Cornbread & Sausage Stuffing
Serves 10 T0 12I know you’ve all heard of “stovetop stuffing”—but this here is smoker stuffing. The advantage to cooking your stuffing in the smoker is that it will acquire the smoky-sweet flavors of the turkey and the apple juice as it cooks, which will make it pair so well with your smoked bird. Try it, and thank me later. This recipe is for a classic sausage stuffing. I like to make mine with cornbread, but you can use sourdough or any other style of bread that you like instead.
Ingredients
- 2½ pounds cornbread or other favorite bread cut into ¾-inch dice (about 5 quarts)
- 8 tablespoons butter 1 stick
- 1½ pounds pork sausage preferably flavored with sage, removed from casing
- 1 large white onion finely chopped
- 4 large stalks celery finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons dried sage
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 quart Smoked Stock or good-quality store-bought stock
Instructions
- If you’re making this as part of the whole menu, your smoker should be set at 250°F with your Thanksgiving turkey in it.
- If not, preheat a smoker to 250°F.
- Spread the bread cubes evenly over 2 baking sheets.
- Bake until the bread is completely toasted and dried, 50 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking time.
- Remove the bread cubes from the oven and allow them to cool completely.
- In a large Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat until foaming subsides (do not allow butter to brown), about 2 minutes.
- Add the sausage and mash with a stiff whisk or potato masher to break it up into fine pieces (the largest pieces should be no bigger than ¼ inch).
- Cook, stirring frequently, until only a few bits of pink remain, about 8 minutes.
- Add the onion, celery, garlic, sage, and salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the chicken stock.
- Add the bread cubes and fold gently until evenly mixed.
- Spoon the stuffing into a 13 by 9-inch aluminum baking pan.
- Cover the pan with foil and place in your prepared smoker.
- Smoke the stuffing for 1½ hours, or until heated through.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Serve with your Thanksgiving turkey.
