Every Day Is Thanksgiving When You Have Stuffing Butter

You can marvel at your sweet potato, or marvel at the sweet-tart taste of cranberries, or even try to tell me that an all-powerful roast bird is the ultimate goal. But for me, Thanksgiving is minced meat. Point. Minced meat is the only dish I only eat for Thanksgiving. In my family, no one would ever say on a random Tuesday, " Hey, how about minced meat for dinner?” It just didn't work out. I gorge on toppings at the Thanksgiving table, then spend the rest of the weekend taking cold bits out of the refrigerator and adding them to my sandwiches, and in a stroke of genius, I half-fill the remaining popover with it, then sprinkle it on scrambled eggs, the best sandwich for breakfast.As kids, we didn't like fancy additions like dried cherries or chestnuts, we didn't like extra greens like fennel or mushrooms, and we certainly didn't add rye bread, focaccia, or wheat loaves that smelled like rosemary. Don't even tell me to start with protein fillings with sausages or oysters, I'm sure that if these are your family traditions, they hold as sacred a place in your heart as our simple one does in mine, but that's not what we're aiming for here. A good sourdough starter is about the same as ours, but most often it's just decent white bread, cut into stale slices and toasted. I like the simple flavors of our filling. I wait for it all year, and then I cook on a scale that is a bit shocking. I want everyone at the table to have a third, and enough to send the leftovers home with anyone, and there's still a whole bunch left at home to last me through the weekend. That's all until next year - which is good, because my filling is an explosion of carbs soaked in fat, not something that a rational person should eat regularly. But I thought, what if I could taste this filling taste from time to time, so that it would get to me from November to November? Something quick and easy - and then it hit me. Since minced meat is basically toast soaked in butter and other goodies, what if I make butter with all the flavors of the filling, which can just be spread on toasted bread?Butter for minced meat. Welcome, America.The main difference between this oil and other conventional herb-infused oils that you can sprinkle on steaks and chops is the addition of chicken stock paste, which gives umami punch the taste of a real filling. Most of the ingredients are in your spice cabinet. It's delicious on any toasted morning bread, from crunchy handmade leuven to frozen waffles. The filling can be either biscuits or bagels, and I don't need to tell my southern cousins what this will do to a slice of cornbread. Even better, if you make it at home on the stove, just melt a couple tablespoons in a cup or so of canned chicken stock and pour over a couple cups of bagged bread cubes with the filling. This recipe is easy to prepare in two versions, so you can store something in the refrigerator, and something in the freezer at any time convenient for you. Because sometimes you want that soothing filling taste, and Thanksgiving is too far away.Creamy stuffing
Drain the water from the rehydrated onion flakes and pat dry with paper towels. In a medium bowl, combine the butter and stock paste until smooth without streaks. Add all the spices and onions and mix well.Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to six months. Spread any available bread, sprinkle it on baked potatoes, melt it and sprinkle it on popcorn. If you want something that tastes like minced meat, this is your new best friend.