Baked Apple-Raisin Stuffing

Thanksgiving 2020. The second pandemic Thanksgiving. Four hundred and fifty-two plates at the hospital — I counted, I always count, the counting is the prayer. The turkey was good. The gravy was right. The mashed potatoes held their shape. The cranberry sauce was from scratch because I refuse the canned version not out of snobbery but out of respect — respect for the cranberry, which deserves better than a can, and respect for the patient, who deserves better than gelatin.

At home, the table held four: me, Eduardo, Sofía, and Mami. Mami came in her wheelchair, wrapped in the cashmere shawl, smaller than I remembered even though I see her every week, smaller in the way that elderly people become smaller not physically but energetically, the presence contracting, the voice quieter, the body taking up less space in the world as the world takes up less space in the body. She sat at the head of the table. I put a plate in front of her: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, my pumpkin flan. She looked at the plate. She looked at me. She said, Carmen, where are the others?

The others. The sixteen who should be here. The Miguel Jrs. and the Rosas and the Davids and the Sofías and the Lucases and the Isabellas and the spouses and the neighbors and the extra chairs. Where are the others. I said, Mami, they could not come this year. She said, Why. I said, There is a sickness. She said — and this was the lucid Mami, the Bayamón Mami, the mother who raised seven children through poverty and loss and never once let the difficulty become an excuse — she said, There is always a sickness, Carmen. Tell them to come anyway and wash their hands.

I laughed. Eduardo laughed. Sofía laughed. Mami did not laugh — she was not joking, she was stating a fact from a generation that survived polio and tuberculosis and hurricanes and considered hand-washing a sufficient response to most of the world's problems. She was magnificent. She ate the turkey. She ate the flan. She said, The flan needs more vanilla. I said, Yes, Mami. The flan was perfect. But Mami's critique was more perfect. The critique was proof of life.

The flan got the last word that year — it always does in our house — but the stuffing is the dish that held everything together, the one that made the four of us feel like sixteen. I’ve been making a baked apple-raisin stuffing for years because it is the opposite of sparse: it is generous, it is layered, it smells like a full house even when the house is not full. Mami ate it without critique, which in our family is the highest possible praise.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 10

Ingredients

1 loaf (1 lb) day-old white or sourdough bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
2 medium apples (such as Granny Smith or Honeycrisp), peeled, cored, and diced
2/3 cup golden raisins
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (or 3/4 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken or turkey broth, warmed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Instructions

Dry the bread. Spread bread cubes in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets. Let sit uncovered overnight, or bake at 275°F for 30 minutes until dried but not toasted. Transfer to a very large mixing bowl.
Sauté the aromatics. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 8 minutes.
Add apples and fruit. Stir in diced apples and raisins. Cook 3–4 minutes more until apples begin to soften. Add thyme, sage, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine, then remove from heat.
Combine. Pour the apple-onion mixture over the bread cubes. Add parsley and toss gently to distribute evenly.
Add liquid. Whisk the eggs into the warm broth. Pour over the bread mixture 1/2 cup at a time, tossing gently after each addition. The bread should be moist throughout but not soggy. You may not need all the broth.
Bake. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish. Transfer stuffing to the dish and spread evenly. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes until the top is golden and crisp.
Rest and serve. Let the stuffing rest 5 minutes before serving. Taste and adjust salt if needed.

Nutrition (per serving)

Baked Apple-Raisin Stuffing — The Table That Still Had Room