Monday, October 30, 2006
Stuffing FAQ
| If you've spent much time on the Web you know what a FAQ is. It stands for "Frequently Asked Questions." Invariably when someone comes to a website or message board they're sure to have lots of questions. 90% of them have been asked and answered before. So to assist "newbies" most web sites will post a FAQ to get them up and running. Now I have heard many different way to pronounce "FAQ" and even know some people who refuse to say it and instead spell it every time. I personally pronounce it "FAK" taking the hard "K" sound for the Q (like in the word "Question" get it?) Anyway, any time someone hears about my Krystal Stuffing recipe there's always a flurry of questions. I even had someone call me from out of the blue about 3 months ago and leave a message asking me to call them back and simply comfirm that what was on my Krystal Box wasn't made up. So that seems appropriate to start off my FAQ. (I have also removed the pointless and rhetorical questions like "Are you crazy?" and "You really like Krystals, don't you?") So here we go! Q) Do you really make stuffing with Krystal hamburgers? A) Yes (this answer seems obvious, but just to clear up any remaining doubt..) Q) Yuck! (I know this isn't a question but it does deserve a reply) A) I find many people who wrinkle their nose up at the idea don't have a good grasp on what really goes into stuffing. Almost all stuffing has a few common ingredients, among them are: bread, meat, onions, celery, spices. Now obviously there's many kinda of bread, with cornbread stuffing being one of the most famous. There's also lots of different types of meat people put into stuffing, most common is probably sausage. Also a lot of people swear my oysters. I personally find the idea revolting, but then I don't eat seafood. And oysters are king of the nasty seafood kingdom, anyway. Onions and celery, which you may recall are two of the three parts of Mire Poix (one of my favorite snobby French Chef terms). Carrots is the missing part. Though I have seen carrots in stuffing before, I found it a bit odd. Lastly, the spices come in as many different varieties as there are people. What works for you may not work for others. Thyme, sage, salt, and pepper are most common. Now lets go back to the original list and look at the first 3 items: bread, meat, onions. What is a Krystal made of? Now you're getting the idea! Q) Can I add...? A) I have seen all sorts of "strange" things in stuffing. Apples and raisins, nuts, dates, you name it. I am certain any of these could work as an addition to my recipe, and I am sure you could come up with more. Just promise me you'll make one batch by the original recipe before you go "freestylin." You may find it doesn't need anything at all. Q) Do you really stuff a turkey with it? A) Actually, no. Putting stuffing in your turkey when you cook your turkey is how you get salmonella. Your turkey is raw, you put stuffing inside where the heat already has a tough time getting to, and the stuffing acts like Owens Corning insultation. By the time the stuffing get warmed and the turkey is cooked the outside will be incinerated. I do have a few sneaky tricks I have used in years past that can help with this, but this isn't a cooking show and I'm not Alton Brown (though I wish I was). (Think stuffing under the skin, not inside the turkey.) The reason I call it "Stuffing" is because I am in the south. If you call it "dressing" which is what I was raised to call it (stuffing goes in the bird, dressing stays outside the bird) people down here think in terms of "Ranch" or "thousand island." I've also been told to call it "pan stuffing" but that just sounds goofy. It's stuffing you don't stuff. Q) Do I have to buy my Krystals a day early? A) Well for Thanksgiving, you sort of have to. Krystals is closed on Thanksgiving. its one of the few days they are actually closed. I usually hit Krystal late on Wednesday around 9 or 10 pm. Actually I have found buying early is better since Krystal quality can vary some. Sometimes they're dryer than others, so for best results I buy them the night before to allow them to dry and "stabilize" overnight prior to cooking. Q) Is it any good? A) Heck yeah! Why else would I do it if it wasn't? My mom's stuffing is the world's best, and I still make that on occasion (year round) but when you know Thanksgiving is on Thursday and you just gotta have some Thursday Krystals, why not just make some Krystal Stuffing? Q) How can I get my friends/family to eat Krystal Stuffing? A) A few years back I had Thanksgiving dinner with my friend Jarrett's family. We planned in advance for me to make and bring my Krystal Stuffing but didn't tell anyone until after dinner. It got good reviews, and most were shocked and impressed once they learned how it was really made. Jarrett and his parents zip thru this blog on occasion and might stop by and give their opinions at some point. So the "sneaky" approach has been tried before and does alright. It doesn't work well if the entire family sees you hauling in Krystals but not actually eating them. They might get suspicious. The delicious Krystal smell is also likely to give away the secret. I figure if the only stuffing you make is Krystal stuffing then that leaves them with few side dish alternatives. Q) Do you do other things with Krystals? A) Absolutely. Several other ideas have been posted here already, especially great things to do with Krystal Chiks. (Chik'n Ranch, Chik'n Parmesan, Barbecue Chik'n, Chik'n Cordon Bleu, etc). Stay tuned as I have a few more ideas brewing once we get past Thanksgiving and I get a chance to cut loose in the kitchen.  |
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It was actually pretty funny. My cousins wife, who would normally never touch a Krystal Burger, was eating it up. Then Jason broke the news and she ate no more!! I don't eat stuffing anyway, so it wasn't for me, but all of my fam really liked it.
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