At our house, the turkey is more of a side dish, and the main event is the stuffing. We prepare at least three varieties, one with cornbread, one with rice, and another with white bread crumbs, potatoes, or some other combination of starches.
Nothing against turkey. It’s great for sandwiches. But it’s not fattening enough to get me overly excited.
To me Thanksgiving is the aptly named stuffing with a side of cranberry sauce. (We usually do two varieties of cranberry sauce, one traditional whole berry, and one relish-style.)
There are a few good reasons to prepare more than one type of stuffing, though in my family, we do it just because that’s the way we’ve done it for many years. First, you can accommodate meat-lovers and vegetarians. You can accommodate traditionalists and nonconformists. And you wind up with enough left over to make my favorite post Thanksgiving concoction, Stuffing Patties. (Recipe to follow)
I am usually called upon to make one stuffing, a dessert, and maybe some type of rolls or other breadstuff. (Just because you have three types of stuffing, it doesn’t mean you don’t also have bread!)
My mother and sister, both avid cooks, prepare everything else. For my stuffing, I don’t stick to one recipe. Sometimes I draw inspiration for several, or I adapt one I run across that looks good. This year, I’m craving apples, so I’m thinking of going with this recipe, adapted from a Food Network Kitchens recipe.
Due to the fact that I don’t enjoy food poisoning, we do not stuff the turkey. Some families do, and if that’s a risk you want to take, go right ahead. I prefer to keep the stuffing far from the raw bird.
Apple-Sausage Stuffing
Two sticks butter
2 cups water
Two large bags cornbread stuffing mix (or a large bowl of lightly toasted white-bread croutons or a combination of the two)
1 pound ground pork sausage
One large yellow onion, diced
Four cloves garlic, minced
Three stalks celery, diced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried sage
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