Recipe for Apple Sausage Stuffing

When it comes to Thanksgiving, my husband I tend to cheat a bit on our low-fat diet; we love our gravy and mashed potatoes with turkey. We also like stuffing, the soft/crunchy concoction of bread, veggies and meat.

I'll make apple sausage stuffing this year, and I want to share that recipe with you. It's chicken sausage, instead of pork, so I feel like I'm at least trying to be a little low-fat.

But first, a bit of history.

The bready mix we're familiar with today likely had its origins in ancient Greece and Roman kitchens, but as to it being called stuffing, that dates back to the middle ages. The bread and veggie mix was called farce, meaning 'to stuff': It was a play on words referencing the brief and humorous plays, called farces, 'stuffed' between long and boring religious presentations.

Victorian sensibilities, however, found the word 'stuffing' a bit too graphic, and applied the term 'dressing' to the mixture. Today, the two words are interchangeable, and dressing may be cooked without getting stuffed into a bird's backside.

Apple Stuffing

1 lb ground French apple chicken sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery

1 stick butter or margarine, divided
8 cups cubed bread, divided
2 cups chicken broth, divided

2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
1 large sweet apple, chopped

1 1/2 tsp rubbed sage
1 1/2 tsp dried parsley

1. Over medium high heat, brown the French apple chicken sausage in a large pan in a teaspoon of oil, adding the onion and celery to the pan when the sausage just starts to brown and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, just until the veggies are tender. Remove the mixture from the heat.

2. Put half the butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add 3 cups of bread cubes to the butter as it starts to melt, stirring to coat and moisten the bread cubes. Add approximately 1/3 cup of chicken broth to soften the bread.

3. Add the chopped apples and jalapeno peppers to the bread mixture, along with the remaining butter and stir to combine.

4. Add the remaining bread cubes and remaining butter to the pot. Stir to combine and melt the butter. Slowly add the remaining chicken stock, stirring the mixture to ensure all the bread cubes are thoroughly moistened and softened. Turn off the heat and stir in the sage and parsley.

5. Spoon the bread mixture into a buttered casserole dish, cover and cook at 375 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. Allow the stuffing to rest for approximately 10 minutes before serving.

Tips
For a little more sweetness, add dried cranberries or raisins to the mixture while adding the remaining chicken broth.

A note about jalapeno peppers- The smaller the pepper, the more intense the heat. If you just want a little heat, use larger peppers. If you can't find fresh jalapenos, use canned, but test for heat levels before adding.

Thanksgiving Day Tips for the Contemporary Cook

Feasting is the fun of Thanksgiving Day, but when you and your family members, and some of your guests, have special dietary needs, cooking the feast may be more of a challenge.

Something as simple as turkey gravy is problematic. It's made from animal fat and a wheat flour roux. It's high in fat, includes animal product and gluten, so no one in my family can have the traditional turkey gravy.

Fortunately, neither my son the celiac nor my daughter the vegetarian likes gravy. So I just purchase a small jar of good quality turkey gravy and my husband and I cheat on our diets on Thanksgiving Day.

If you like gravy, though, and can't have gluten, make the gravy with cornstarch slurry instead of roux. Dissolve two tablespoons of cornstarch in one cup of warm water; that's your slurry.

Bring your drippings and approximately one cup of water to a boil, turn the heat back a bit and slowly, slowly stir in the slurry. If it thickens too quickly, add a little plain water to balance it out. It's still high in fat, but at least it's gluten free.

Need a vegetarian gravy? Make the cornstarch slurry. Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add one tablespoon of vegetable oil to the pan. Bring two cups of good vegetable broth to a boil and then turn back the heat a bit. Slowly stir in the slurry. That's it. You have vegetable gravy.

The vegetable gravy works well with mashed potatoes and meat-free stuffing, but you want to include a vegetarian main dish as well. Try stuffed acorn squash. Cut the acorn squash in half and clean out the seedy, stringy centers. Roast until just tender. Fill the centers with meat-free stuffing, sprinkle with a bit of brown sugar and place under the broiler just long enough to give the top a bit of crust.

If the celiac in your family likes stuffing, simply make a loaf of gluten free bread two days before Thanksgiving. Wrap it in a towel after it cools and leave it on the counter. The next day, slice the bread into thick slices and lightly toast the slices in the oven on low heat. Allow the slices to cool and then cut them into cubes. Put the cubes in a plastic bag to store until you're ready to make the stuffing.

Now, about dessert. My family isn't fond of pumpkin pie, but we do like my made-from-scratch gluten free chocolate muffins, which are made using pureed pumpkin. They're not fat free, but the pumpkin provides a better type of fat than butter or oil. It does include an egg, and if you don't eat eggs, you can use egg replacer or a 1/4 cup of rice milk. Watch the video to learn how to make these muffins. They're great for breakfast, for dessert, and for snacks.

Don't let the dietary needs of your family and guests make this Thanksgiving feast a chore rather than a celebration. And if you have any other challenges, let us know, and together we'll find a solution.