The roasted golden bird, the Turkey is the center piece of any Thanksgiving table. But in my family the favorite dish is my family’s cracker stuffing passed down from my mom from my grandmother and great grandmother. For four generations and probably longer it has been a holiday tradition making cracker stuffing in my family. My great grandmother comes for the town of Vejvanov, West Bohemia, Czech Republic a small city south west of Prague. I wanted to learn more about the history of cracker stuffing and read several Bohemian cookbooks and searched the internet. I found that it is called (Nádivkou) or Bohemian Cracker Stuffing. Crackers seemed to be an easy substitute for stale bread or bread crumbs. All the recipes I found online seem to be just a little different than mine, with an extra ingredient or seasoning but we like our basic one made with the recipe below. It was even featured on the Food Network’s kitchen website when I entered the recipe in a Stuffing Cook-off contest.
Cracker Stuffing
4 sleeves saltine crackers
2 stalks celery
1 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
4 sleeves saltine crackers
2 stalks celery
1 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
12-14 pound Turkey
4 stalks celery
6 carrots, peeled
2 can chicken broth
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
4 stalks celery
6 carrots, peeled
2 can chicken broth
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
To make my cracker stuffing I used my Ninja food processor attachment this year to crush my crackers and chop the celery, it made my crackers more consistent in size. In the bowl of the Ninja food processor place one sleeve of crackers and pulse three times. That’s all it takes to make the perfect size cracker for this recipe. Empty crackers from the Ninja into a large bowl and repeat with the remaining crackers. In the same food processor bowl add the celery and pulse 8 times then add the celery to the crackers in the bowl. If you do not have a Ninja (add it to your wish list) you can crush the crackers by hand. With the crackers still in their sleeves, crush them with your hands (easier to crush this way, and it keeps your hands cleaner) then empty the sleeves into a large bowl. Chop celery into small pieces and add to the crackers. In a frying pan, saute the butter, onion and black pepper until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes. No need to add salt since you are using saltine crackers. Add cooked onions to the crackers and mix well. Add eggs and mix well. Add milk a little at a time (you might not use all of the milk), until the cracker mix is moistened. Cracker mix should form a ball which you can hold in your hand. When stuffing a turkey with cracker stuffing it does not expand, so you want to pack it in tight. With traditional bread stuffing you would pack it in the turkey loosely. When the turkey is ready, you pull out the cracker stuffing in one big chunk and slice it. Also great on a turkey sandwich the next day!
To prepare the turkey remove from packaging. Remove the neck (Do not worry it has been already cut off and is inside the turkey cavity). On the back end of the turkey there will be a bag of giblets including the heart, gizzard and liver. It may not sound good but do NOT throw away the neck and the giblets it will make a great turkey stock so just place all together in a bag and refrigerate. I will share in a later post the best turkey stock recipe using these parts and the carcass of the turkey after you have carved off all the meat. Rinse turkey under cold water and pat dry with paper towel. In your roasting pan add 4 stalks of celery and 6 carrots that have been cut up and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. They will also be used later in making the turkey stock. 
Place turkey on top of carrots and celery. Stuff the cavity of the turkey with the cracker stuffing and remember to pack it in tight. Do not forgot there is room in the back of the turkey where the giblets were so pack some stuffing in there as well. There is no need to tie the legs together just let the stuffing flow out the cavity. Rub some olive oil on the turkey and sprinkle with salt and pepper. This will help give your turkey a nice golden brown color and add flavor to the skin. Add two cans of chicken stock to the pan and cover with a nice tall lid.* Place in a preheated 325 degree oven and since we stuffed the turkey it will take 4 to 4 1/2 hours to cook. The turkey is done when the thigh meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
Place turkey on top of carrots and celery. Stuff the cavity of the turkey with the cracker stuffing and remember to pack it in tight. Do not forgot there is room in the back of the turkey where the giblets were so pack some stuffing in there as well. There is no need to tie the legs together just let the stuffing flow out the cavity. Rub some olive oil on the turkey and sprinkle with salt and pepper. This will help give your turkey a nice golden brown color and add flavor to the skin. Add two cans of chicken stock to the pan and cover with a nice tall lid.* Place in a preheated 325 degree oven and since we stuffed the turkey it will take 4 to 4 1/2 hours to cook. The turkey is done when the thigh meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
* I have found over the years that if you have a tall lid on your turkey when it is cooking the air can circulate and your turkey will come out a golden brown without having to remove the lid the last 30 minutes to brown it. You may choose to bast the turkey once an hour with the juices from the bottom of the pan. I seem to get so busy I never remember and it bastes itself just fine with the tall roasting pan I use.
Do not forget after Thanksgiving dinner is over, save anything left in the pan, the turkey bones, pieces, carrots, celery, juice and bits left in the roasting pan. Place in a container and get ready to make some turkey broth to use in some other great dishes like turkey chili, turkey wild rice soup, turkey pot pie or in place of chicken broth in any of your favorite recipes.
