Andouille Sausage and Cornbread Stuffing (GF)

I have never really liked stuffing, even when I ate gluten. I don't even remember the last time I tried it - something like 20 years ago. But my aunt went up and changed things around this year and assigned us all new dishes to bring to Thanksgiving to get out of whatever old ruts and recipes we've been making for too long. I was assigned GF stuffing, and decided to attempt to find my own love of the stuff. This recipe mostly succeeded - it was delicious and spicy and chewy and crunchy. And still, I think stuffing is kinda weird. Like, it seems better to have for breakfast with eggs?!

I don't generally like most GF breads - or I do, but all that rice flour and stuff makes me feel wilty in my soul. I like some grainy heft. So I went with a cornmeal-only cornbread recipe - with sausage, cranberries, and apples. The original recipe is from Food 52, which I followed and is what is listed below. (I didn't have apple cider so used ginger brew, which I did have, instead. It seemed to work out just fine! In typing this out, I also realized I forgot the egg?! Oops. Still good!)

The cornbread in this recipe is amazing: a not sweet, buttery, grainy, crusty cornbread. I will make it again. I made the cornbread one day, cutting it into cubes to dry out overnight, and made the stuffing the next. You could, as the recipe originator notes in the comments, make the whole thing in advance and store in the fridge til you are ready to bake and serve.

Stuffing:

• 6 tablespoons butter, divided, plus more for baking dish
• 2 large onions, diced
• 3 large celery stalks, diced
• 2 apples, cored and diced
• 1 pound Andouille sausage, removed from casing
• ¹/₂ cup apple cider (or ginger brew)
• 1 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
• 1 recipe Cast-Iron Skillet Cornbread (below), or 1 10-inch cornbread, cut in 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 large egg, beaten
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup chicken stock

Cast-Iron Skillet Cornbread

• 1 ¹/₂ cups coarse yellow cornmeal
• ³/₄ teaspoon baking soda
• ¹/₂ teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ¹/₂ cups plain drinkable yogurt, kefir, or buttermilk
• 1 ¹/₂ tablespoons maple syrup or honey
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Stuffing Instructions:

1. Place corn bread cubes on a baking sheet and leave out over night to dry. Or, toast the cubes in a 350 F degree oven for 10 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Butter a 9X13-inch baking dish. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, celery and apples and sauté until softened, about 7-9 minutes. Add the sausage, crumbling it into small bits, and sauté, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, until cooked and browned. Add the cider, cranberries, rosemary, and sage and cook until the cranberries soften, about 5 minutes. Scrape up the brown bits with a wooden spoon.

 

3. Place mixture in a large bowl and add the corn bread, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, and enough chicken stock just to moisten the mixture. Stir well. Pour stuffing into prepared dish. Dot with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Bake until stuffing is heated through and top is golden, 35 to 45 minutes.

Cornbread Instructions:

1. Preheat an oven to 425 F degrees. Heat a 10-inch seasoned cast-iron skillet in the oven for 10 minutes, until it's very hot.
2. Combine the cornmeal, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Whisk together the eggs, yogurt and maple syrup in a large bowl.
3. Remove the hot skillet from the oven and add the butter, swirling it until it's melted (it's OK if it slightly browns). Working quickly, pour the hot, melted butter into the egg and yogurt mixture, and whisk until combined. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Pour the batter into the hot skillet and and bake until golden, about 20-25 minutes. Allow cornbread to slightly cool before cutting.

Pork & Cranberry meatballs

I make meatballs pretty regularly, often from Mel Joulwan's Well Fed site which has a whole meatball madness link page (I think I've made her Czech meatballs, Cuban meatballs, Merguez meatballs, and maybe the Moroccan ones, though if I remember right I did not like them.) I've been on a pork meatball fest lately, and recently made a Bon Appetit Vietnamese inspired meatball, where I learned that I can cook meatballs entirely in the broiler, which makes them really crispy and delicious.

This recipe is based on what was originally ground turkey to make a Thanksgiving inspired meatball. It was delicious with pork and easy ingredients I had at home (lemons yes, oranges no; baking soda yes, cream of tartar no). I ended up reheating a bunch of left-overs to go along with these, and this meal was a total star this weekend: roasted squash, pickled beats, the last greens of my wilted garden, and a bunch of saurkraut. I ate about 3x the amount of kraut pictured in the photo because it was so good with every other thing on the plate. 

Pork & Cranberry Meatballs (makes 12)
1 pound ground pork
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 c dried cranberries
2 cloves garlic, minced
*1/4 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 T warm water (opt)
(Mel uses baking soda and cream of tarter to tenderize meatballs sans breadcrumbs. I never do and find them to still be delicious. This time I did do the baking soda, for whatever reason!)

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prep a cake pan with foil or parchment if you like - these do get a little broiled on, but it scrubs off with a scouring pad.
2) Mix all ingredients except baking soda/water in a bowl by hand. Add baking soda/water mixture and combine.  Form meatballs. (Mel has us chill the meatballs prior to baking. Is it necessary? I don't think so.)
3) Bake for 20 minutes. I then put mine under the broiler for a few to get them nice and caramel-y. The exposed cranberries do burn a bit (the sugars!) so keep an eye on them if you do that.

Let cool a minute or two and serve! These were delicious with saurkraut and squash.

Blog return: GF Sunchoke latkes

I have made all kinds of interesting things lately, and decided to return to blog posting in order to have a recipe compilation location. And because it is fun!!

I harvested my sunchokes in May I think, and still have a drawer-full in my fridge that I am finally turning back to. There were so many other veggies there for awhile! Now, I am lamenting the end of my greens. I made these latkes this morning that were delicious: nutty from the sunchokes, with carrot and potato mixed in. I free-formed the recipe a bit, modeled after this one from an internet search. I am listing the amounts, but obviously vegetable sizes differ. It seems forgiving.

The addition of rosemary and onion are thanks to my friend, self-dubbed the "resident jew," who was here for breakfasting.

Sunchoke-Carrot Latkes - made 15

4 sunchokes
2 golden potatoes
3 carrots
1/3 c oat flour (ground oats)
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
2 eggs
Black pepper
1/2 small red onion, minced
1 T fresh rosemary* chopped
*or try tarragon or thyme
4-6 T Coconut oil for frying


1) Grate or shred carrots, sunchokes, and potatoes. Use a medium sized box grater, or if you have a special grater, use that. I have an old 1970s one like this in the middle right/lower left:

2) Mix all ingredients in a large bowl by hand.

3) Heat a large cast iron skillet on medium-high, and add some coconut oil. When pan is hot, form thin palm-sized pancakes. Fry for 4-5 minutes on each side until crispy. Keep warm in oven until all are made.

We had these with fried eggs and salad. I neglected to consider sriracha at the time, but that would be delicious (as noted in aforementioned recipe source, with poached eggs).