Sausage And Cornbread Stuffing

Here is my Sausage And Cornbread Stuffing recipe.  As you can see, it is an extraordinarily difficult, time-consuming, complex and arcane dish that only a few people in the cooking world have the intestinal fortitude to attempt.

People take Thanksgiving far, far too seriously. The point is to have fun, eat reasonably good food, and enjoy your guests. For instance, this year we will all gather around the television to watch the half-time show of some football game because the Jonas Brothers will be singing for 5 minutes. Would I do this on any other day of the year? If you knew me you would know the answer.

2 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage (The stuff with fennel) casings removed
2 cups Yellow Onions, rough chopped
2 stalks of Celery, rough chopped
1/3 cup  Chopped Parsley
Chopped Sage to taste (about 1-2 tablespoons)
Cornbread, and lots of it (probably 2 pounds of the stuff) Buy it or bake it; I don’t care.
1-2 cups Chicken Stock
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Break up the sausage into nice chunks and brown it in a bit of oil. Once the sausage is nicely browned, add the celery and onions and sauté until they get a bit of color. Dump into your biggest bowl and correct the seasoning, add the sage and parsley and mix a bit. Then add as much cornbread (broken up into chunks the same size as the sausage) as you feel like. My guess is that a 1:1 ratio of cornbread to everything else will work well. Mix it gently and then moisten the mixture with the chicken stock until it is looks appetizing, but not dripping wet and disgusting looking. Spoon into greased baking dishes, cover with foil and bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

26 Replies to “Sausage And Cornbread Stuffing”

  1. MY favorite stuffing recipe is one that is similar to this one…except it calls for chorizo instead of sweet sausage, and cilantro instead of parsley! Other minor changes, but it really sounds like the same idea–and it is DElicious. Worth a run to the Ironbound for the good chorizo, too… 🙂

  2. Totally agree with Curlz…chorizo/cilantro stuffing…I’ve made it 3 or 4 times, from a recipe that I am now frantically trying to locate.

  3. Bishop, the recipe I have is from an Emeril show; turns out it was from Aaron Sanchez, though! Emeril Episode # MP1B71. 🙂 If that doesn’t work and IANAC is ok with it, I’m happy to post it here…

  4. IANAC: I don’t think you realize the symmetry here: Bishop plus “I guess she don’t like the cornbread either”.

    At any rate: Curlz, I found my recipe and it is almost identical to Emeril’s! Thanks.

  5. For the millions of IANAC fans, here’s the recipe I’ve used (and tweaked, as you’ll see by my *note at the bottom)

    Chorizo and Corn Bread Stuffing
    Recipe courtesy Aaron Sanchez

    1 pound hard chorizo diced
    1 white onion diced
    1/2 cup chopped carrot (1 large carrot)
    1/2 cup chopped celery
    1 tablespoon chopped garlic
    2 cups crumbled corn bread
    1/2 cup chicken stock
    1/4 cup chopped cilantro

    Cook the chorizo in a skillet over medium heat until the fat has been rendered, about 5 minutes.

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

    Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic to the chorizo and cook until the vegetables have carmelized, about 10 minutes.

    Add the crumbled corn bread, chicken stock, and cilantro. Make sure that the stuffing itself is not to dry but at the same time not to wet.

    Place the stuffing into a buttered casserole and bake in the oven until heated through and lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

    Yield: 4 to 6 servings
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 40 minutes
    Difficulty: Medium

    Emeril Episode # MP1B71

    *T-Day ’06:

    Substituted Aidell’s chicken-apple sausage (a product worthy of its own thread, imo) for chorizo, parsley for cilantro, toasted the crumbled cornbread b/c it seemed too moist last time I made it—YUMMY! Doubled, it served 8, with few leftovers.

    So IANAC, now I bet you’re going to tell me that your recipe and my other version are similar…?!? Toasting the cornbread really is key, btw.

  6. There is so much in Curlz’s comment that I need to address, but I’ll start with chorizo. I made paella last night, and I used chorizo that was made in the style of a salami, rather than the thin style that most of us are used to. Run for the hills if the guy behind the counter tries to sell you this stuff. Thoroughly mediocre.

    Aidell’s used to make a sausage with some kind of hot chile. When I lived in California I and my drinking buddy would grill this stuff at every opportunity. Does anyone know if they still make it?

    As for this recipe? It is identical to mine, and, interestingly, someone just hacked my recipe file. I’m not pointing fingers, but…

  7. I buy a “soft” chorizo at the local Mexican food store..you sort of squeeze it out of the plastic wrap like toothpaste; I prefer it to the “hard” salami type. And I actually had the Aidell’s chicken/apple last night! Very good. IANAC: I know of the sausage that you refer to, and apparently they do not make it anymore.

    [The aforementioned sausage does exist. It is called “Habanero and Green Chile Sausage,” and it’s spectacular!]

  8. Puussaaaaay–do you buy the Aidell’s Ch/Apple at Costco? If so, I’d love to know which store has it right now, as it cycles in/out of the Clifton one. I’ve been without a bunch in my freezer for too long!

    IANAC, I assure you that I had NO part in hacking in to your recipe files…but I’m honored that YOURS looks like MINE. Hmm. 😉

  9. Culz: the Aidell’s chicken/apple is fairly common here (in California)…most grocery stores that carry Aidell’s stock it.

  10. Oh, I know that the Ch/Apple still exists; sorry if that part wasn’t clear. I just resent paying $4-5 for FIVE sausages when I get get…it’s 3lbs, iirc, for $13 @ Costco! When they have it, that is… SIGH.

  11. This recipe sounds very delicious. I would love to try it anytime, besides thanksgiving. After all, who wouldn’t love to endulge in a stuffed chicken with this rich stuffing inside!

  12. For the millions following this thread, I did email Aidells and was told that Costco rotates their stock, but that they still sell the larger packages through their stores. Guess I’ll just have to keep checking (here in NNJ, at least)! For T-Day, I’ll spend $$ to buy the smaller packages, as I have a few non-cilantro eaters coming, so I’ll do the Aidell’s/parsley variation.
    Don’t forget to toast your cornbread, folks…and let’s all be careful out there. 😉

  13. Cool. 🙂 Crumble it up, spread it on a sheet pan, and give it a few mins in the oven…just keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn!

  14. I was waved off of my chorizo/cilantro stuffing, which was probably a good thing since 1) it probably would have paled in comparison to the 2 very different versions that were served, both outstanding, and 2) at least 2 people at the table opined as to how much they detest cilantro!

  15. For the record, my local Kings had the shelf tag for the Aidell’s Chicken/Apple sausage, but they were out of it…so I bought their Chorizo and ended up doing a mix of the original recipe (Chorizo) and my version (parsley). I try not to ‘feature’ cilantro in a dish if I don’t know my guests’ palates well, and yesterday there were two teenagers coming, so I played it safe. How can I say this with humility? It was FANTASTIC. I seriously attribute that to the fact that Aidell’s makes some seriously tasty chorizo. SERIOUSLY. TASTY. Great spice. Success!

    How was your stuffing, IANAC?

  16. I think there must be something inherently awesome about stuffing, since mine, made with breakfast sausage, was off the hook, as the kids say, as well. Like puppies, all stuffing is awesome.

  17. Chorizo is one of those foods that improves everything it touches.

    As for my stuffing? I used toasted corn bread (thank you Curlz) and sweet Italian sausage from The Market Basket. It was fantastic.

    So Tommy, are you suggesting puppy stuffing?

  18. I buy Aidell’s sausage regularly at Costco…I guess you just have to be lucky to get the flavor you want. If its a really great day, they’ll serve you a taste of your favorite sausage.

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