From all of us at Algonquin, Happy Thanksgiving! We present you with this delicious Bread Stuffing recipe from Maman’s Homesick Pie.

My Mother’s Bread Stuffing

Stuffing for a 12- to 15 pound turkey or 2 5-pound chickens

1 large yellow onion

5 stalks celery

3 carrots

7 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2-3 cloves garlic, slivered

1-2 whole cloves

1 teaspoon allspice

Zest of 2 oranges

1 1/2 cups dried apricots, slivered

1 1/2 cup dried cranberries

6 ounces chicken livers

2 loaves slightly stale peasant bread, preferably not sourdough

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup coarsely chopped sage

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 cups chicken stock

Kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Dice the onion, celery, and carrot uniformly. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet and saute the vegetables with the garlic until soft and translucent. Add the cloves and allspice, half of the orange peel, and the apricots and cranberries, stir together, and cook 3 or 4 more minutes on low heat. Remove and cool in a wide bowl.

3. Separate the lobes of the chicken livers, trim the veins, and dice into 1/2-inch cubes. Season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon each of the oil and the butter and saute the chicken livers until firm, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool, and add the vegetable-fruit mixture.

4. Cut the bread into bite-sized chunks, discarding the top and the bottom crust. Toss with the cooked liver and the vegetable-fruit mixture. Fold in the toasted pine nuts and 1/4 cup chopped sage.

5. Drizzle with vinegar and chicken stock. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt or vinegar if the stuffing tastes bland, and enough chicken stock to keep it moist

6. To stuff the cavity of a turkey or other fowl, season the cavity with salt and fresh-ground pepper and gently scoop the mixture to stuff the bird. You will have some left over to bake separately. Pile the remaining stuffing into a buttered baking dish and gently pat down for an even surface.  Dot the top with the remaining butter, cover the stuffing with foil, and bake 1 hour.

7. For a 15-pound stuffed turkey, season the outside generously with salt and fresh-ground pepper, the juice of 2 oranges, and the remaining olive oil. Tuck the remaining orange peel and chopped sage between the breast and the skin. Place on the middle rack of the oven and roast for 4 hours, basting frequently and covering with foil once the bird is a rich golden brown. Remove from the oven. Cover loosely with foil and allow to rest 30 minutes before carving.