Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

It's Thanksgiving week! I know some of you might be scrambling to decide what to make this year so I thought I would share a recipe I made for my "Friends-giving" party this last weekend. We had a great time getting all the girls together for a Thanksgiving meal with everyone contributing something to share. I have been wanting to make this stuffing since my Grandma made it a couple years ago. I assumed at the time it was a recipe of her own or something she got from some interesting cookbook. Turns out it's a Tyler Florence Recipe she got out of a magazine. While not a family heirloom it is still delicious and was a big crowd pleaser! This recipe has so much more than just your average Stove Top. The sweetness and grainy texture from the cornbread, the slight sweet acidic crunch from the apple, and all the spices in the Italian sausage it's so yummy and not difficult either! Below are instructions ( I modified the ingredients some when I prepared it: Left apple skins on for color, subbed Thyme instead of Rosemary, Subbed 4 large cloves of garlic minced for one of the onions, Made the cornbread in a sheet vs using muffins. Those were just my preferences I'm sure it is equally good when sticking with Tyler's original recipe)

Ingredients:

1/2 Stick of Butter
2 Golden Delicious Apples peeled cored and cubed
2 Tbsp Extra virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Chopped Rosemary
2 Small Yellow Onions
1/2 lb loose Italian Sausage
6 Large Cornbread muffins (or 1 box) torn into bite size pieces
Kosher Salt and Fresh Black Pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup light cream
1/4 cup chicken stock

Melt butter in a pan over medium heat and toss in apple cubes. Cook for about 2 minutes to add a little bit of color then set aside in a bowl.

In the Same Pan, add the Olive oil, rosemary, and Sausage. Cook until lightly browned, then add the onions & garlic; cook for 10 minutes or until golden. Add apples back to the mix. In a large bowl alternate adding cornbread and sausage apple mixture (this way you don't have to toss it too much and the cornbread can stay better intact. If you have time buy or bake the cornbread a day or two before and leave it out uncovered so it can get a little stale. This will also help it stand up once it is mixed with the other ingredients.

In a separate bowl whisk together egg, cream, and chicken stock and pour over the cornbread mixture. Stir stuffing and season with salt and pepper

Bake in the Turkey or at 375 F in a casserole dish for 30 to 40 minutes. I found at 20 minutes that the top was getting nice and brown so I pulled it out and tossed it so more of it would get a nice crunchy toast!

All finished! Although I bought a nice bowl to serve it from it ended up being just as easy to serve it from the casserole dish.                                                                                             

Look at that spread! Everyone did such a great job with all of the food!

Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday. Of course for the food but I also enjoy that it doesn't require the pageantry some other holidays rely on. Costumes, or gifts, or fireworks. Thanksgiving is about coming together with those you love and appreciating all each other has brought to our lives. Be they your family by birth or family by choice I'm happy to spend this time enjoying each and every person in my life!