Herbed Grain Free Stuffing..."Voila!"

Today I continued to work on my "Operation Grain Free Stuffing" recipe.  :-)  The grain free bread cubes I made a few days ago were good, but the bread was still a little too dense for my liking to use for stuffing.  I revisited my recipe again this morning to see how I could lighten it up just a bit.  The recipe I made for the lightly herbed "Grain Free Stuffing Bread Cubes" makes about 7 cups of oven dried bread cubes which is the equivalent to approximately 1 bag of commercial stuffing mix which typically contain about 6 cups.  You will need to measure the bread cubes AFTER drying them out because I measured them both before and after oven drying.  Before drying they made 10 cups of fresh bread cubes; after oven drying they measured a tad over 7 cups (the dried measurement is the one you need to use).  I made an Herbed Grain Free Stuffing recipe that I posted below, but you could easily just use the Grain Free Stuffing Bread Cube recipe to make your favorite stuffing recipe.  Stuffing (or dressing) is such a personal kind of dish -- people have all kinds of preferences as to what they like to put in their stuffing...or more what they don't like in it.  My Grain Free Stuffing Bread Cubes recipe below is a great substitute for the more traditional wheat bread stuffing that many of us are accustomed to.  The recipe for my grain free bread cubes is posted below my Herbed Grain Free Stuffing recipe, so if you are using them in your own stuffing recipe, just scroll past mine directly to the recipe for the "stuffing bread cubes".   

For dinner tonight, I am making Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken.  I'm roasting a 7-lb chicken in my dutch oven.  I placed a couple of celery stalks along with their leaves and a couple of carrots in the bottom of my dutch oven to place the chicken on.   I squeezed the juice of 1 fresh lemon over the top of my chicken and placed the cut lemon halves into the chicken's cavity along with 1/2 of an onion, a sprig of fresh rosemary, a handful of fresh sage leaves and a few sprigs of fresh thyme to help flavor the bird from the inside out. In a small bowl, I mixed a few tablespoons of olive oil, and a tablespoon each of fresh rosemary, thyme and sage along with some salt and pepper and brushed it over the chicken, covered it and popped it into a 400 degree F oven for 30 minutes -- and then uncovered it and reduced the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and roasted it for another 1-1/2 hours until it was done.  The smell in my kitchen this afternoon from the fresh lemon herb chicken roasting for a couple of hours along with the Herbed Grain Free Stuffing was amazing!  In tonight's stuffing test I did not add the sausage or mushrooms because I wanted to get a clear feel of the texture of the fresh herb flavored stuffing itself.  I've snapped a few photos below for you to see as well as 2 recipes (one for the Grain Free Stuffing Bread Cubes to use in your own recipe and the other for my Herbed Grain Free Stuffing).  Enjoy!

This is what the dough looks like for the Grain Free Stuffing Bread Cubes

The dough pressed out into the pan, ready to be baked

Bread is baked and fresh out of the oven

Bread has been cut into bread cubes and ready to be oven dried

Here's a close-up shot before going into the oven

Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken ready to be popped in the oven

Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken fresh out of the oven

Herbed Grain Free Stuffing fresh out of the oven

Herbed Grain Free Stuffing

INGREDIENTS: 

6 cups of grain free stuffing bread cubes (*recipe below)
2 cups turkey or chicken broth (more or less to moisten, depending on preference)
1/2 pound Italian sausage, (or preferred type/flavor of bulk sausage), optional
2 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried)
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup onion, finely diced
1 cup celery, chopped or thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced, optional
1/2 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped, optional
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms, cooked, optional
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Please grain free bread cubes in a large bowl and set aside.  In a medium to large skillet, brown optional bulk sausage well, breaking and crumbling into pieces as it cooks; remove cooked sausage and add to the bowl of bread cubes.  Place butter in a large saucepan or stockpot; add onion and celery and cook for about 4-5 minutes until celery and onion is crisp-tender.  Add chopped apple and cranberries (if using) to the celery and onion mixture and cook a few more minutes just to soften slightly.  Add herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley), the bowl of bread cubes with optional cooked sausage and mushrooms to the pot; stir until mixed.  Pour broth over the stuffing mixture and toss lightly (add enough to moisten, but do not over saturate).  Spoon mixture into a well greased 9 x 13 baking dish or casserole dish; cover and bake at 350 degrees F for about 35-40 minutes.  If desired, uncover and bake an additional 10-15 minutes to give it a drier "crusty topping" or until stuffing is the desired moistness and consistency (you can add additional broth, if needed while it is cooking).  

***Note:  The fresh cranberries are tart and not sweet like adding dried sweetened "Craisin" type cranberries. If you want to add a bit of sweetness, you can add a sweeter type of apple than Granny Smith.

For the Grain Free "Stuffing" Bread Cubes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup organic coconut flour
3/4 cup almond flour
2 cups organic golden flax meal
4 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free)
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 eggs (I used organic cage free)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a medium sized bowl, mix all dry ingredients together; add eggs, water, vinegar and oil and mix well.  Dough will be thick and a bit sticky and slightly springy feeling.  Let the dough sit for about 5 minutes while you prepare the baking pan.  Line a baking pan or cookie sheet with non-stick foil lightly brushed with olive or coconut oil or parchment paper sprayed or brushed with oil.  Place ball of dough in the center of the pan and begin pressing the dough outward with a lightly oiled rubber spatula (so it doesn't stick) to between 1/4 - 1/2-inches thick.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the bread is lightly golden and feels done when pressed near the center.  This will make a 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick "bread".  

When bread is done, remove from oven and let cool for about 10-15 minutes.  Lower oven temperature to 300 degrees F.  Move cooled bread to a cutting board and cut into approximate 1/2-inch cubes; place cubes back on baking sheet and return to a 300 degree oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until cubes are dried and crisp.  When bread cubes are thoroughly dry and toasty, remove from oven and let cool completely.  Store in a tightly covered container or Ziploc bag to keep moisture out until ready to use in your favorite stuffing recipe.  Makes approximately 6-7 cups of toasted bread cubes.  Use in your favorite stuffing recipe.