Cornbread Stuffing with Thanksgiving Sausage

UPDATE:Whoops. There was some terminological inexactitude in this entry. The original title was Cornbread Stuffing with Thanksgiving Sausage featuring Cranberry and Sage. Which was supposed to mean that the Thanksgiving sausage features Cranberry and Sage, not the stuffing recipe. Having said that, this is a very basic stuffing recipe and you should feel free to experiment by adding, for instance, cranberries and sage. Or maybe sautee some apple or garlic along with the onions and celery. Have fun with it. Happy Thanksgiving!

Yeah, OK, It’s getting a little close to Turkey day by the time I get this up. Better late than never, I guess.

This is a really basic stuffing with sausage recipe that I used to make a batch of stuffing that would serve eight or so. I didn’t actually have a turkey at the time, so I just baked it in a cast iron pot, as you’ll see.

Start by making a batch of cornbread. I use a modified version of the recipe in Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread & Scuppernong Wine:

• 1 1/4 cups cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp lard

Mix the dry ingredients together. Work the lard through the dry ingredients with a fork until it’s thoroughly worked in. Beat the eggs and fold the beaten eggs and buttermilk into the dry ingredients. Add the mixture to a hot, greased cast iron pan. It should sizzle a little. Bake in a 425 degree oven until it just feels firm to the touch in the center.

Onto the Recipe

You’ll need:

• One pound of Thanksgiving Sausage
• One onion. I got mine from MacDonald Farm
• One small bunch of celery. MacDonald Farm
• One batch of cornbread. I made a double recipe - one to eat and one for the stuffing.
• Two beaten eggs
• A little cream

First assemble your ingredients:

Coarse chop the onions and celery, crumble the cornbread, and add a little cream to the eggs if you’d like:

Fry your sausages to an internal temperature of 155:

Remove the sausages from the pan and sautee the onions and celery in the drippings. Careful here, the cranberries release a sticky liquid in the cooking that can burn. When they begin to brown add a little liquid - this can be stock or cider, but I just use water - and simmer them until they soften, maybe 20 minutes or so.

Everybody in the pool! Add the cornbread, crumbled sausage and egg mixture to the onion and celery. Add water or stock until the mixture is quite wet, nearly sloppy. Then stuff it in your turkey! To prevent food poisoning, you should stuff it into the turkey HOT, right before it goes in the oven. You can make it ahead, just warm it up before it goes into the bird. I don’t recommend stuffing deep-fried turkeys.

I didn’t have a turkey at the time, so I just baked it. Magnifique!