It’s way too early to think about Thanksgiving or Christmas, I know. But this, a recipe for the stuffing inside your holiday bird, really is delicious at any time of year — and it’s a great way to use that bit of French baguette you didn’t eat the other day. Frugal cooks, here’s one for you.

You can use it either as stuffing or dressing — the term for stuffing that you cook and serve on its own. And as a dressing, it works great alongside many types of meat, from turkey cutlets to pork sausages.

1 chicken bouillon cube
2 Tbsp. butter
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 celery stalks, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 short *stale* French baguettes (in America, you can use 1 bag Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing) — or use the equivalent in stale bread
1 tsp. each sage, oregano, ginger, rosemary, marjoram, thyme, white pepper, and celery seed
2 eggs

If making this as a dressing, preheat oven to 350F/175C.
Dissolve bouillon cube in 1 1/2 cups water and set aside.

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Saute onion and celery until onion is transparent. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put celery mixture in large bowl and add bread and herbs. Combine with wooden spoon. Add eggs.

Add the chicken broth a small amount at a time. Make sure the mixture doesn’t “glop” together; rather, make sure the stuffing still separates when mixed. (You may not need to use all of the broth.)

To serve as turkey dressing, place mixture in casserole dish and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. To serve as stuffing, place inside bird.