On A Turkey Roll

                                                                               

WHO WILL SAVE THE DAY?

Ever Ready is on a turkey roll this week to share some sides and inspire your preparations. 

Sausage Apple Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing 

Cook's notes: Cooking tip- Dry cornbread and white bread cubes out on a cookie sheet for several hours or crumble up pre-made cornbread onto a baking sheet, and toast in a 250-degree oven for about an hour. If you've got stale bread, rip it up and toast it too. This preparation can be done a day ahead. Optional: Add 2 cups of cooked wild rice. The entire dish can be made a day ahead. Recipe serves 8.

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 (equal to two 8-ounce packages)
• 6 cups dry white (like artisan or sourdough) or wheat bread cubes
• 2 cups peeled and chopped Granny Smith apples
• 1 cup dried cranberries, cherries, or raisins
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh sage leaves or 1-1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon each salt and ground black pepper
• 32 oz. container of chicken broth, low-sodium

Directions:

• Heat broth in a separate pan and keep warm.
• In a large Dutch oven, cook the sausage, drain it, and set it aside.
• Melt butter in the same Dutch oven over medium heat. Saute celery, garlic, and onion for about 5 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat.
• Stir in crumbled cornbread, bread cubes, apples, cranberries, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper into the celery/onion mixture. Add in sausage. Mix in enough hot broth to moisten stuffing, tossing lightly to combine. More warm broth can be added as needed.
• Spoon stuffing into a 3-quart greased baking dish.
• Bake, covered, at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until heated through to the desired moistness.

Love it or hate it, cranberry sauce is just as much a fixture on the Thanksgiving table as the turkey itself. One year, I made the mistake of not having the traditional canned stuff. There was an outcry from several of the devoted fans of jellied cranberry sauce from family members. Lesson learned from that moment on, you'll always find jellied cranberry sauce on the table alongside my Cranberry Orange Sauce from scratch.

Cook's Notes: A hint of nutmeg, lots of orange zest and a bit of vanilla all come together to make this yummy cranberry sauce.
Ingredients:

• 1-12 oz. bag of cranberries, rinsed
• 1/2 cup orange juice or freshly squeezed orange juice and 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons orange zest
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon Saigon cinnamon or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• Optional add ins 1/2 cup golden raisins and 1/3 cup pecans

Directions:

• In a large saucepan on a medium-high heat, bring to a boil sugar, orange juice, water, and zest. Whisk a few times. Add in cranberries, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, a pinch of salt, and raisins, if desired.
• Bring to a boil again, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook 10 to 15 minutes. The cranberries will burst, and the mixture will thicken. The sauce will thicken further as it cools.
• Store cranberry sauce in a bowl covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator. Will keep up to two weeks.