New England Sausage and Dried Cranberry Stuffing

Now that Halloween is officially over, it's time to start getting our Thanksgiving menus together. We always have our traditional Thanksgiving Dressing on Turkey Day, but a few years ago when my we started having a December "Dickens Dinner" with my sister's family, I started making this New England Sausage and Dried Cranberry Stuffing. Since I don't eat pork, I substitute chicken or turkey sausage and even the pork-eaters love this stuffing. Whether you're looking for a new recipe for Thanksgiving or one of the many holiday dinners ahead of us, this recipe is worth trying!

New England Sausage and Dried Cranberry Stuffing

Serves 5 - 6 

Ingredients: 
6 cups white bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/2 pound sausage, casings removed (traditional, chicken, or turkey)
1/4 stick butter
3 cups onion
1/2 pound tart green apples (or your choice), peeled, cored, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 1/2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup chicken broth 

Directions:
1. Place bread cubes on a large baking sheet and bake until slightly dry, about 15 - 20 minutes. Cool completely. You can also leave the cubes out overnight to dry.

2. Sauté the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, crumbling coarsely with the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a large bowl. Pour off any drippings from the skillet.

3. Using the same skillet, melt the butter. Add the onions, apples, celery, and poultry seasoning to the skillet. Sauté until onions are softened, about 5 – 8 minutes.

4. Mix in dried cranberries. Add the mixture to the sausage, then mix in the bread, eggs, and parsley. Season stuffing to taste with salt and pepper. Add the chicken broth to moisten stuffing depending on how most you like it (can be prepared one day ahead. Cover and refrigerate).

5. Butter a baking dish (I used a 7 x 11-inch glass dish). Transfer stuffing to the dish, cover, and bake at 350F until heated through, about 45 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Source: Adapted from The Food Channel.com

Notes: I halved the original recipe, which serves 10. It calls for 4 teaspoons of chopped fresh rosemary (so that would be 2 teaspoons for the half batch) and the parsley to be fresh. Due to personal preference, I omitted the rosemary and substituted dried parsley.

Breakfast Chicken Sausage Patties

I received the KitchenAid mixer food grinder attachment for Christmas and finally tried it out to make these chicken sausages. It was great to be able to grind my own chicken. I am very suspect of what's actually in the ground chicken from the grocery store, not to mention it is so expensive (more than ground turkey at my store!) That being said, you can certainly make these using pre-ground chicken!

These chicken sausage patties were fantastic! Bob and I had them with waffles for breakfast one Saturday, and we loved them. They are so flavorful and have a great blend of spices. I didn't have allspice for some reason, so I added a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. I might omit these next time to give it a more savory flavor, or I'll get some allspice and try that. I used only chicken breasts, but you can certainly use dark meat or a combination of the two. I halved the recipe but will post the full - I wished I had made more! :)

Breakfast Chicken Sausage Patties

Ingredients:

1 pound ground chicken

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

heaping 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, optional

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

about 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 garlic clove, finely minces or pressed

1/2 Tablespoon real maple syrup

2 - 3 teaspoon olive oil

Directions:
1. Lightly mix all ingredients together until the herbs and spices are well-incorporated. Do not overmix.

2. Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts, then make 4 patties out of each portion for a total of 16 1-ounce patties.

3. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat and add 1 teaspoon oil. Fill the pan with as many patties as will fit, and cook about 2 minutes per side or until browned and cooked through. Repeat with remaining batches, adding an additional teaspoon of olive oil per batch.

Source: Adapted from Elly Says Opa!

Chicken [Sausage] Florentine Soup

As I've said before, Bob and I love soup. Kerstin's recipe for Chicken Florentine Soup looked so delicious that I couldn't wait to try it. She takes a normally cream-filled soup and thickens it with potato - brilliant! This soup calls for chicken breasts, but I didn't feel like thawing any on this particular evening, so I threw in some chicken sausages. We loved this meal. It's a very tasty, satisfying soup that tastes like it's made with butter and cream, but is actually very healthy!
Chicken [Sausage] Florentine Soup

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 leeks, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups chicken stock

3 red potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 cups (4 ounces) fresh spinach, chopped

3 chicken sausages, diced

1 cup skim milk

2 Tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat and saute the leeks 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and saute for 1 additional minute.

2. Add chicken stock and potatoes to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Remove from  heat and use an immersion blender to puree the mixture until smooth and creamy. Alternatively, transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and puree, then return soup to pot.

3. Add the chicken sausage and spinach to the soup and simmer for a few minutes until the spinach is wilted and the sausage heated through.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the flour and salt into the milk until smooth. Gradually add the milk mixture to the soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 additional minutes. 

5. Reduce heat to low until ready to serve. Top with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Source: Adapted from Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Ale-braised Sausages and Peppers

Another orzo recipe?!? Yep, but you can use any pasta shape you want, or omit the pasta and serve alongside mashed potatoes, as the original recipe suggests.  The first time I made this, I served it with sliced new potatoes sauteed with onion. More recently, I tossed in some orzo, which was really delicious. If you prefer to serve with potatoes, just omit the pasta from the recipe below. I adapted the recipe for 3-4 servings and used Trader Joe's chicken sausage. I only buy chicken sausage that is 'skinless' (i.e. no casing), so I'm a bit limited on flavors. The jalapeno chicken sausages I used have a strong flavor, but we liked it. 

Ale-braised Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients:
3 skinless chicken sausage links, sliced
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 1/2 Tablespoons flour, divided
3/4 cup ale
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 Tablespoons dried chopped thyme
1 cup uncooked orzo pasta

Directions:
1. Heat a pot of water to boiling for the pasta.

2. Heat sausage slices in a pan over medium-high heat for a few minutes until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate, set aside and keep warm.

2. Heat the olive oil in the same pan and add the onion and pepper. Cook until golden, around 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the orzo.

3. Stir in 1 Tablespoon flour and cook 1-2 minutes. Whisk in ale until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Add the thyme and broth, whisking to blend and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Return the sausage to the pot. Add orzo, and season with salt and pepper.

Source: Adapted from Good Things Catered and Williams-Sonoma

Chicken Sausage and Penne in a Pumpkin Cream Sauce

From the title, and even the picture, you may think this a rich dinner made with heavy cream. I'm delighted to say that's not the case - but it tastes like it is! I saw this recipe on Cara's Cravings last year and have made it several times. Cara ingeniously came up with the idea to make a puree using skim milk, canned pumpkin, and - get this - 1% lowfat cottage cheese! I was skeptical when I first made it, and a little worried when I added this 'cream sauce' to the pan and saw tiny bits of cottage cheese peppering the pan. But then, the most amazing thing happened: the tiny bits melted and created this creamy, slightly cheesy, sauce. I really want to use this trick to make this Giada recipe again, because it was far too creamy for me the first time. This idea can also be adapted for other sauces, like a butternut squash cream sauce - mmm.

Bob and I both really like this recipe. I've made it using different kinds of chicken sausage, but the combo of the apple sausage and the pumpkin is quite nice. I've made a few slight modifications to the recipe, but Cara's original version, which serves 2, is available through the link below. My version serves 3-4 because we like to have leftovers for lunch.

Chicken Sausage and Penne in a Pumpkin Cream Sauce

Ingredients:
6 ounces penne pasta
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, grated or more to taste
1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
3 sliced chicken sausage links, such as apple from TJ's
3/4 cup 1% low fat cottage cheese
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup skim milk
5 oz. baby spinach, roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook for about 15-20 minutes, until softened and beginning to caramelize. Add garlic, sage, and chicken sausage; continue to saute.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. In a small food processor or blender, combine pumpkin, cottage cheese, and milk. Blend until smooth. Add to sausage mixture in the skillet and continue to cook over low heat. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

3. Drain pasta and add to sausage mixture with the baby spinach. Toss together until the spinach is wilted. Raise heat if necessary to melt any remaining bits of cottage cheese, while continuing to stir until creamy. Top with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Source: Adapted from Cara's Cravings