Half Baked Harvest has become a go-to recipe resource for me. I’ve posted about how incredible her Super Simple cookbook is, but the blog is just as great. In a recent post, Tieghan resurfaced this herby mushroom croissant stuffing from 2018 as part of a Thanksgiving roundup and I bookmarked it. Last year, during our pandemic Thanksgiving for two, I made the same rosemary mushroom dressing my fam has been enjoying for the last decade and it was perfect…but this looked really yummy. Should I risk something new? Especially when the stakes were higher as we were hosting both sets of parents for an early Thanksgiving meal? (We celebrated in NYC since my parents were visiting and I’m unable to travel to Savannah as planned due to pregnancy.) When I showed my beau a pic of the recipe, he immediately voted we try it and, once again, he was right.
Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9×13 baking dish. Tear up day-old croissants (I used 8 of the biggies from Whole Foods), set them in the baking dish, and lay 2 tablespoons of thinly sliced butter over the croissants. The main ingredient in croissants is butter so this is just butter on butter and I’m here for it. Transfer to the oven and bake 5-8 minutes, until the croissants are lightly toasted. Meanwhile, sauté one small onion (chopped) in a large pan with olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add the 3 stalks of celery (chopped) and 3-4 c. mixed mushrooms (I used cremini, shitake, and some button). Season with salt and pepper and cook undisturbed for 5 minutes then stir and keep cooking until the mushrooms have caramelized (3-5 minutes). Add 8 tbsp (1 stick) butter, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 c. torn kale, 2 tbsp fresh chopped sage, and 1 tbsp fresh thyme. I eyeballed the mushrooms, kale, and herbs and probably included more than the recipe called for…but I think that worked in my favor. Cook, stirring occasionally until the kale has wilted down (about 5 min). Remove from the heat and set aside. NOTE: You can make this 2-3 days ahead – I did. If you plan to do that, at this point, combine the mushroom/kale mixture with the croissants, cover, stick in the fridge, and pick back up at this next step when you’re ready to start cooking on Turkey Day. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups broth and 3 beaten eggs. Add the croissant/mushroom/kale mix, gently toss to combine, and pour back into the baking dish. Top with one cup shredded gruyere cheese. Cover with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
This was one of the best dressings I’ve ever had. It was also really nice to easily tear up some croissants rather than slicing crusty bread, which takes longer and gets crumbs everywhere. Everyone at the table agreed this was a clear winner…perhaps the favorite dish of the night? It didn’t dry out at all, didn’t feel like you were just eating bread (since I loaded it up with the mushrooms and kale), and had just the right amount of cheese. I happen to think our turkey was impeccable, but if you’re one of those people who’s just there for the sides, make sure this one graces your Thanksgiving table.
Peaches to Apples 