Friday 28 November 2014


Parsley Stuffing


The best stuffing for your turkey and a very old traditional Cornish recipe. I have used this recipe forever and it has been on my Blog since I started! I make no apologies for repeating it this year, for all my new likers! Mine is already made and tucked away in my freezer, all ready to defrost on Xmas eve night….. then pop it into the turkey neck cavity before roasting. The photo is a mini chicken version!!

In our family we just call this Stuffing, or even "stuff", but I had to give it a proper name. I have no idea of the origins of this delicious dressing but my Mother served it for as long as I can remember and it was my belief that it was my grandmother's recipe - she was born in 1885! I have never cooked a roast chicken without this stuffed into its neck - definitely NOT his bum. It is just as scrumptious when cold, to serve with cold meats. It also freezes perfectly. I will give you the basic recipe, that will probably stuff 2 everyday chickens but for my Xmas Turkey I use at least double the amount. It depends on the size.

12 oz white breadcrumbs, from a few days old, uncut loaf - no crusts
6 oz suet - Atora, light is good [but a hundred years ago it would have been the real thing]
2 oz chopped FRESH Parsley - this is a lot! [use finer stalks too]
2 teaspoons of dried mixed herbs
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper - plenty of both!
4 eggs to bind


Cube the bread and blitz in a food processor or blender. Put in a bowl along with everything else. Beat the eggs and mix together. It's as easy as that. I batch make and freeze little packets for use and take out the night before and leave in the fridge. Pack tightly in the neck cavity and hold with cocktail sticks, or at Xmas I sew it in. Watch out for the cotton!!

9 comments:

  1. Thank you from Greece! It is almost impossible to find suet here. Do you think that lard can substitute it?

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    1. Why not go to a proper old fashioned butchers, then ask for some raw suet and just grate your own. If Greece has cows, then butchers will have suet!!! You will buy it by the kilo I would imagine. You cannot use lard to replace, unfortunately. Good luck. Laurie

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    2. Thank you for your help, furthermore thank you for all of these recipes!

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  2. My mother in law made this with her roast chicken on a Sunday when i was newly married to her son! I've made it ever since (30 years), Paxo dried stuffing isn't a patch on it!

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  3. This was the only stuffing we ever had when I was a kid (I'm now over 60) and it's stil my favourite but Mum never put any suet in it.

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  4. Thank you so much for this stuffing recipe. I come from Penryn too, and this is exactly what my mum and my granny made. So grateful for the recipe, connecting me with my Cornish heritage. You've made my day.

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  5. My Dad used to make this every Christmas. It's the best stuffing for taste. It's lovely cold with cold meats or added to "bubble & squeak" too.

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  6. I am over 70 and my Granny always made this without measuring anything. I was brought up in Devon.

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  7. Would I be able to make either stuffing balls or a tray of stuffing with this recipe. How long to bake?

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