt until well mixed. Pour the vegetables into a large mixing bowl.

Step 4

Stir toasted bread cubes, almonds, water chestnuts, dried apricots, and dried currants into the vegetable mixture; stir in the chicken broth until the stuffing is evenly moist.

Step 5

Rinse and dry the turkey well, inside and out, using paper towels. Place the stuffing lightly into the turkey cavities. Fold the wings underneath the turkey, and place the stuffed bird breast side up onto a roasting rack over a roasting pan. Spray the turkey with cooking spray. Place pieces of aluminum foil onto the neck cavity and over the stuffing showing in the main cavity to prevent overbrowning.

Step 6

Spoon any leftover stuffing into a baking dish, pour in water, cover with foil, and refrigerate the dish. About 1 hour before serving time, bake the dish of stuffing in the oven.

Step 7

Roast the bird in the 325-degree oven until the skin is browned and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reads 180 degrees F (80 degrees C), 4 1/2 to 5 hours. Allow the turkey to stand for about 20 minutes before removing stuffing and carving the meat.