Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Mealy Pudding 101

What? You haven't heard of mealy pudding aka: Scotch dressing? You are so missing out! All the sons-in-law in my family would disagree - but the rest of our clan (including my dad) agree - it's not a real Thanksgiving dinner if there is no Scotch dressing present.

As a kid, I would load my plate with Scotch dressing first, cranberry sauce second, a roll & butter third, mashed potatoes & gravy 4th. No turkey needed. As an adult....I haven't changed. I still load my plate up the exact same way. Tradition! My next day sandwiches are the same: stuffing & cranberry sauce - no turkey.

Whenever one of us kids brought friends home for Thanksgiving, we would silently pray that they wouldn't even try the Scotch dressing. This way, they wouldn't waste it (by taking a heaping spoonful, taking one bite and not finishing the rest). Even now, I try to discourage others from sampling too much ("just take one small bite - you probably won't like it!"), or "We have Stovetop for people like you."

If you are brave enough to try a new recipe this Thanksgiving, give Scotch dressing a try. If you don't like it, I will gladly take ALL your leftovers and make myself stuffing & cranberry sauce sandwiches for lunch.

Scotch Dressing
(for a 20 lb bird)
8 cups Old Fashioned Oatmeal (no quick oats!)
1 T. salt
Pepper & Sage to taste (this equals LOTS) I use a T. of Pepper & a lot more of the sage. I gauge it on the smell. When it smells 'sagey' enough, I stop adding sage.
1 medium onion
1 cup oil
1 cup water

Mix all ingredients except for water. Stir until coated & then add water. Place dressing into a cheesecloth & stuff into cavity. Cook bird at 20 mins a pound at 275* then turn to 300* for the last hour (approx. 5 hours).

6 comments:

bgygi said...

MMMMMMMM! I can almost taste it!

Laurel said...

I don't think I can alter my tradition. I love my mom's stuffing/dressing. Talk about loading my plate. I stick to the stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Chris and Sarah said...

My ribs feel STICKY!!!!

Laurel said...

Stuffing

1 bag dried bread cutes

4 C. Chicken stock (heated)

1/2 tsp. Sage

2 tbl melted butter

salt and pepper

1 C. Chopped celery

1/3 C diced onion

Mix until cubes are moist, cook in greased casserole pan until top is golden and middle is warm

sbaily said...

erin , i'm surprised you posted the recipe, what happens if people like it? the price of oatmeal will go thru the roof like gasoline did

erinz said...

It's already expensive! The carton of oatmeal cost almost $5!