Bread Stuffing with Sausage, Dried Cherries, and Pecans

From America's Test Kitchen Season 12: A Slow and Easy Thanksgiving

Stuffing baked in a dish definitely has appeal—you can make as much as you want and you don’t have to time its doneness to coincide with the doneness of the meat—but it lacks the rich flavor from the bird’s flavorful juices. As the base for our stuffing we chose ordinary sandwich bread, which we “staled” in a low oven; this allowed it to soak up plenty of liquid. To infuse the stuffing with meaty turkey flavor, we browned turkey wings on the stovetop, then used the same pan to sauté the aromatics. When we placed the stuffing in a baking dish, we arranged the seared wings on top—as they cooked, their rendered fat infused the stuffing with rich flavor. Covering the baking dish with foil prevented the top of the stuffing from drying out, while placing a baking sheet underneath the dish protected the bottom layer from the oven’s heat.