Sausage, Cranberry and Pecan Stuffing

It's Thanksgiving week, and I'm so exited that Sister Ruth is flying in from North Carolina tomorrow. She'll be staying here at the "Bayless' Bed and Breakfast, Where You Make Your Own!" We will have Thanksgiving Dinner at my dad's house with about 20 people. As I think it should be, everyone is bringing something. Sister Ruth (who is a great cook) and I were assigned stuffing. When I asked her if she had a good recipe, she told me she had never made stuffing before. We joked about making "Stove Top" to see if anyone would notice! Of course that won't happen, so I've picked out this recipe which is a combination of several that I've researched.

Now, of course I've been watching the Food Network Chefs preparing Thanksgiving recipes and they all say to use day old bread, or to make your own cornbread and dry it out. That seems like a lot of extra work to me.  So, I'm trusting my grandmother Mimi Bates, who was one of the best cooks ever! She always used Pepperidge Farm stuffing doctored up with her own ingredients and it was always delicious, so that's what I'm doing. I'm using the country style, but here are several different bread choices including white, wheat and cornbread. Pick your favorite or combine them. Since I'm not making the stuffing until Thursday, there won't be any pictures until then, but I encourage you to try this recipe.

Ingredients
1 lb Italian sausage (follow link to make your own)
1/2 cup butter, divided
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
2 clove crushed garlic
1 12 oz package of Pepperidge Farm Stuffing, your choice of bread types
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup dried cranberries
1 - 2 cups chicken or turkey broth
1 TB poultry seasoning
2 TB fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cook sausage in a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring and breaking up large lumps, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.

Add 1/4 cup butter to fat remaining in skillet and cook onions, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add celery, and garlic and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl with sausage and stir in bread, egg, pecans, cranberries, poultry seasoning, and parsley. Add up to 2 cups of broth depending on how moist you like your stuffing. Then add salt and pepper to taste

Transfer stuffing to a buttered 3 to 4 quart shallow baking dish and put slices of the rest of the butter on top. Cover with foil and bake in middle of oven 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until bread is golden and stuffing is heated through, 20 to 25 minutes more.

 

Yield: 10 servings