Simple Sausage Cornbread Stuffing

This is an easy stuffing recipe that is delicious and has an additional re-use I'll mention at the end. First off, since I cut my turkey in half and barbecue it my stuffing does not go inside the turkey, so technically it is "dressing". Bull. Dressing is something you put on salad and we don't go there on Stuftivus. It's stuffing whether in or out of the turkey.

My assumption is that you will have prepped your turkey by now and will have used the innards to make a nice flavorful stock, if not have some chicken stock in a can or carton ready (we prefer the Swansons cartons, no MSG and can seal and re-use).

Make your cornbread the day before. I always make two pans and use about one and a half. Let sit out uncovered all night as you want it to dry up to make bread crumbs/chunks out of them. Heat oven to about 350 degrees. Cut, chop one of your cornbreads into pieces that are forkful, a size you feel comfortable with eating in one bite; some like small, some like medium, some like large so it needs to be your "just right." Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet and place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Pull them out and check them, soft and moist? Stir them up on the pan and spread back out and into the oven. Crunchy? Perfect. You want the bigger crumbs to be crust on the outside and a bit soft on the inside so they don't turn to mush when the stuffing is put together, but also absorb juices and stock.

While your bread crumbs are getting toasty start your sausage. I use a tube, one pound, of Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage and one pound of sweet Italian sausage--out of the skin. Put the sausage in your big ole pan and cook it thoroughly. As you cook chop it up with your spatula to crumble to small pieces, remember it will be eaten with the cornbread crumbs so keep in mind what a forkful should look like. Once the sausage is finished take it out and drain on paper towels. Drain the fat from the pan and add about a half a stick of butter. Add a chopped onion, not diced, chopped, depending on taste you can add another. As the onion softens add chopped red pepper and diced Anaheim chili (unless you like a lot of spice then you can add chopped, we serve this to kids so go a little more mild on the spice). When all the players are nice and soft add minced garlic to taste (3 cloves for me) and seasonings.

In a large bowl put in your cornbread and onion mixture, mix thoroughly. Does it appear to have the right balance? Too little cornbread? Take your extra cornbread, cut it in half, give it a nice rough chop and add to the bowl--if you wish you can toast these as well, I usually don't as it is not that much and there is still the crunchy cornbread. Still too little to your liking? Keep adding from your extra pan of cornbread.

Once thoroughly mixed add about a cup to a cup and a half of your turkey or chicken stock.

You can now refrigerate until about an hour before dinner. Put in a covered casserole and put in a 325-50 oven (depending on what else you need your oven for that day) for about 45 minutes. Stuffing comes out hot and moist and crunchy and incredibly delicious.

This can definitely be made a day or two before Thanksgiving and kept in the fridge.

Bonus use with leftovers: My post-Thanksgiving soup is something I start craving about Halloween. Once I have my stock and all the meat and veggies in I put in a cup or two of the leftover sausage cornbread stuffing for flavor and also as a thickener. A few are not loving the texture of the broken down cornbread, but I love it.