1. For this recipe, I typically like to oven-dry my own bread. You'll need about 10 cups of dried bread cubes. (They shrink in the oven, so you'll being with more.) I start with two good-quality baguettes — sourdough if possible — of about (325 grams) each. You can choose any type of good crusty bread (or several) that you enjoy. You can make the bread cubes several days in advance if you like. Or start with good-quality store-bought dried bread cubes. When I use this method, I typically buy them at Whole Foods, where they're made from a nice variety of artisan breads.
2. Leeks provide a nuanced onion-like flavor and a nice, jammy consistency. You'll use the white and light green parts. Be sure to wash them well — they can be very sandy inside.
3. For the mushrooms, you've got options. I like to use creminis since they have a deep yet mild flavor and don't give off as much liquid as white button mushrooms. If you're serving a crowd that really enjoys mushrooms, feel free to use half or more shiitakes, chanterelles, or any wild variety or combination that you like.
4. Cut the celery nice and small so it almost melts into the mix.
5. Roasted, shelled chestnuts add a hint of sweetness and earthiness. They come in vacuum-sealed packages or jars and tend to be reasonably easy to source during the holiday season — you can find them online if not locally. I find this approach much easier than roasting and shelling them at home. One cup whole shelled chestnuts equals about ½ cup chopped.
6. You'll use sage and thyme for their woodsy, autumnal flavors, plus a bit of parsley and chives for little bursts of freshness.
7. Use a nice, dry white wine that you like to drink. Any style is fine. I tend to default to one of my favorite bottles of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. It adds a nice complexity to the flavor with no more than a tiny trace of alcohol content remaining after cooking. But if you don't do wine for any reason, you can substitute additional broth.
8. Reduced-sodium Imagine No Chicken Broth is my favorite boxed veggie broth by far, since it somehow magically has the flavor profile of a good chicken stock rather than being weirdly red and tasting tinny or sweet, as some other vegetable broths can do.
9. You've got a couple of good options for prepping this dish ahead of time. The first one, which I prefer, is to assemble the whole pan of stuffing up to 24 hours in advance, but hold off on baking it until just before you're ready to eat. As long as it's tightly covered in a nice cold fridge, this is a great approach. You can bake the stuffing straight from the fridge, adding a few extra minutes for it to cook through. Or you can bring it to room temperature on the counter about an hour before baking and pop it in the oven for the 45 minutes indicated in the recipe. The second option is to bake the stuffing ahead of time and then reheat it before serving. This is totally fine, too. Pull cooked stuffing out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature for an hour or so. Cover your pan tightly and pop it into the oven for 30-40 minutes. Ideally you'd do this at about 350°F, but since Thanksgiving's ALWAYS got multiple dishes in the oven, you can really reheat it at just about any temperature your oven's set to.
10. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a week.

Vegetarian adaptation