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A complementary stuffing not only adds flavour and interest to your signature salmon recipes dish or roast turkey but also helps to make it go a little further and keeps the breast meat moist.

Stuffing is usually based on breadcrumbs, potato or rice, flavoured with herbs and perhaps dried fruit such as apricots or prunes. A little chopped onion is often added but it needs to be sweated first in butter otherwise it may still be slightly raw when the bird is cooked. Chestnut stuffings are much loved, particularly in the UK and in the US. Oysters are added to the Thanksgiving stuffing for the turkey. Turkeys may be stuffed both in the cavity and at the neck (crop) end. Tuck the wing tips underneath the bird to keep the flap of skin in place to enclose the stuffing. Potato-based stuffing is traditional with goose or duck in Ireland. Apple is sometimes added to cut the richness.

Many cookery writers caution against putting the stuffing into a bird and suggest that it is safer to cook the stuffing separately in a tin foil parcel or in an ovenproof dish. There is in fact no problem about stuffing a bird provided you follow a few basic food safety rules. If a frozen bird is being used it should be fully defrosted before being stuffed.

Do not over-fill the cavity with stuffing; leave a space between the top of the stuffing and the breast bone to allow the heat to penetrate so that the bird can cook fully.

Do not put warm stuffing into poultry or a joint of meat unless you plan to cook it immediately. If it is left uncooked, particularly at room temperature, even for a short time, you can provide perfect incubating conditions for bacteria to grow. The Food Safety Authority tell us to assume that poultry (particularly intensively reared birds) will be infected with salmonella so ensure that the birds and the stuffing are fully cooked and there will be no problem after your Thanksgiving dinner.