What a peaceful day. Our family is all hunkered down, and the kids are going to help prepare the feast. What could possibly be more on-point than sharing my stuffing recipe? Nothing else, except for directing you to visit, and leave a comment at my Sound Poltiics post titled, 'What Are You Thankful For?" So here goes.

THE INTUITIVE COOK'S CORNBREAD-SAUSAGE-SAGE STOVETOP STUFFING

--1 16-oz. tube of Jimmy Dean sage-flavored sausage, crumbled as it is being cooked.
--8 C oven-toasted bread cubes (from leftover, homemade cheesy cornbread, AND the outstanding potato bread of Seattle's Macrina Bakery)
--4 stalks celery, diced; leaves chopped
--14 fresh sage leaves, chopped
--1 large shallot, chopped
--1 large clove garlic, chopped
--1/2 C coarsely-chopped sun-dried tomato slices
--1 C walnut pieces
--4 T butter +2 T Canola oil
--1 15-oz. can low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
--dry-spice blend of your choosing: mine has 1/2 t each of mustard, tarragon, basil, smoked paprika, red pepper, and kosher salt, & 1/4 t allspice.

WATCHA DO:

Prepare sausage as directed above, set aside. In a very, very, very large iron skillet, or (better) Teflon-coated wok, melt butter (can substitute bacon fat for 2 T of the butter). When sizzling, add chopped celery, shallot, sun-dried tomatoes, walnut pieces, garlic, and dry spice mix, and saute 5-7 mins, or 'till softening slightly. Add bread cubes and chopped fresh sage and celery leaves, saute the mixture another 15-20 mins, until bread cubes soften, stirring often for even cooking, and adding small amounts of broth as necessary to keep it from sticking to the skillet/wok. Add cooked crumbled sausage, cook another five mins., cover and set aside. TO SERVE: Warm gently on stove in last 10 mins. before turkey is served, adding a bit more broth as necessary, or reheat in foil-covered baking dish in oven at 325 for 20 mins.

Serve with roasted turkey, cranberry relish, sauteed greens, and pan gravy.

TECHNORATI TAGS: INTUITIVE COOK, STUFFING, RECIPE, SAGE, CORNBREAD, SAUSAGE, MACRINA, POTATO BREAD

TO COMMENT: The regular "comment" feature is not in operation. E-mail comments to address under "Contact" on main page masthead, and I'll add them, here.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at November 24, 2005 10:40 AM