Cranberry-Pine Nut Dressing with Sage Sausage

 

Cranberry-Pine Nut Dressing with Sage Sausage

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pine nuts (opt.-I use them if it's for a Christmas dressing, and leave 'em out for Thanksgiving)
1 Tablespoon Olive oil
4 Tablespoons salted butter
1 large yellow onion, diced (about 2 cups)
2 C. celery, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and minced finely (about 3/4 cup)
8 oz. cremini (baby bella) or button mushrooms, diced
Kosher salt & fresh cracked black pepper
1 lb. (16 oz.) Jimmy Dean "Sage" sausage roll
2 boxes of Mrs. Cubbison's Cube Stuffing-Herb Seasoned
4 C. *Turkey stock (recipe below) or Chicken broth
1 C. 2% milk
1/2 cup of Craisins (dried cranberries)

Instructions:

• Pour Mrs. Cubbison's cube stuffing into extra large mixing bowl, set aside.
• Brown sausage on medium heat in a large non-stick pan, remove browned sausage with a slotted spoon onto a paper toweled lined plate. Keep the fat drippings in the pan.
• Place butter and oil in the pan with the sausage drippings, add & sauté onion, celery, carrot, & mushrooms until the vegies are soft, season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the cooked vegies to the bread cubes.
• Add pine nuts to the same pan and cook on low stirring often until the pine nuts are toasted golden color. Add to the bread cubes.
• Add browned sausage, *Turkey stock/Chicken broth, milk & craisins and stir until all the bread cubes are moistened. Taste test to see if you need more salt and pepper-careful with the salt, if using salted butter.
• Pour dressing into buttered 9x13 baking dish and cook covered in a 350 F oven; center rack for 40-45 minutes until the dressing is hot then uncover and continue cooking until toasted on top (about 10-15 min).

Serves 10-12

*Turkey stock: The morning of Thanksgiving the first thing I do is prepare the Turkey stock that I add to my dressing, mashed potatoes & gravy.
In large stock pot put turkey neck, giblets, large onion-halved, 1 large unpeeled carrot-halved, 2 celery stalks with leaves-halved, 1 red delicious apple-halved, fresh sage-rosemary-thyme bundle (wrap herbs with butcher's twine), 1 bay leaf, 1/2 teas. black pepper corns. Add 16 oz. water and 2-32 oz. cartons of Swanson's low sodium chicken broth (NOTE: always buy more chicken broth than what you think you will need).  Bring to a boil then partially cover with lid for steam to escape and simmer on medium low for 2 hrs., skimming any scum that comes to surface. Pour stock into a sieve over a large bowl, reserve Turkey stock until needed. Discard all other stock ingredients once cooled (or it will melt your garbage liner-lesson learned!).  If you don't yield 4 cups and/or need more stock then add more chicken broth to the stock for your needs.