Thanksgiving Recipe Week: In-laws Sausage Stuffing

Check back for a daily dose of Thanksgiving recipes all this week - it's a digital feast at the Cheap$kate Chateau!

Thanksgiving at his in-laws' is a meal that I look forward to every year.

My in-laws make a great Thanksgiving bread stuffing using breakfast sausage links, and the Chef is not one to fool with perfection; however, I can't help but tinker with the recipe a little bit.

Cornbread stuffing is a Southern tradition, so I merged the two and created my version of In-Laws Thanksgiving Sausage Link Stuffing. Other extra additions include a few aromatics and fresh garden herbs.

Thanksgiving is all about "gobbling" up food sales (whole turkey is 59 cents a pound here; and go here for the L.A. Times newspaper's turkey carving and easy dry-brined turkey recipe video.) So now is the time to hit your local market and stock up on ham, turkey, and a few packages of your favorite stuffing.

The  Cheap$kate Chef has run across a few different types at local 99c only Stores, including dried cranberries, a new favorite. The cranberries reconstitute mixed into moistened breadcrumbs when stuffed into a bird and are a sweet/tart contrast. To keep the in-laws happy, I'll leave out cranberries this time.



Ingredients (feeds 2-3)
8 oz. package cornbread stuffing mix, follow package directions.
8 oz. package breakfast link sausage - Farmer John brand is a favorite.
1 cup each of chopped bell pepper, celery, and onions.
1 tablespoon chopped garlic from a jar or fresh.
1 tablespoon each fresh chopped parsley, sage, and/or oregano (1 teaspoon total if dried).
1 toasted bread slice (makes for a less crumbly stuffing.)
Water and butter per cornbread stuffing mix directions.
Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions
Sauté and break up sausage links, then pour out most of the rendered grease. Add veggies and saute until soft, about 5-10 minutes. 

Prepare stuffing according to package directions. Mix prepared stuffing, toast, sausage, and sauteed veggies in a large bowl. Stuff your bird and put extra stuffing in a bread loaf-type baking dish. 

Bake extra stuffing during the last 45 minutes of roasting the bird. A tasty trick is to pour half a cup of turkey pan juices into the "extra stuffing" just before it goes in the oven.