November 23: Sausage Stuffing

One November day while watching "Regis and Kathy Lee" they had a stuffing contest. Each of the key people on the show had their favorite stuffing recipe for the audience to sample and vote on. Kathy Lee's Sausage Stuffing won. I acquired the recipe and love it too! Best stuffing I have ever had.

½ c butter

2 loaves white bread (I use a good quality, hearty bread)

(or 1-1/2 lg pkg of stuffing cubes, not seasoned)

8 celery ribs, chopped

ground sage, to taste

1 lg onion, peeled and chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

2 lb pork sausage

chicken broth (I use more than 1 can, but less than 2)

If you are using the bread method to make bread cubes do the following. Toast all the white bread. A fast way of doing this is to lay the bread on a cookie sheet and broil until toasted on each side. Cool. Cut or tear the toasted bread into cubes. (Skip this step if you bought cubes.) In a large saucepan, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Cook the celery and onion for 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened. In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat until cooked through. Drain the fat from the meat and discard. In a large bowl, combine the vegetable mixture, cooked sausage, and toasted bread cubes. Add a little chicken broth to moisten the stuffing slightly. Season with sage, salt and pepper. Use to stuff a turkey. Bake any leftover stuffing in a buttered baking dish or crock pot on low. (The crock pot method is a great one on Thanksgiving day because of limited on oven space.)