Sourdough-Cornbread Stuffing with Bacon

I've always wanted to make my own stuffing. It's my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. Since I was hosting this year, I thought I'd give it go. I looked through zillions of recipes and finally decided on a sourdough-cornbread. Sour, sweet, and bacon adds salt. Both my mom and mother-in-law insisted on taking leftovers of this home.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
12 ounces sourdough, torn into bite-sized pieces
12 ounces baked cornbread, cubed or coarsely crumbled
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion
2 cups diced celery
2 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoon fresh sage
2 tablespoon fresh thyme
16 ounces bacon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place sourdough and cornbread pieces onto two cookie sheets and bake for 25 minutes or until lightly toasted. Set aside.

Cook bacon in a large rimmed skillet according to package directions. Once cooked, place bacon on paper towel-lined plate to absorb extra grease. Cut bacon into 1-inch pieces and set aside.

Discard all the bacon grease except for tablespoons. Add butter to pan with bacon grease and melt over medum heat. Saute onions and celery until tender, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Pour in chicken both. Add sage and thyme. Stir then reduce heat to simmer. Add half of the cooked bacon. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Place toasted bread into a large bowl. Carefully pour broth and veggies over the bread and toss, making sure all the bread is wet.

Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Transfer stuffing to baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining bacon. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is just golden brown. Stuffing should still be moist.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Side Dish Ideas:
Alfredo Green Bean Casserole
Cheesy Tomato Zucchini Bake 
Cranberry Sauce Three Ways: Traditional, Orange Zest, and Brandied 
Mashed Potatoes
Eric's Fried Rice
Sauteed Kale with Bacon
Simply the Best Macaroni and Cheese

Pumpkin Soup with Sage Croutons and Bacon

It's pumpkin season again! First up, pumpkin soup! I've been longing to make pumpkin soup for years. I've read through a lot of recipes, and even tried a few--none very good, the one I made last year ended up in the trash. This year I decided to make my own based off a delicious butternut squash soup I made a couple of years ago. It was love at first taste.

Since Eric isn't a big pumpkin fan--at least when it's used in savory dishes--I made him a little tasting bowl. His reaction: If I liked pumpkin, it'd be really good. He did absolutely love the sage croutons though.

Ingredients:
Pumpkin Soup
1 cup pumpkin puree
4 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
2-3 cups chicken stock (I used low sodium)
1 tablespoon butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon onion, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
4 bacon slices, cooked
Dried parsley, garnish, optional

Sage Croutons
3 slices of sandwich bread
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 

Directions:
Sage Croutons
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Cut bread into 1-inch squares. Toss bread with olive oil and spices. Spread the bread into a single layer on the cookie sheet.

Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until croutons are brown and crisp. Flip half way through baking.

Store in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Soup
In a saucepan, saute garlic and onions in the butter until they are translucent.  Remove from heat.

Place pumpkin and cream cheese into a food processor. Pour in sauteed garlic and onions. Blend until well combined, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer back into saucepan. (If you don't mind little pieces of garlic and onion floating in your soup, you can skip this step). Add 2 cups chicken stock, sage, and pumpkin pie spice to saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat. Whisk ingredients together until well combined. If soup is thicker than you desire, add more chicken stock (I like my soup a little on the thick side). Season with salt and pepper but remember, you are going to add bacon so that will add a lot of sodium to your soup.

Once soup is thoroughly heated, remove from heat. Divide soup between four bowls. Garnish with parsley if desired. Add croutons and crumble 1 slice of bacon over each bowl.

Eric's tasting bowl

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Pumpkin Recipes:
Cheese Tortellini in a Pumpkin Sauce
Cinnamon-Sugar Pastry with Pumpkin Dip
Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes
Pumpkin-Black Bean Stew with Spicy Sausage
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies
Pumpkin Fudge
Pumpkin Gnocchi with a Parmesan Sauce
Pumpkin Hot Cocoa 

Sausage and Apples

Last autumn I made apples stuffed with sausage and herbs. It turned into one of Eric's all time favorite dishes despite his initial reluctance to the combination. Even though this recipe screams fall, I made it again for him the other day. But I didn't feel like stuffing apples so I deconstructed it. This similar recipe is quicker and easier to make, but not nearly as festive or pretty to look at.

Ingredients:
1 pound spicy pork sausage
2 large tart apples (I used Granny Smith)
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons yellow onion, minced
2 teaspoons ground sage
2 teaspoons dried thyme

Directions:
Dice the apples (you can skin them first if you prefer, I leave the skin on), discarding the core and seeds.

In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium heat. Add apples and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, roughly 8 to 10 minutes. Once apples are tender, add onions and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove apples and onions from pan and into a bowl. Cover to keep warm.

Add sausage to skillet. Break up meat and cook until it's no longer pink in the center, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in sage and thyme. Add apples and onions to the skillet. Stir and remove from heat. Serve.

Enjoy!

Krissy

More Sausage Recipes:
Black Bean and Sausage Stovetop Casserole
Cheesy Sausage and Potato Casserole
Pasta with Vodka Sauce and Sausage
Spicy Parmesan Sausage Meatballs with a Whiskey Barbecue Sauce 
The Tale of Two Quiches: Spicy Sausage and Spinach Quiche 

Savory Baked Apples Stuffed with Sage and Sausage

I've been dying to do a savory apple recipe. When I told Eric that I planned to make apples stuffed with sausage, he was less than excited. I should have taken a picture of the face he made. But I wasn't going to let that deter me. And I'm glad I didn't. These turned out fabulous. I fell in love with them at first bite. It took Eric a couple more bites to come around. After the first bite, he said it was different. And it did have a different palate than what we're used to. But he finished every last bite of the stuffed apples and then declared that they were good. I honestly can't wait to make them again.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons yellow onion, minced
1/2 pound spicy pork sausage
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
salt
pepper
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I made my own by toasting a couple pieces of white bread and crumbling them)
4 to 5 apples (I used Fuji)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sausage to skillet. Break the meat up and cook until it's no longer pink, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the sage and thyme. Season with salt and peeper. Stir in breadcrumbs and remove from heat.

Cut off the tops of each apple. Scoop out the insides of the apple including the core, seeds, and flesh. I used a regular spoon, though a melon baller probably would have made it easier. Discard the insides.

Divide the stuffing among the apples, packing each apple full. Place the apples in the baking dish. Dot each apple with a small dab of the remaining butter.

Bake apples until the flesh is tender, 45 to 60 minutes.

Because Eric was so unenthusiastic about this dish, I only made 3 apples; that way he'd have leftover sausage to eat for dinner in case he didn't like the apples. Thankfully he did! But I could have easily stuffed 5 apples with the sausage.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Apple Recipes
Baked Apple Chips
Apple Rings!
Delicious Apple Pie 
An Apple Cider Cake
Apple Cider Cupcakes with Caramel Filling and Spiced Rum Frosting

More Sausage Recipes
Black Bean and Sausage Stovetop Casserole
Cheesy Sausage and Potato Casserole
Pasta with Vodka Sauce and Sausage
Pumpkin Penne Casserole
Roasted Sausage, Potatoes, and Peppers 
Sausage and Bean Casserole
The Tale of Two Quiches: Spicy Sausage and Spinach Quiche