When it comes to our Thanksgiving menu, I stick to the basics.
My brother and his wife bring a sweet potato casserole, I bake apple and pumpkin pies, and we serve turkey, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls, olives, pickles, and my favorite – – stuffing.
I buy Mrs. Cubbison’s cornbread stuffing and bake it in the oven (not in the turkey) just like Mom did.
To quote “The Mandalorian,” “This is the way.”
This has always been the way until about five years ago, when my husband’s friend told Derek about the stuffing he makes and gave him the recipe.
It’s called ‘Dan’s This is What Stuffing Will Be Like in Heaven.’
After reading the ingredients, I strongly disagree that this is what will be served in Paradise.
I’m a stuffing purest. The dish should be all about the seasoned bread cubes, copious amounts of butter, and a bit of sautéed celery and onion to give it crunch.
No oysters.
No olives.
No oranges.
Dan’s recipe doesn’t contain any of the above. Instead, it calls for dried cranberries, two boxes of wild rice mix and ground sausage.
Pork sausage!
But Derek wanted to try it, so I bought the ingredients.
He made his version, and I made mine. On Thanksgiving, we served both.
I tasted a small bite of the foreign stuffing. The flavors and the textures were all wrong. I didn’t mind the mushrooms or slivered almonds, but I shuddered at the sausage and cranberries.
Imagine my surprise when our guests LOVED the “new” stuffing. They raved about it. Even our sons were huge fans. Oh, they all ate my version, too, but there’s no denying Derek’s was a hit.
Now, every year, we serve both kinds. If there happens to be more of my traditional stuffing left over, I’m good with that. I eat it cold for breakfast the next day, and if I’m lucky, the day after that.
Dan’s ‘This Is What Stuffing Will Be Like In Heaven’ Recipe
(This is transcribed exactly as received. What size can of mushrooms? Derek uses 8 ounces and it works. What oven temperature? I stick it in with my stuffing at 350 degrees.
1 pound good ground pork sausage from the meat counter, NOT Jimmy Dean
8 cups dry bread cubes
2 cups sliced celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 can sliced mushrooms, drain; save juice 1cup or more!
Slivered almonds
1 egg
1 or 2 (or 3) cans of chicken broth
2 boxes of stove-top type herb and butter flavored long grain and wild rice mix or equivalent
1 cup or so cashews
½ or 1 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
Brown almonds in a frying pan with light oil (olive) – move ‘em around so they don’t burn. (They will go from perfectly browned to burned really fast).
Set aside. Snack on these while you prepare all the following.
Fry sausage, chopping it up as it browns – save drippings!
Prepare rice according to directions, set aside.
Chop up celery and onion, set aside.
Put celery, onions, mushrooms (drained) and drippings from sausage in frying pan; add some salt, pepper and butter; simmer for a few minutes until slightly cooked, but still crisp.
In a large bowl, combine the rice, sausage, almonds, all the vegetables and the drippings they were simmering in, and add the bread cubes. Mix this around for a few minutes to get all the dried bread moistened. Throw in the cashews and the dried cranberries. Mix some more. Add mushroom juice and as much chicken broth as needed to get the proper consistency; moist and sticky, no dry bread cubes. Throw in an egg for good luck. Mix more. Keep in mind that when you heat it up in the oven, it may dry out some, so, chicken broth.
Put stuffing into a covered pan or baking dish and bake to heat it up before serving.
Feeds one person for three entire days.
Mrs. Cubbison’s Corn Bread Stuffing
(Oven-prepared as per the back of the box, the way God intended.)
1 box (12 oz.) corn bread stuffing
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1¾ chicken broth (or water)
1 egg, beaten
Preheat oven to 350.
Spray a 9-by-13 (3-quart) casserole dish with cooking spray.
In a large 5-quart saucepan, melt butter on medium heat. Add vegetables and sauté until translucent. Remove from heat.
Add stuffing mix and gradually stir in chicken broth or water. Add salt and pepper to taste. For richer stuffing, add a well-beaten egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour the stuffing into a greased casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the cover for the last 15 minutes for a crispier top.
Cindy Hval 