First of all, there are many cooking and recipe websites on the interweb, and above all, I trust the Pioneer Woman. Check her out. Kelley and I refer to her as PW. In my head, PW and I are BFF. I also follow (stalk) her on Twitter.
This was my first time making dressing. Ahem---- I think that this is an appropriate time to mention that my family refers to it as stuffing. Please take this poll about the stuffing v. dressing debate (right menu).
PW's title to this recipe is Cornbread Dressing with Sausage and Apples. If I was naming this recipe it'd be called White Wine and Cornbread Stuffing. I think that white wine was a key ingredient, and that may or may not be because I was also sampling much of the wine while making the recipe. Hey, someone had to test it to make sure that it was acceptable for the recipe.
There are a lot of ingredients. This recipe is a multi-step process.
Ingredients:
32 ounces of Crimini Mushrooms (I had no idea what these were pre-making this recipe)
4 Tablespoons Canola Oil
½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
4 cups Cornbread, 1 in. Cubes
4 cups French Bread, 1 in. Cubes
4 cups Artisan Bread, 1 in. Cubes
½ pounds Italian Sausage (p.s. this isn't very much)
2 cups diced onion
5 Granny Smith Apples, diced, unpeeled
5 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 cup White Wine
½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
4 cups Chicken Broth
1 teaspoon Ground Thyme
½ teaspoons Turmeric
2 teaspoons Rosemary, Minced
½ teaspoons (additional) Kosher Salt
Black Pepper To Taste
Fresh Parsley, Minced
First you have to roast the mushrooms. Preheat the oven to 500. Apparently my oven doesn't like to be 500 degrees. It made a really loud noise during this step. After washing and drying the mushrooms, toss them in a bowl with salt and canola oil. Now roast the mushrooms on a sheet pan for 20 minutes.
While roasting the mushrooms, you can start browning the sausage. This recipe serves 16 people (wowser!), and it only calls for 1/2 lb of sausage. It's nearly meatless. After the sausage is browned, remove it from the pan, but use the same pan to brown the onions. Then, after the onions are browned, add the apples, Kosher salt, and brown sugar. Brown for about five minutes. The next step is where it gets fun.
Add the WINE on medium heat. Cook for a few minutes. Remove these ingredients from the pan.
Now, back to the dirty pan, add the thyme, rosemary, salt/pepper, and turmeric (this was my first time working with this ingredient). Click here to learn how to pronounce turmeric. Heat in the skillet, and set aside.
Next, combine all of the bread. I made my own cornbread via this recipe. Add the sausage, mushrooms, onions/apples to the the cubed bread. Toss while adding the chicken broth.
Add in the minced parsley, and layer this entire mixture in casserole dishes. I had to use one and a half. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 325 degrees.
I'm making this for Thanksgiving, and I'm REALLY nervous. I was able to practice making this once, but it's a little blurry because of the white wine.
Wish me luck!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
