This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe found in an ancient 1950's Cuban cookbook by Nitza Villapol called "Cocina Criolla." I actually bought the edition that's being sold on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cocina-Criolla-Nitza-Villapol/dp/0681265558, but it's missing this recipe. My mother would always reference this book whenever she made certain dishes, and Cuban women of her generation all knew Villapol as she could be likened to the Julia Child of Cuba.
These days Thanskgiving is usually celebrated at my sister's house, with all of the major dishes split up amongst different relatives. I have been making this particular stuffing since I was in high school, as it is usually my assigned job. A few other people have tried to duplicate this stuffing, but supposedly it doesn't come out the same way. I think it's just an excuse to not have to chop all those veggies, which is the most intense thing about making this dish. Here's the recipe so you can give it a whirl.
Below is my version which I am making for a HUGE Thanksgiving celebration with about 30-40 people, so if you're making it for a much smaller group you'll have to shrink the recipe accordingly.
Ingredients:
4 bags of Pepperidge farms bread cubes (2 cubed, 2 crushed)
4 sticks of unsalted butter
4 tablespoons of olive oil
3 pounds of ham (ground in a food processor, low sodium, any type of non-sweet ham. I used Serrano for this recipe)
1 bottle of pear nectar
4 cups of milk (any kind will work)
1 bottle of pear nectar (if you can't find any, use unfiltered apple juice)
4 apples ( a sweet variety, these were gala) these were peeled and chopped into large cubes the size of dice.
1 cup of raisins
8 oz slivered almonds without the skin (I'm actually allergic to almonds and sometimes leave it out)
4 onions finely diced
8-10 carrots finely diced
6 stalks of celery finely diced
1 1/2 heads of garlic finely chopped
***Salt, pepper, garlic powder (only as needed, I didn't have to add any as I thought the seasoning in the bread cubes and salt content of the ham was perfect.)
I needed to use two large pots to cook this amount of stuffing. After I finished cooking it, I let it cool down, and then loaded the stuffing into 4 large gallon freezer bags which I labeled and placed flat in the freezer so I could transport it to Miami (a four hour drive from Orlando).
In each pot I poured two tablespoons of olive oil and one stick of butter. And let the butter melt over low heat while I chopped all the veggies in a food processor. I divided all of the veggies (onions, garlic, carrots, celery) evenly between the two pots, and raised the heat to medium to sauté until the onions were translucent. As the veggies cooked, I noticed the pot was looking dry so I added half of a stick of butter to each pot. I then cut up the ham in large cubes, ground the ham in the food processor, and split it evenly between the two pots. I then added the raisins to both pots, and began peeling and chopping the apples into large cubes and added it to the pots.
I stir the mixtures in both pots, and add the remaining sticks of butter evenly to both pots. I do. Not allow the apples to cook very much, as I want them to keep some of their density. I then add the almonds (these are optional, I usually don't add the as I am allergic to almonds).
Now it's time to add the bread cubes (one bag of crushed and one bag of cubed to each pot). I mix the bread and the ham mixture together with a very heavy wooden spoon, and begin adding equal parts milk and pear nectar. The amounts of liquid mentioned above are only estimates as you're looking for a particular consistency to the stuffing. I know this sounds gross, but the consistency you want is that of raw meatball or meatloaf mix...really dense , and the breaking should have absorbed all of the liquid and have melded with the meat and veggie mixture. Some yars I feel as though I'm over doing it with the nectar and milk, or it just tastes too sweet or too salty, so I will sometimes replace the liquid with water. You will need to just taste a lot during this last step, this would also be a great time to check the seasoning of your mixture and add any salt, pepper, garlic powder that you feel is necessary.
