RECIPE: Kirsten's Show-Stopping Thanksgiving Stuffing

Author: Dave

Perhaps the most delicious thing I've ever eaten is my wife Kirsten's stuffing. I mean, who can argue with bacon, sausage, celery, onion, green peppers, jalapenos, apples, bread, a variety of seasoning and other goodies all cooked up and mushed together, then baked, and prepared as a "side" dish? Sorry, Turkey. My wife steals your Day every year.

I watched the process this year, taking photos along the way, to share here.

Ingredients:

Bacon - 1 lb.

Italian sausage - 3 links (1 hot, 2 mild)

Celery - 1 bunch

Apples - 2 gala, 1 Granny Smith

Green pepper - 1

Jalapeno peppers - 2 small

Onions - 3 large

Croutons - 1-1/2 packages of stuffing croutons

Bread - 1 round loaf of bakery rosemary-olive oil bread

Butter (or margarine) - 2-1/2 sticks

Chicken broth - about 4 cups (varies) to moisten

Cream of chicken soup - 1 can

Seasonings: Cinnamon, nutmeg and seasoned salt, salt, pepper, parsley, poultry seasoning, sage, crushed red pepper

Feeds: Small Army (seriously, 10-12)

Trivia question: What's better than the smell of cooking bacon? Answer: Bacon cooking with its good friend Italian sausage. This delightful aroma gets things off to a rousing start on our Journey to the Center of Thanksgiving Dressing. Kirsten cuts up the bacon and takes the Italian sausage out of its casing, then mixes them in a large pan over medium-high heat. Want to try this stuffing recipe your next Thanksgiving? Mix the bacony and sausagey goodness around every once in a while until its nicely browned. Remove from the pan and drain.

Chop, chop -- that's what you'll be doing for a while to the produce. You'll need small pieces so that they'll mix nicely throughout the dish. Both The Girl (8) and The Boy (4) joined us during this process. The Boy's an absolute natural, mowing through the apples (with oversight and some help). The Girl's more easily distracted, and therefore not as efficient. (We prepare the produce so they only have to dice. And, we give them duller knives, so it's a little harder for them, requiring some patience. That's OK. A few more minutes in the kitchen beats several hours in the ER, and it's worth it to get the kids involved in preparing your food.)

Now it's time for some new, tempting smells. Place the chopped produce in the same pan that cooked the meat (that meaty goodness flavor keeps on giving). Just like the meat, use medium-high heat. About halfway through, they get doused with cinnamon, nutmeg and seasoned salt. (Season to taste, yo.)

While the produce is cooking down, two bigger kitchen bowls make an appearance on the counter: Half the croutons and half the bread go in each. With thumb and forefinger, tear the bread into small pieces, (dramatic pause) as if your lives depend on it. Don't let the croutons and bread stare at each other across the dance floor like boys and girls at a 5th grade dance party ... mingle, people. Mix the bread throughout the croutons.

Meat, produce ... produce, meat. Yup, meat gets back into the action, joining the cooked-down produce in the same pan ... and meat's packin' butter. Use the remaining stick and a half of butter. The fat from that meat and butter is going to moisten that bread. When the butter melts and mixes throughout, pour the entire cooked concoction into the bread bowls in equal parts.

Ever know someone who always arrives fashionably late to your party? That's Chicken Stock. He comes to loosen up Bread and help bind the ingredients. This is where a feel for cooking comes in handy. Kirsten pours the chicken stock in the bread/meat/produce mixture, seasons to taste (with salt, pepper, parsley, poultry seasoning and sage) and starts a-mushin' with her hands. I am there, waiting for the magic words -- "chicken stock me" -- as she continues deep massage-stroking the dressing until declaring that it's time for some cream of chicken soup. (Where did that come from? Far be it for me to argue. I fetch a can and spoon into the mixture for more mushing.)

Finally satisfied that all the ingredients have meshed together successfully, Kirsten puts our newly formed stuffing in a tray covered with tinfoil for refrigeration. This dish was prepared a full four days in advance ... awaiting glorious resurrection on Thanksgiving Day. Bake the stuffing with tinfoil until it's warmed through ... Kirsten baked it at 300 degrees for 1-1/2 hours and then turned down the oven to 250 for another hour (as she prepared other food). She took off the tinfoil and returned it to the oven for another 45 minutes to crisp up the top. With no eggs in the creation, you don't have to worry about the stuffing being cooked as much as warmed. Your cooking time may vary ... our oven was opened several times to cook other Thanksgiving goodies.

Let us know if you try this recipe ... and don't hesitate to post questions. Kirsten says you can make your own modifications as you like ... hotter sausage, no hot sausage, no jalapenos, more jalapenos, different types of apple, different type of bread, ... whatever you wish. Our stuffing came out scrumptious, and had a nice rosemary hint to every bite.

(Poor Turkey. Don't sulk. You were darn good, too.)