This classic American recipe benefits from as much fresh sage as you can get your hands on – or dry. It is a decidedly Yankee-inspired east coast style of stuffing, as the Davis family lived in NY. Sylvia didn’t want to like it the first year she and Lyle cooked Thanksgiving together, but she kind of fell in love with it. Lyle, too.
Quantities should work for a large bird, 18 to 22 lbs.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 to 3 loaves white and whole-grain sliced bread, dried out on cookie sheets (or lightly dried in a low-heat oven at 250 degrees until just lightly toasted or hardened); torn into 1” cubes
- 1 bunch whole celery including all the leaves; thinly sliced including the leaves
- 2 large yellow onions, ¼-inch diced
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 large bunch fresh sage, coarsely chopped or 5 heaping tablespoons of non-rubbed dry sage herb
- 2 lbs bulk breakfast sausage, broken up into 1-inch pieces
- 2 each tart apples, like Granny Smith or Jonathan varieties, ½-inch diced
- 11/2 cups walnuts, chopped
- 1 to 2 sticks butter
- 1/3 to ½ cup olive oil
- To taste, sea salt and black pepper
- 2 cups+ turkey or chicken stock
DIRECTIONS:
- Sauté sausage in large pan so pieces are browned but not fully cooked throughout; set aside
- Sauté celery and onions in melted butter and olive oil until translucent; add apples to mixture just for last-minute of sautéeing
- In a very large pan or mixing bowl combine celery, onions and apples with bread cubes and toss thoroughly; add chopped parsley, sage and walnuts. Add the cooked sausage and toss thoroughly.
- Wet the entire mixture with 1 to 2 cups of poultry stock until it just holds together. Salt and pepper to taste.
For extra stuffing to be baked outside the turkey, add another cup of poultry stock and a whole stick of butter.
