Wegmans Herb Stuffing with Chestnuts

During the holidays, like most folks,
I always prepare stuffing with my holiday turkey.
And, um, you know, once in awhile I like to
just mix it up a little bit and add something
different to my stuffing.
Now, I have this basic wonderful herb stuffing to start out with.
It's fail proof and this year I think I'm just gonna add
some roasted chestnuts.
Fresh chestnuts should feel firm and plump in your hand.
And after they're cooked, they have more moisture
than most nuts do , so they're not hard and crunchy.
Some people even say they taste
a little bit like a sweet potato.
They're imported from Italy and they're very seasonal.
Only available around the holiday time.
So, if you've never had fresh roasted chestnuts,
now would be the time to try them.
And if you want to use chestnuts in your stuffing,
but don't want to roast them yourself,
we also have them available in jars,
or even vacuum packed.
Now, let's take a look at what to do with a chestnut
before you roast it.
You have to make a little cut or little incision
in the flat side of the nut.
So, I like to use a serrated knife to do this.
Makes it a little bit easier to saw through the hard skin.
And what this does is, it makes it easier to peel
after they're cooked and also prevents--or helps
the steam to escape so that they don't explode.
This goes into a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes.
When the chestnuts are cool enough to handle,
starting from the x, just peel back like this
removing the outer shell as well as the inner skin
that surrounds the chestnut.
Now I'm gonna cut these in half
and add this to my measuring cup.
I have about two cups here
of roasted chestnuts ready to go.
In my braising pan here, I have a quarter cup
of basting oil , that is heating up on medium high.
And to that, I'm adding two packages,
eight ounce each of diced celery and onions.
A great convenience.
And I'm gonna give this a little bit of a stir.
And stir and cook that for about five minutes
until the vegetables are tender.
Stirring frequently to make sure that they don't burn.
Now, I'm adding one tablespoon
of Herbs de Provence.
This is a classic French blend of seven different herbs.
And continue to stir that,
cooking about three more minutes.
So, after about three minutes, we're adding two tablespoons
of unsalted butter and one container,
that's about four cups of chicken culinary stock to this
and what I'm gonna do here is--you can turn up
the heat a little bit if you want to.
'Cause you want to bring this to a simmer or a low boil.
So, let's turn that up and bring it to a simmer.
Once the liquid comes to a simmer, like this,
then we're gonna turn that off and leave it there.
At this point, we're adding,
one granny smith apple, shredded.
It gives it just a little touch of sweetness.
Stir that in together.
And one package, that's some 16 ounces,
or one pound of unseasoned croutons.
And I would do this by adding them a little bit at a time,
stirring them around so that they get moistened
all through out, like this.
And then when you've made a little room continue add more.
Until, they're all in there.
We're seasoning that with some salt and pepper.
And finally, here's where the chestnuts come in.
I'm adding that two cups of chestnuts to this mixture.
And then we're going to stir this all together.
So, it's moistened throughout.
Transfer the braising pan to the center rack
of a preheated 350 degree oven and bake it for about 30 minutes
until the stuffing is nicely browned on top
and cooked throughout.
So this holiday, why not try our basic herb stuffing.
You can't go wrong, it's really easy
and just to give it a twist,
why not add some roasted chestnuts.
Have a happy holiday.