One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is eating this delicious andouille sausage stuffing that my husband Rod makes each year. He loves music, so while he makes it there is always a Zydeco playlist going and a good bottle of red wine flowing.
My mom also makes a delicious sage stuffing, so we always have two kinds of stuffing at Thanksgiving. As with every big family, we never fail to have a long debate about which one is better. One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories is the year my mom decided to get fake pink nails the day before Thanksgiving. She is the least vain person I know, so this was completely uncharacteristic of her– fake nails and cleaning up after 6 kids just don’t mix. One year, as she stuffed the turkey, she realized that one of her nails was missing. She was absolutely horrified; she diligently unraveled the bird and combed through it to find her nail, where lo and behold, it was glistening with the uncooked stuffing. We always chuckle about it each year as she stuffs the turkey and remind her to check for pink nails. She hasn’t gotten fake nails since.
This recipe goes out to my loving husband and mom, who always manage to put a smile on my face and make me laugh throughout all of the craziness of Thanksgiving
Ingredients:
Buckwheat Zydeco New Orleans Jazzfest 1 hour playlist
Fine Red Wine, quantity optional
8 tablespoons butter
4 Yellow Onions
4 cloves of Garlic
2 teaspoons of salt
2 Large Red Bell Peppers
2 Cups of Chopped Celery
2 Lbs. of Andouille Sausage (pork or chicken)
2 Tablespoons of Tabasco
3 Cups of Chicken Stock
3 cups of Cornbread breadcrumbs
Turn on the playlist. Play it Loud.
Start drinking wine.
Chop your veggies and andouille sausage.
Get a big colorful Le Crueset pot
Melt half your butter
Sautee Half of your garlic and onions til light brown, then push to the side and add ½ the peppers, then finally half the celery, cook about 10 mins on medium heat, stirring occasionally, ‘til the water is mostly boiled out. Push veggies to the edges of the pan and gradually add all the Andouille and cook ‘til the meat is browned about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the remaining onions, garlic, celery, butter, peppers, salt and the Tabasco, stirring it all well, cooking on medium for another 3 minutes. Add the 2 cups Chicken Stock and bring to a simmer, cook til oil rises up and water evaporates, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Stir in the cornbread gradually, adding the remaining stock as need to get your consistency as you like it.
Transfer to two ungreased 8×8 baking dishes. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees about 45 minutes ‘til nice and purdy and brown on top.
Finish Wine and Laissez les bon temps roulez!
Makes 12 servings
Kitchen of Dazz 