Corn bread sausage apple and sage stuffing. And it's gluten free.
One of my November 2011 recipes for National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, now Beyond Celiac.
This and other recipes in my ebook, Delicious Gluten Free Cooking.
Thumbnail photos and list of contents here http://glutenfreecookingwithoonagh.com/, click on cookbook picture.
Sausage and Cornbread Stuffing 8-12 generous portions
Cornbread - see previous post.
I made this on NH's ABC WMUR Cooks Corner on Monday 20 November, 2017. with Mike Cherry
https://youtu.be/4KeCtt4wLuQ
This is a combination of two stuffings that I use for chicken and turkey. I had soaked a turkey in a brine solution (i.e. salt, sugar, water, apple juice, garlic, bay leaves, cinnamon and whole pepper). Since the brine would make the turkey too salty for a stuffing I had to come up with something that could be cooked separately from the Turkey. This stuffing was excellent but I personally still noticed the salt from the bacon and sausage meat of the stuffing, nobody else thought it was too salty. Jonesdairyfarm.com lists all the Jones meat products and they all seem to be gluten free, plus huge listing of gluten free recipes and regular recipes, many of which could be adapted to be gf.
The photo shows stuffing in halved Acorn squash as well as individual muffin cups. Muffin cups produce a stuffing with more crispiness all around. I wouldn’t recommend baking stuffing in acorn squash. I think that acorn squash is best just baked and finished with butter and light brown sugar.
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons (30ml) unsalted butter or olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 granny smith or gala apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped (to the size of shredded cheese). These can be the soft apples the children wouldn’t eat. I often don’t peel.
6 slices Oscar Meyer center cut bacon or Jones Dairy Farm, scissored into thin pieces - their web site says the center cut is gf and lists all their other meats as well.
12 oz (375g) packet Jones sausage meat, thawed (for variety try hot or sweet Italian. Many of my market's own brand raw sausages are gf. Don’t try a maple flavored sausage – it’s just too synthetic a flavor.). Only use a sausage you know personally. I had bought a maple flavored sausage meat thinking it had to be good and it was more melted fat than anything.
6-8 corn bread toaster cakes or roughly 1 lb (500g) total weight. Or less or more depending on your preference for stuffing.
1 tsp (5 ml) dried sage, crumbled (known as rubbed) or 1 tbsp (15ml) fresh sage.
2 teaspoons (10ml) dried thyme
¼ cup (60ml) chopped fresh parsley
No pepper or salt unless you like it very salty and spicy.
½ cup (4 fl oz, 120ml) apple juice or chicken stock - optional
½ c (3 oz, 100g) craisins -optional
½ c (2 oz, 55g) chopped pecans - optional
Vegetarian option:
Cook apples, onions, garlic separately without any sausage or bacon.
Add roughly 3.5 oz packet of sliced roasted chestnuts - there are imported, (not from China) ready roasted bags of chestnuts available in regular grocery stores.
Rinse, halve and slice about 8 oz button mushrooms and cook with apple mix, add more butter or oil to make up for fat from sausage meat and bacon.
Add salt and pepper to vegetarian version.
Then add cornbread, herbs, fruit and nuts as above.
I cooked them in custard cups.
Gently cook onion, butter, garlic, bacon and apples in a nonstick saucepan until bacon is giving up its fat and onions and apples are nice and soft. This will take 5-10 minutes. I also cook this in the microwave in a 6-8 cup (1+1/2 -2 ltr) bowl big enough to mix everything together.
Add sausage meat breaking it up with the back of a spoon as you cook the sausage meat. Sausage meat won’t really brown (unless you fry at high heat) but will change color from the raw color.
Crumble in the corn muffins and add sage, thyme and parsley, craisins and pecans. Grind in fresh pepper and add apple juice or stock for additional moisture. I’ve never found I needed the juice or stock.
Turn into greased 8 x 8 “ (20x20cm) brownie pan or equivalent size baking dish. Cover with foil and bake in center of 350*F/180*C oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil at about the 30 minute stage to allow the top to crisp up. Again it won’t really brown. If you had prepared the stuffing in advance and refrigerated the stuffing it will take longer to cook and heat through. Basically it is almost cooked but this finishes the cooking, blends the flavors and allows the top to crisp. It can also be used to stuff a turkey, or spooned into greased jumbo muffin cups, regular muffin cups or one cup custard cups and baked for individual servings.
I also tried this by adding some maple syrup and bourbon liqueur. I didn’t think it added anything to the flavor.
Note my basic stuffing was bacon, onion, garlic and herbs in corn bread or bread crumbs.
Then I added cooked Jones sausage meat for more bulk.
Then after I tried a corn bread stuffing at Whole Foods years ago, I added craisins and pecans.
Think more apple, dried apricots,
Mexican herbs and jalapenos,
Italian sausage, roasted red peppers and basil as stuffing for chicken breasts
