Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

Let's be honest.  The best thing about Thanksgiving is the side dishes.  And the one side dish that reigns supreme is stuffing.  We always make sure to leave some special room on our plates for this delectable side dish.  The sweetness of the apples and cranberries play nicely with the traditional savory flavors of the stuffing.  The Italian sausage adds a nice boost of flavor.   This stuffing is sure to be a hit this holiday season.

Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

Ingredients:
8 cups (about 1 loaf) white bread, diced into cubes
1 pound mild or sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 cup celery, diced
1 sweet onion, diced
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
4 tsp. poultry seasoning
2 tsp. fresh sage, minced
1-2 cups chicken stock
1 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Dice bread into cubes and divide evenly onto two baking sheets.  Bake until slightly dry, about 10-15 minutes.  Let cool completely.  Transfer into a large mixing bowl

2.  Sauté sausage in a heavy, large skillet over medium-high heat.  Using a wooden spoon crumble sausage coarsely.  Cook for about 10 minutes or until sausage is cooked thoroughly and starts to brown.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a bowl reserving drippings in skillet.  Add a tablespoon of butter to skillet.  Add celery, onions, apples, and garlic to skillet and sauté until they start to soften (about 8-12 minutes).  Add poultry seasoning and bay leaf and stir until well combined.  Add dried cranberries and sage and stir until well combined.  Add sausage to mixture and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.  Remove bay leaf.  Mix in 1-2 cups of breadcrumbs into skillet.  Combine skillet mixture with the rest of the breadcrumbs in a large mixing bowl.  Add parsley.

3. Beat eggs and milk together.  Pour eggs and milk mixture over stuffing and toss until well combined.  Ladle chicken stock over stuffing a little at a time (you may not need to use all of the chicken stock).  Your stuffing should be moist but not mushy.  (Up until this point you can make the stuffing 24 hours in advance.  Just store in refrigerator in a sealed container.  Take out of refrigerator 30 minutes-1 hour before baking.)

4.  Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Put stuffing in a 2 quart - 3 quart baking dish.  Put about 6 slices of butter on top of stuffing.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until top has become nicely browned and stuffing is heated through.