Thanksgiving Stuffing

New England Sausage Apple and Dried Cranberry Stuffing

14 ounces white bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (about 12 cups)
1 pound sweet turkey Italian sausages, casings removed
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
6 cups sliced leeks (white and pale green parts only; about 3 large leeks)
1 pound tart green apples, peeled, cored, chopped
2 cups chopped celery with leaves
4 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 cup dried cranberries (about 4 ounces), soaked in apple juice
4 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 eggs, beaten to blend

1 1/3 cups (about) canned low-salt chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350°F. Divide bread cubes between 2 large baking sheets. Bake until slightly dry, about 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Sauté sausages in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, crumbling coarsely with back of spoon, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to large bowl. Pour off any drippings from skillet. Melt butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add leeks, apples, celery and poultry seasoning to skillet; sauté until leeks soften, about 8 minutes. Mix in dried cranberries and rosemary. Add mixture to sausage, then mix in bread and parsley. Season stuffing to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Mix eggs into stuffing.

To bake stuffing in pan:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 15x10x2-inch baking dish. Mix 1 1/3 cups broth into stuffing. Transfer to prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil and bake until heated through, about 45 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is golden brown, about 15 minutes.

More epic fails

Wow. You know you're in a bad stretch when you turn potatoes into Elmer's glue instead of mashing them.

I am planning to lean on the cooks at Trader Joe's for a while. I admit it: Cooking got the best of me.

Epic Fail

Small Fry and those her age have a phrase they use called Epic Fail. That's what my last two weeks of cooking have been. Every recipe has really been bad, and even tacos didn't taste good. My chickens haven't been laying eggs, even. I could really use some inspiration and a little luck.

This takes a while, but is so good on steak or salmon.

Jack Daniel's Marinade and Dipping Sauce

1/3 cup diced red onion

1/2 tsp finely-diced garlic

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup white grape juice

1/2 cup Jack Daniel's black label bourbon


Place ingredients in sauce pan, mix and stir. Bring to a boil, then simmer 35 to 45 minutes to reduce. It should have reduced in volume by about 1/4 to 1/3.

Turned out even better the second time

Lookee what I made

I don't even like breakfast, but I decided to make a Dutch Baby.

Leftovers

I may have mentioned before that I can't have the same thing twice in a row. That makes it harder to work full time and try to whip up a dinner every night of the week. Sometimes, I can do every other night. But being picky means more work, in the end.

Here is a new family favorite, that's easy, and requested by Small Fry.

Turkey Italian Sausage Soup

1 package Jenny-O sweet turkey Italian sausage
4 cups chicken broth (the Better Than Boullion works really well)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 cup acini pasta (they look like fish eggs, reports Small Fry)
1 bag baby spinach
basil - the stuff you froze from summer and haven't used yet

Remove sausage from casing and cook until brown, stirring to crumble. Drain then return to pan. Add broth, tomatoes, basil and pasta. Bring to boil and simmer 10 minutes or so, until pasta is done. Stir in spinach. Sprinkle with parmesan.