Thanksgiving Stuffing with Giblets: Liver, Heart and Gizzard

What to do with all those odd bits? Make Stuffing with Giblets and share them with the people that you love!

And count your blessings while you do… That you have a turkey that comes with giblets.  That you have the resources for using them.  And that you will be able to savor the nutrient density of these goodies, all the while enjoying a delicious meal.

Speaking of sharing

This past weekend I had the opportunity to present at the 20th Annual Wise Traditions Conference hosted by the Weston A Price Foundation near Dallas, Texas. This was super exciting for me because my own journey into offal started after reading Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (by Weston A Price).  After learning about nutrient-density in foods, I savored the optimization problem of maximizing nutrition with limited calories.  From the start, I intended to give back to the community that has taught me so much.

I was able to share some simple recipes for liver, brains and tongue.  And then attempted to address the most common excuses people give for not cooking organs.  These included cultural hangups, access and logistical barriers, not knowing where to start, and minimizing both texture issues and the intensity of these seemingly foreign foods.

I felt so grateful to have an opportunity to put all these thoughts together in one place, and to have an eager audience.  The conference organizers had wisely asked me to simplify an earlier version of my talk for beginners and it was a great insight.  As always, it’s an experiment and I emphasized getting into the kitchen and giving it a try. Nothing to lose! You can learn from mistakes, improving over time, and it may just work out really well.

In the meantime, I learned that it would be helpful to break things down even more than I have in the past.

Stuffing with Giblets

That said, here’s what’s typically found inside a Thanksgiving turkey:

To clean up these organs, I use shears to separate the liver into two lobes, discarding any connective tissue.  Next, I trim the top tube off of the heart, but try to spare the beautiful ring of saturated fat around the rim.  I often hold the heart upside down and squeeze out any blood that may have been trapped inside.  For the gizzards, I trim the silverskin with a sharp knife, cutting off each side and the tissue and fat connecting them.

At the Thanksgiving table, there is likely to be someone who is squeamish about eating organs.  No worries, they don’t need to know.  And it’s up to you to nourish your guests. For this type of situation, I recommend chopping the giblets small enough such that they’ll get lost in the stuffing.

Prep each ingredient separately, then combine and mix before baking.

First, bacon is always a great cover.  Second, a mix of savory mushrooms with herbs lends rich flavor. Along with the broth that saturates the breadcrumbs in the end.  Finally, celery gives some bite.  If you are still unsure if you could pull off the inclusion of offal, I suggest just a bit more bacon, and smaller dice on the giblets.

Giving thanks

Thank you to all of you reading these musings. Thank you to those of you who have actually prepared recipes from this site (!) – especially those of you who have given feedback or shared those experiences with me. Thank you to all of you who came out to my talk.  Thank you for providing meaning to this blog and inspiring me to keep at it.

I wish you a fun-loving and easy-going Thanksgiving, full of connection, warmth and appreciations.  And perhaps a side serving of Stuffing with Giblets to truly nourish yourself and those you love.

Thanksgiving Stuffing with Giblets

November 25, 2019

by Janine Farzin

Category Gizzards Heart Liver

Persons

8

Ingredients

• Turkey giblets - liver, heart and gizzards
• 1 1/4 lb sourdough bread, sliced and cut into squares
• 6 slices bacon
• 7 T reserved bacon grease or lard, divided
• (optional) 1 lb ground turkey/pork blend
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 lbs white, cremini and/or shitake mushrooms, sliced
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped sage
• 2 t chopped thyme
• 4 celery sticks, chopped
• 1/4 c parsley chopped
• 1 1/2 c broth
• Butter for greasing 9x13 baking dish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2. Clean up and prep your giblets. Cut any excess connective tissue off of the top of the heart, squeeze out any excess blood. Separate and cut off any connective tissue from the two liver lobes. Trim the skin off of the giblets from all sides. Chop all organs into small pieces, even smaller if your people are squeamish about eating them. Season with salt and pepper and reserve.
3. Prep your bread. If not yet stale, cut sourdough into one inch cubes and bake at 325 (convection) or 350 (regular) for 20-30 minutes, until dry.
4. Fry up enough bacon to fill your largest pan. When crispy, remove bacon strips and reserve.
5. With a thick layer of grease (~4 to 6 tablespoons) on medium heat, add the onions and let soften. Add chopped mushrooms, 2 teaspoons salt, and the juice from half a lemon (~1.5-2 teaspoons). Stir all together, cover pan and cook on medium for 8 minutes. Remove lid, stir, increase heat to high until liquids have evaporated, stirring occasionally. Next, add sage and thyme, stir all together while cooking for about one more minute, then remove from heat and reserve.
6. Add 1-2 tablespoons of bacon grease or lard to a smaller pan and add seasoned organs. Cook for 1-2 minutes until just cooked.
7. In a large mixing bowl, add dry bread pieces, mushroom and herb mix, cooked organs, reserved and chopped bacon, optional ground turkey and pork blend, chopped celery and parsley. If your broth is very gelatinous, warm until it's easily fluid and add to the dry ingredients. Mix all together.
8. Butter your baking dish. Add stuffing, all mixed together. Bake at 275 degrees for 35-45 minutes until warm through. Serve with turkey. Be thankful!

Tags

appreciations,

audience,

Thankgiving,

Weston A Price,

Wise Traditions Conference

https://offallygoodcooking.com/stuffing-with-giblets/