It's All About The Stuffing

Cook's notes: All three of these recipes can be vegetarian dishes by substituting vegetable broth for chicken broth and omitting the meat.
Calico Stuffing

Ingredients

• 12 oz. chopped button white mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-box ( 32 oz.) chicken or turkey broth
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 sprig fresh sage or 1/2 tsp. dried sage 
• 2 TB. fresh Italian parsley or 1 TB. dried parsley 
• 1/4 tsp. fresh cracked pepper
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1 cup)
• 2 medium carrots, chopped (1 cup)
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced (1 cup)
• 2-3 TB. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 package cornbread stuffing mix (cubes 12.4 oz.) 
• 3 TB. butter
• 1 cup dried apricots, cut into strips  or 1 cup dried cherries or cranberries. 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Remove stems from mushrooms. Saute mushrooms, garlic, carrots, celery and onions in olive oil until tender. 
• In a large bowl add cornbread cubes, mushroom mixture, apricots, parsley, thyme and sage. 
• Heat to boil chicken or turkey broth with 3 TB. butter. Slowly add enough broth to cornbread mixture stir until moistened.  The more broth added the moister the stuffing.  
• Salt and pepper to taste. 
• Grease a 3 quart baking dish.  
• Bake covered for 20-25 minutes. Uncover and heat 8 minutes more or until top is crispy. 

Sausage Cranberry Apple Cornbread Stuffing 

Cooking tip: Dry cornbread and white bread cubes out on a cookie sheet for several hours,

crumble. then toast at 250 degrees for 45 minutes. Stir occassionally.
While the cornbread is in the oven prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Recipe serves 16

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter 
• 3 medium celery stalks, chopped (1-1/2 cups)
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 package of Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage or turkey sausage.
• 6 cups crumbled dry corn bread or 6 cups corn bread stuffing mix (two 8-ounce packages)
• 4 cups dry white (like artisan or sourdough) or wheat bread cubes
• 2 cups chopped unpeeled Granny Smith apples
• 1 cup dried cranberries, cherries, or raisins
• 2 TB. snipped fresh sage leaves or 1-1/2 tsp. dried sage leaves
• 1 TB.snipped fresh thyme leaves or 1-1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1- 32 oz. box chicken broth-low sodium (if using stuffing mix use 3 to 3-1/4 cups broth)

Directions:

• Heat broth in a separate pan and keep warm.
• In a large Dutch oven cook sausage, drain and set aside. 
• Melt butter in same pan over medium heat. Saute celery,garlic and onion about 5 minutes or till tender. Remove from heat.
• Stir corn bread, bread cubes, apples, cranberries, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper into onion mixture. Add in sausage. Drizzle enough hot broth to moisten stuffing, tossing lightly to combine.
• Spoon stuffing into a 3-quart baking dish. Bake, covered, in a 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake for 15 minutes more or till heated through and to desired moistness.

Wild Rice Stuffing with Cranberries and Pecans
Cooking tip: Make the wild rice a day ahead

Ingredients

• 2 cups wild rice
• 6 cups water
• 3/4 pound Spanish-style chorizo, diced, 
• 5 TB. butter
• 1 cup Spanish or yellow onions, diced
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 TB. fresh thyme, chopped 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 (day-old) loaf country-style bread, torn bread cubes about 6-8 cups
• 2 to 4 cups chicken stock-low sodium
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped or 1 TB. dried parsley
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup toasted pecans
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• Kosher salt

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 
• Combine the rice, water and 1 tablespoon of salt in a large saucepan, bring to a boil over high heat and cook until the grains open all the way, about 1 hour, 15 minutes to 1 hour, 30 minutes. Drain,rinse and set aside.
• Heat chicken stock in a separate pan and keep warm.
• Heat the butter in a large high-sided saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo, onions, carrots and celery and cook until soft. Add in the garlic and thyme, cook for 1 minute. 
• Grease a Dutch Oven pan. Add to pan the onion mixture, bread cubes, parsley, pecans, wild rice and cranberries. Add in 2 cups of the hot chicken stock to stuffing mixture and combine well. The mixture should be quite wet; add more stock, if needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Bake, uncovered, until heated through and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

that sometimes it can be confusing in a recipe when it calls for a medium onion and stores vary in size. Here are three ways to think about onion size

small onion (like a billard ball) 3/4 cup chopped

medium onion (like a tennis ball) 1 cup chopped

large onion (like a softball) 1-1/2 cups chopped

so now you can rest easy with this extra information :) and enjoy your Thanksgiving