Awesome Sausage, Apple, and Cranberry Stuffing

For most of my life, my stuffing experience has been Stove Top.  I always thought it was good.  When I started on my journey to learn to cook, I decided that boxed stuffing had to go.  Over the years, I have followed a few different stuffing recipes, before finding my favorite (so far).

Awesome Sausage, Apple, and Cranberry Stuffing

1 1/2 cups cubed whole wheat bread

3 3/4 cups cubed white bread

1 pound ground sausage

1 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped celery

2 1/2 teaspoons dried sage

1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 Golden Delicious apple, cored and chopped

3/4 dried cranberries

1/3 cup minced fresh parsley

1 cooked turkey liver, finely chopped

3/4 cup turkey stock

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

I started by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.  While the oven was heating, I cubed the bread and spread the cubes out in a single layer on a baking sheet.  I baked the bread cubes in the oven for about six minutes (until they were evenly toasted).  I took them out of the oven and put them in a large bowl.

I cooked the sausage and onions in a large skillet on medium-high heat, breaking up the lumps, until the sausage was evenly browned.  The original recipe calls for turkey sausage but I like the depth of flavor from pork sausage.  After I browned the sausage, I added the celery, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  (I used herbs that we dried from our garden.)  I cooked the sausage and herbs for another two minutes while stirring it.

I poured the sausage mixture over the bread cubes and then added the chopped apples, dried cranberries, parsley, and liver.  I ended up using dried parsley because what I thought was parsley when I bought it turned out to actually be cilantro.  I guess the next time I should double-check the label to make sure I have the right one.  In my defense, they do look very similar and are usually right next to each other at the store.  After mixing everything together I drizzled homemade chicken stock and the melted butter over it and mixed it lightly.  The recipe calls for turkey stock but I could not find any so I used chicken instead.

This year, instead of stuffing the turkey,  I cooked the stuffing on the side.  It was very good, but I missed the flavor and moisture that come from the dripping turkey juices.  Not being a fan of liver, I have always skipped that part of the recipe before.  This year, feeling adventurous, I added it with good results.

I found my base recipe on AllRecipes.com.