dressing/stuffing mine will be a sausage cornbread this year

[edmos1]

I beleive this deserves its own thread, since it is so gosh darn delicious. if you have a favorite recipe please add on, I think I am going cornbread sausage, but if something else looks good I might change my mind.

some words on Sausage. I prefer some more hand crafted type sausages (although I have made my own, I will not for this case.) I have used Venison, and a cheesy bavarian from my favorite sausage shop. I will use a smoked sausage rather than a raw sausage this year mostly for the extra complexity the smoke will bring.

2 teaspoons butter
1/2 pound Sausage, cut in small pieces
1 medium chopped yellow onions
3 ribs chopped celery
3 cloves minced garlic
Cornbread from a nice iron skillet
3 slices white or whole wheat bread, torn into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
2 large eggs, beaten
1 to 2 cups chicken stock, as needed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Generously butter a 13 by 9-inch baking dish and set aside.
In a large skillet, cook the sausage until brown and the fat is rendered out, about 5 minutes. Add onions, celery, and garlic, and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl to cool.

With your fingers, crumble the corn bread into the bowl, add bread, the green onions, parsley, and thyme, and mix well with your hands. Add the salt, pepper, cayenne, and eggs, and mix well with your hands. Add enough broth, to moisten the dressing.

Stuff bird, with remainder, transfer to dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake until heated through, about 25 minutes. Uncover and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

[Lizra]

Wow! Sounds good! .....I admit to being a lazy cook, after all these years.
I do like the flavor of herb in my stuffing....make it a bit pungent (like rosemary or something) to set it off from all the other items. Stuffing is good when herbish and aromatic....the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy are quite middle of the road flavor wise.

[snowy]

I don't use any meat at all in my stuffing, because usually we have at least 1 vegetarian at the table. In fact, my family's traditional stuffing recipe is rather boring--2 packages of Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing, lots of butter, and vegetable stock. It's the one thing that goes on the table that I don't experiment with, because every year it turns out so delicious.

And since this is the only time of year I can get the Pepperidge Farm stuffing...you better believe I stock up

[Lizra]

Ha ha! Well....I guess a good rule when you are having guests is "give them what they like"!
Still, stuffing is something that is meant to be experimented with....imo. My mother-in-law does bizarre things.....sometimes good (rosemary) sometimes bad (big chunks of water chestnuts).

[ShaniFaye]

I like a good cornbread/biscuit dressing...I've been making my own since I was 12....I can stand stuffing

[rockzilla]

You need some acidity. Next time, throw a sliced apple in and see what happens.

[snowy]

Originally Posted by rockzilla

You need some acidity. Next time, throw a sliced apple in and see what happens.

I'm planning on doing this with my stuffing for the first Thanksgiving dinner I'm cooking T-Day weekend. I'm going to make my basic stuffing but jazz it up with apples and fresh sage. It will go with the rest of my meal, which is going to have apple accents throughout.

[edmos1]

will try the apple trick, might add in apple vinegar to my brine for my turkey too, to tie the apple flavors in.

[shesus]

I make my own stuffing and I love it. Which says a lot because I always hated stuffing. I only made it because it's a tradition and everyone else likes it. It's pretty simple, nothing fancy and pretty easy to make.

3/4 c butter
2 stalks of celery
1 onion
9 c Pepperidge Farm stuffing (unseasoned)
1/2 t dried thyme
1 t salt
1/2 t ground sage
1/4 t pepper

Melt the butter. Cook celery and onion in butter over medium-high heat stirring occasionally until tender. Remove from heat.
Toss celery mixture into the remaining ingredients.
Bake in oven until cripsy on top about 30-45 minutes

I'm thinking of using cornbread this year because I'm trying a new turkey recipe...it's a maple-bacon turkey. If it's good I'll share