Stuffing

Yes, I know stuffing isn't a vegetable. Get over it.

Ingredients

• • 1 pound sweet Italian sausage

  • 1 medium onion, diced

  • 5 cups cubed white bread

  • 1 tsp dried sage

  • 1 teaspoons dried rosemary

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1 granny smith apple, cored and chopped

  • 3/4 cup dried cranberries

  • 1 cup chicken stock

  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F (175 degree C). 

  2. In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps until evenly browned.

  3. Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet.

  4. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl.

  5. Add the herbs to the sausage; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to blend flavors.

  6. Pour sausage mixture over bread in bowl. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries.

  7. Drizzle with stock and melted butter, and mix lightly.

  8. Bake in an ovenproof dish.

Notes: try:

• • A diced fennel bulb

  • 1/2 cup dried apricots, cross-cut into thin slices (instead of the cranberries)

  • 1 egg (beaten in with the stock).

Per Waitrose Paxo ingredients list, dried sage is 1.5% of dry weight.

https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/classic-sage-dressing

Ingredients

• • 16- to 18-ounce loaf rustic white bread, cut into 1-inch cubes, about 10 cups

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus an additional 2 tablespoons melted

  • 1 pound yellow onions, diced

  • 4 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh sage leaves

  • Leaves from 4 stalks thyme 

  • 2 large eggs, beaten

  • 2 cups turkey, chicken, or vegetable stock

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • Freshly ground black pepper

Method

• 1. Preheat the oven to 225°F. 

  2. Spread the bread cubes on a large baking sheet and bake for 90 minutes or until quite crisp, stirring every half hour.

  3. Heat the butter in a heavy skillet set over medium-high heat.

  4. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes or the onions are very soft.

  5. Stir in the sage and thyme and cook for 2 more minutes, then turn off the heat.

  6. Beat the eggs with the broth, salt, and a generous quantity of fresh black pepper.

  7. In a large bowl, fold together the toasted bread cubes with the cooked onions and celery, then stir in the egg-broth mixture.

  8. Spread in a lightly greased 3-quart baking dish and drizzle with the additional 2 tablespoons melted butter.

  9. At this point the dressing can be covered with foil and refrigerated overnight or up to 24 hours.

  10. When ready to bake, heat the oven to 375°F. Bake covered for 25 minutes. 

  11. Remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes or until top is lightly browned. If you are baking the dressing directly from the refrigerator, expect to add 10 extra minutes baking time. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Sage & Onion Stuffing (Raymond Blanc)

Ingredients:

• • 250g Onion, chopped

  • 35g Butter

  • 1 clove Garlic, finely-chopped

  • 1 Bay leaf

  • 1 sprig Thyme leaves, chopped

  • 400g Brown bread

  • 15g Sage leaves

  • 15g Parsley leaves

  • 3 pinches Sea salt

  • 3 pinches Freshly-ground black pepper

  • 2 Eggs, whole, medium, organic or free range

  • 1 Egg yolk, medium, organic or free range

COOKING METHOD

• 1. Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC / 350ºF

  2. In a medium saucepan covered with a lid, on a medium heat, sweat the onions in the butter for 5 minutes until they are soft and cooked through.

  3. Stir in the garlic, bay, thyme and continue to cook for a further 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

  4. In a food processor, blitz the bread, sage and parsley to a coarse breadcrumb.

  5. In a large bowl, mix together the cooled onion mixture with the breadcrumbs, and season with the salt and pepper.

  6. Mix in the eggs and yolk until you have an even mixture.

  7. Divide this into 4 ramekins or a shallow terrine mould and bake for 10-15 minutes until the top is caramelised and the centre is hot. 

  8. Serve straight from the oven to the table.