Homemade Sausage and Herb Stuffing

Up until about age 10, I avoided stuffing like the plague.  I thought it was just nasty bread chunks soaked in in turkey juice with lots of weird stuff mixed in.  And I was SO wrong...

Personally, this is my favorite side dish at Thanksgiving dinner, especially this recipe.  It my mother's design with a few tweaks in it.  She uses freshly ground sausage from the butcher block, lots of butter and fresh veggies.  It so good, sometimes it makes the turkey meat on your plate an afterthought.

Stuffing that's been inside the bird is my favorite.  It has the opportunity to soak up all that extra turkey fat and the essence of the breast meat.  But nowadays, some people really freak out about possible cross-contamination or infection by little bacteria if the bird isn't cooked long enough.  Well, this can be avoided by... say it with me... cooking the bird long long enough. An opportunity of infection comes from under-cooking the turkey or not completely thawing it before cooking.  There are a number of steps that ensure a well-cooked and flavorful bird.  But that's another post (which is coming in a week)...

If you are that worried about salmonella, don't have enough room in the turkey, or just want stuffing without the bird, you can bake it in an oven-safe container separately and it will turn out great!  Any you can choose any type of bread you would like.  I've seen people use cornbread, sourdough, or just the standard dressing boxes.  If you live in Utah, they make their own dressing strips from their dried bakery bread.  It's excellent!

Homemade Sausage and Herb Stuffing

1/2 pound country style sausage
2 stalks of celery, finely sliced into thin half moons
1 half of a medium sized onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons butter
2 good sized white or brown mushrooms, diced
1 box (18 oz) herb flavored stuffing bread
1-2 14 oz can chicken broth
1 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.

In a large saute pan, break the sausage up into small pieces and brown them all thoroughly. Remove the sausage to a small bowl and then add the butter.  Once the butter has melted, add the celery, mushroom and onion and saute until the onions are translucent and the celery is softened.  Sprinkle the spices over the vegetables just before they have completed cooking.  Add the stuffing bread and stir to combine.  Pour the chicken broth in and stir until combined.  You want to add enough broth so the bread is moist, but not enough that it starts to disintegrate when you stir, so add more than one can slowly...  Once thoroughly mixed, add the sausage back into the mixture and stir for another 2 minutes.  Transfer to an oven-safe container. 

From here, you have two options.  If you wish to stuff the bird itself, do it.  Make sure that the bird reaches 173 degrees when you cook it so the stuffing is thoroughly cooked as well.

The second option is to leave the stuffing in the bowl, cover it and bake it in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.  If you're cooking it at the same time as a bird, it should take about 30-40 minutes.   So once the bird reaches 150 degrees, pop it in the oven and check the temperature often. (or just use your digital thermometer).