Kind of a repetitive title, seeing as Thanksgiving is an American holiday but go with it!
This past Sunday Gail and I put on a proper Thanksgiving feast for the gang. Despite a few grocery hurdles (including seeking out “an American store” for corn bread mix) it was a successful meal! Our menu included turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn casserole, green beans, stuffing, rolls, cranberries, pumpkin pie and cheesecake. Needless to say everyone was stuffed by the end : )
I used the November issue of Bon Appetit magazine to put together a stuffing recipe. This is very forgiving with portions and substitutions so definitely switch it up for your liking!
Homemade Holiday Stuffing
Serves 12-15 as a side dish amongst many other things!
1 ½ tbsp chopped fresh thyme
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup (1 stick) of butter, plus 2 tbsp
2 cups chicken broth
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
Cookware: Large frying pan, greased 9” by 13” baking dish
1 small loaf of French white bread
Olive oil
8 ounces pork sausage, casings removed
6 stalks of celery, chopped
3-4 large carrots, chopped
1 medium leek, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
Tear up the bread into rough 1 inch pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in the large frying pan over medium to high heat and cook the pork sausage until brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Don’t worry about little pink bits as this will further cook in the oven.
Transfer the sausage to the mixing bowl. Add all of the chopped vegetables and herbs and cook until softened, 5-7 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer the veggies to the mixing bowl. Add the apple cider vinegar to the pan to deglaze, allowing this to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the ½ cup of butter and cook until melted. Drizzle this over the mixing bowl mixture.
Combine the chicken broth and eggs in a separate container. Pour over the bread mixture and stir. Do this in batches until the bread is fully hydrated. Salt and pepper if needed.
Transfer the entire mix to the greased baking pan and dot with the remaining butter. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for an additional 30 minutes so that the top is brown and a bit crunchy.
Let sit 5 minutes or so to set before serving.
Logan’s Tips
-The added sausage provides a high level of salt. Consider reducing or omitting completely the addition of salt to the mixture before baking.
-This can be made a few hours ahead of time before cooking, just top with the foil and set aside. Keep this at room temperature to stay true to the cooking time.
-The cook time and temperature is flexible; if you need to increase the oven temperature just slightly reduce the second half of cooking time.
