Stuffing with Apples and Roasted Garlic

My mother used to add grated apple to her stuffing for added moisture. I have enhanced this with roasted garlic for its sweetly caramelized flavour and incorporated some liquid (broth or sweet apple cider) to reduce the amount of butter used.

Makes enough stuffing for a 10 - 12 pound turkey; can be halved for a 4 - 6 pound chicken, or doubled for a large turkey.



Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
  
• 2 medium onions, chopped
  
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
  
• 2 heads roasted garlic*
  
• 8 cups dry bread, cut into small cubes
  
• 2 tart apples, peeled and chopped
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh thyme (or 2 tsp. dried)
  
• 1/2 to 1 cup chicken stock or sweet apple cider
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Directions

• Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. 
  
• Add onion and celery; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. 
  
• Stir in garlic squeezed from roasted heads. 
  
• In large bowl, combine bread cubes, apples, parsley, thyme and onion mixture. Add enough stock or juice to just moisten the bread. 
  
• Add salt and pepper to taste. 
  

* To roast garlic, slice about 1/2 inch off top of each head of garlic to expose tops of cloves. Remove outer layers of papery skin from heads. Place, cut side up, in small baking dish; drizzle with a little olive oil. Cover tightly with foil. Bake in 350F oven for about 45 minutes or until very soft. Squeeze out the softened garlic.