Porcini Bread Stuffing - cooking recipe

Ingredients

5 tablespoons butter
1 cup dried porcini mushrooms or 1 cup morel
1 cup calvados or 1 cup cognac
3 onions, thinly sliced
salt and black pepper
10 -12 cups torn sourdough bread (1 large loaf)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons finely chopped sage
1 cup applesauce
3/8 cup raisins or 3/8 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or 1/2 cup pecans
1 -2 cup vegetable stock

Preparation

Heat oven to 375 degrees, and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
Soak mushrooms in 2 cups warm water about 30 minutes.
Drain, reserving liquid.
Thickly slice mushrooms.
Meanwhile simmer Calvados in a saucepan until reduced to about 5 ounces.
Melt remaining butter in large pan, add onions, and saute until transparent.
Sprinkle with salt if onions are browning too fast.
Add sliced mushrooms, and saute 2 minutes.
Add bread, mushroom liquid, chopped parsley, rosemary and sage.
Stir in reduced Calvados, applesauce, raisins, nuts and enough stock so mixture is moist but not wet.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Turn into buttered baking dish.
Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until firm and crusty.