Apricot Stuffing for Christmas

Next Tuesday I'll be flying off with my family to Syd-en-nee! We are all really looking forward to getting on a plane again and spending time with family. Eating, talking, laughing, board games and playing with the babies of course. We have two 9 month old little boys to meet (my nephews.. who made me a first-time bona-fide aunty this year). This is creating wonderful anticipation because so far we've been receiving almost daily photo's and/or video's via mobile phone. Lenny and Blake are like little movie stars to us. So far they've been untouchable, yet famous for being themselves. And famous for their 'body of work' eg. Wearing cute T-shirts that say “I still live with my parents”, squeals and gummy-chuckles and amazing feats like sitting or getting up on their own & eating watermelon from a hand-held 'food cage'. Amazing that I feel such big love for them already.

This week I'm going Christmasy again and I'm passing on a stuffing recipe because it's been two years since I offered my last one. It was “Christmas Stuffing Balls” using minced turkey and chestnut puree (and I gave a vegie option too).

Last week we looked at another way of serving seafood at Christmas (or any other time). It was kind-of a 'one pan dish', with minimal washing up & suitable even if you're just cooking for one, two or three people. I was inspired then by a recipe I'd seen on 'Nigella Kitchen' (..by the way I'm loving this show at the moment)! Today I'm giving you a recipe I've adapted from notquitenigella.com ('Nigella' seems to be code for “Culinary Influence”) but the original recipe hails from chef Hamish Watts of Botanic Garden's restaurant in Sydney.

On a final note, please excuse my limited, mediocre photo's done in poor lighting. It was all done quickly and I didn't set it all up in 'usual blog form'.. but I hope it doesn't put you off the stuffing recipe itself!

When I made this I wish I'd made double the quantity actually, it's that tasty. Apricot Stuffing for Christmas

*Sourdough bread, 500g loaf, crust removed & broken into small, 2cm pieces
*Dried Apricots, 200gm packet, diced
*Chicken stock, 1.5 cups
*Cream (light cooking), ½ cup
*Onions, 2 medium, finely chopped
*Thyme, fresh, 3 sprigs (leaves pinched off)
*Garlic, 3 cloves, crushed
*Brandy, ¼ cup
*White pepper, a few shakes for seasoning
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*Preheat oven according to the meat you want to roast
*Saute onions with a pinch of salt until soft.
*Add garlic & thyme, saute another minute.
*Add diced apricots, cook another minute.
*Add sourdough bread and chicken stock, keep stirring over a medium heat until all liquid is absorbed (it shouldn't take long).
*Turn off heat, add cream and stir through.
*Add white pepper and allow to cool (I spread my stuffing out onto a tray for this).
*Stuffing is ready to use. You can put it in the cavity of a turkey or chicken, or cut a 'tunnel' through roast pork (freeze the remaining, cut-out pork meat for other dishes like omelette's, Asian style soup's or fried rice). Alternatively make individual servings of stuffing, by pressing down large spoonful's in lightly greased, small souffle-type ramekins & bake alongside your roast or on their own in a 200 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes (until the tops are browned and crispy).Stuffing cooling off before I use it.


I stuffed roast pork with it.