Thanksgiving 2009 - Post mortem.

Thanksgiving diner came off without a hitch.  I was a bit harried at the end, as there were a bunch of things that needed to be done at the last minute, sauteing green beans, making gravy, carving turkey, etc. but over all things went fine.   The standouts.  I'd say the turkey was delicious, the mashed potatoes are always a crowd pleaser, but my sister made what is known as "Mom's stuffing", and for me that was a highlight.  It is a really nice, light, rice based stuffing with sausage, apples, and pecans.

Mom's stuffing was the only stuffing we ever ate with our Thanksgiving meal, for all of the years I was living at home.  I've only prepared it once or twice, and it's been probably 7 or 8 years since I last had it.  I never knew where the recipe came from, so I recently got the story on it from my mom.  Apparently she saw the recipe in a magazine she was reading in a dentist's waiting room.  She doesn't recall what magazine it was, but since it was about 1970 I'd guess Better Homes and Gardens.  Mom is too polite a person to go and rip a page out of someone else's magazine, and she didn't have anything to write with, so she she did her best to memorize it.   Apparently she didn't write down the recipe when she got home, but that Thanksgiving, she put together the recipe from what she remembered.  It turned out so good, that she made it again and again each Thanksgiving.  One year my sister Martha asked mom for the recipe, and she told her she didn't have one, so Martha watched mom make it, and documented the recipe.

So here it is, Mom's Stuffing, or perhaps we should call it Gloria's Stuffing.  I have modified it slightly.  It called for 2 handfuls of pecans, whatever the heck that measure is, so I changed it to a half cup, and none of the dried herbs had any measurements, so I set them each to 1 tsp.  You can adjust these to taste.  Also, there are absolutely no instructions on the recipe card, so I provided a basic procedure.

Gloria's Stuffing

1 c. wild rice

3 c. chicken broth

1 lb. pork sausage

3 stalks celery chopped

1/2 green bell pepper chopped

1/2 onion chopped

2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

1 c. seasoned croutons

1/2 c. chopped pecans

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried tarragon

1 tsp. poultry seasoning

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

• Cook the wild rice in the chicken broth until done, about 1 hour. 
  
• Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat, breaking it up as you go. 
  
• Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan, then add the celery, onion, and bell pepper.  Saute the veggies until translucent, about 10 minutes.
• Turn the temperature down to medium, add the apples, and cook stirring occasionally until the apples begin to soften about 10 minutes. 
• Add the remaining ingredients, and continue cooking for about 5 or 10 more minutes stirring occasionally.  Add a bit more broth if the mixture seems a bit dry.  In the end the apples should be tender but not mushy and the croutons should be soft.
  
• Adjust the seasonings and serve.
  

Notes

• Mom always used Jimmie Dean sage breakfast sausage, but an upgrade to a good quality pork sausage would work, but I'd add some rubbed sage to the spices. 
• You can use other rices.  We often used a rice blend that you can buy in bulk that is a mixture of long grain brown rice and wild rice.

The brined heritage turkey was great.  It's the third year in a row that I prepare my turkey this way, and I am not sure when, if ever, I'll change what I am doing.  Thanksgiving is about tradition after all.  My camera lens was mangled and not functioning when I was preparing the bird, but I documented my process in a Flickr photo album a few years ago, which can be found here.




Of the two pies I made for desert, the Praline Pecan Pie, from a Cooks Country (Cooks Illustrated) recipe was the hands down winner in my book.  It's loaded with spices, and the topping is sweet, crunchy, and slightly salty.  I served it with some fresh whipped cream.  Delicious.  The recipe can be found here.

I also made an apple pie, which I drizzled store bought cajeta over before serving.  It was tasty, but the sweet cajeta did not go as well with the tart apples as I thought it would.  However, I was the only one who was disappointed by it, so perhaps I'm being too critical.  It certainly looked great.