This is a great Thanksgiving Day stuffing that combines sausage, herbs, dried cranberries and apples. It may look complicated but it really is very simple to make…and tasty! If you cannot get fresh herbs, dried may be used but fresh is so much better. If you’re feeling really lazy, you can use the pre-packaged cubed “stuffing” bread which can be found at many local supermarkets. Play around with the breads if you like. You can even use cornbread if you prefer. This stuffing/dressing recipe is so good, you won’t be disappointed and you will have people hitting you up for the recipe left and right.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cubed stale whole wheat bread
• 2 cups cubed stale white bread
• 2 cups cubed stale sourdough
• 1 pound sage pork sausage (i.e. Jimmy Dean’s)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1 2/3 Tablespoons fresh sage or 2 1/2 teaspoons dried
• 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1 Fuji or Braeburn apple, cored and chopped
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries (i.e. Craisins)
• 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1 cooked turkey liver, finely chopped
• 1 1/4 cup turkey or chicken stock (if placing the stuffing inside the turkey, use only 3/4 cup)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. To prepare the bread:  Leave out the slices of bread for a day to dry out and stale.  For the sourdough, I find that the baguettes, sliced then left out, work well.  Cube the bread once dried. Option 2: Preheat oven to 350 degree F (175 degree C). Cut the bread into cubes and then spread in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Set bread cubes inside a large mixing bowl.
2. In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, until sausage is browned and onions are soft.  Break up the sausage while browning. Drain excess grease.  Add the sage, rosemary, thyme and celery and stir well to incorporate the flavors of the herbs. Cook together for about 3 minutes.
3. Add the sausage mixture to the bread in mixing bowl. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, parsley, and liver. Drizzle with turkey/chicken stock and melted butter, and mix lightly.
4. If you prefer to bake stuffing outside of the turkey: Spoon stuffing into a 13×9 baking dish and bake at 350 F covered for 45 minutes.  Stir the stuffing slightly after 30 minutes to spread the turkey/chicken stock.  If the stuffing seems too dry for your tastes, add a bit more stock.  If the stuffing is too wet, bake uncovered for the rest of the time (15 minutes).

If you want to stuff your holiday turkey with your stuffing: Spoon the stuffing mixture into your turkey to loosely fill.

Once you make this applesauce and see how EASY it is and how GREAT it tastes, you will wonder why you ever bought the store variety. You can pretty much use any apple here. I tend to use organic Fuji apples but use whatever apple you like best. Keep in mind that some apples are sweeter than others so you may want to adjust the sugar content in this recipe to suit your taste buds accordingly. When you are boiling the apples, don’t fret if it looks like there is too much water. Once you mash the apples, it will take on the consistency we are all used to seeing.

Ingredients:

• 4 apples
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Peel, core and chop the apples into 1-2 inch pieces. In a medium saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover and cook over medium heat until apples are soft, approximately 20 minutes. Uncover and cool, then mash with a potato masher.

If you are looking for a stuffed mushroom recipe bursting with flavor, then this is it! The cayenne pepper and onion and chive cream cheese give it a great kick while the crab meat contributes with its delicate flavor. You can sub the button mushrooms with a different variety such as baby portabellas, if you prefer. Memorize the recipe because you will be asked for it!

Ingredients

• 36 whole fresh button mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 (8 ounce) tub onion and chive flavored cream cheese, softened
• 1 can of crab meat
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons of butter, melted
• 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 1/8 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Saute over medium heat until moisture from the stems has disappeared. Do not burn the garlic.
3. Let the garlic and mushroom mixture cool slightly so it does not melt the cream cheese.  Once cooled, stir in cream cheese, crab meat, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Spoon mixture into a quart or gallon sized Ziplock bag and cut one of the bottom corners.  Pipe a generous amount of the stuffing into each mushroom cap. Carefully swirl each filled mushroom cap into the melted butter and arrange on prepared cookie sheet.  Mix the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese together in a bowl and top each mushroom cap with this cheese crumb mixture.
4. Bake for 17-20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.