Kick Ass Stuffing for your Thanksgiving meal

Joshua Holland

This is magic -- a classic Italian stuffing/dressing with a Southern accent. I've made a dozen variations on this, and every one has been a huge hit.

Whip up a big ole' pan of cornbread today. A pre-mix is fine. You're going to want to eat some when it comes out all hot and fresh, so make extra or else you'll just end up doing a second batch. I guess you'll need about 6-8 cups to make a enough stuffing for maybe 6 people, with leftovers for hangover sandwiches. Adjust from there.

Let it cool, crumble into teaspoon-size chunks and leave in a large bowl, uncovered, to get dry and crusty overnight. (Alternative: shred a big loaf of crusty peasant bread and let it dry out overnight -- this is the classic Italian version.)

I think making your own chicken stock is worth it, but a good store-bought organic deal -- the reduced sodium stuff -- will do. You'll need up to a quart, maybe even more depending on how dry your bread is.

Then, tomorrow ...



If you don't eat meat, this should still be really good. But if you do, take two sweet and one spicy Italian sausage, remove them from casing (or buy loose-packed), crumble it up and brown it in a skillet. Add sausage to the cornbread, and save a tablespoon or two of the grease in the skillet. (An old Italian lady I knew made a good version of this with chicken livers in lieu of sausage, if that's your thing. And a couple of years ago, I used diced pancetta (Italian bacon), and it was pretty slamming.)

Give a medium onion, a large carrot, 3-4 celery stalks, and a half of a green bell pepper a medium-fine dice. Cook over medium-low heat in the sausage grease (or if you left that out throw some butter or olive oil into the skillet) until the onions take on a very light golden color -- you're just softening the veggies up. Feel free to throw in a couple cloves of minced garlic too. Pour mix over dry cornbread.

Add about a cup and a half of cooked chestnuts, chopped medium-fine. It's kind of fun to roast 'em, if you have that kind of holiday, but it's totally fine to use the canned ones. I've used walnuts, pine-nuts -- any variation would work.

Add about a cup and a half of chopped medjool dates or peeled and diced fresh apples. Again, you could use anything that'll bring some sweetness -- dried apricots, prunes, whatever floats your boat.

Add about 12-15 large fresh sage leaves cut into a fine julienne (thin little strips).

Add Salt and pepper.

Then you're going to add liquid. First, 1/4 cup of decent sherry or port.

Then chicken stock (or veggie stock if you'd prefer). Add a cup and a half or so at first, and mix gently with your hands. Then add a little more at a time until the mix is quite moist, but before it becomes soupy or pudding-like.

OK, chef, taste it. Add fruit, more nuts, more sage, salt, pepper, whatever it needs to be teh awesome, then stick some in your bird if you're so inclined (some say this is a health hazard but I believe in living dangerously), put the rest in oven-safe crockery and bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the top is a crusty golden brown.

Make a kick-ass gravy, and prepare to have your praises sung.

If you get caught up in the spirit and have a favorite recipe you want to share, throw it into the comments.