Sausage & Bread Stuffing

Sorry, we ate it all.

A Thanksgiving staple in the Webster house.

4 pound version:
4 c bread cubes (dried the day before)
1/3 c butter
1/2 c minced onion
1/2 c chopped celery
1 tsp salt
1/6 tsp pepper
1 tsp each sage and thyme
breakfast sausage
1 egg

12 pound version:
12 c bread cubes (dried the day before)
1 c butter
1.5 c minced onion
1.5 c chopped celery
1 tbls salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbls each sage and thyme
breakfast sausage
1 egg (Must be wrong number for this amount.  I haven't ever made this quantity, but I'd increase the eggs proportionately.)

Brown onions and celery in the butter.  Add sausage and brown.  Mix egg with 1/4 cup water.  Mix everything well.  Bake.

Okay, I have a bunch of notes to this:

• I typically make the smaller batch using a package of purchased, seasoned bread cubes.
• Because I used seasoned cubes, I would not add extra salt.  (Maybe add pepper, and definitely added more sage and thyme, but Grandma also had a note to add poultry seasoning to taste and I don't bother.)
• I don't know what the deal is with the 1/4 cup of water, but that seems very inadequate to me.  I just dump in a can of chicken broth, mixed with the egg.  It may be relevant that I never actually use stuffing to stuff the turkey though.  It seems like way too much trouble to get in and out so I just bake it as a side dish.
• I don't know how much sausage Grandma used, but I use one pound of either breakfast sausage, or sometimes you can get sausage seasoned for stuffing.  Either is good.
• I probably also use more celery than recommended.

Grandma's (in)famous Cranberry Relish

People have strong love/hate feelings about this recipe, but it's worth recording here.

Ingredients
16 ounce bag of rinsed raw cranberries
2 crisp apples, cut into thick slices
1 large, whole (peel ON) seedless orange, cut into sections
1 to 2 cups granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you would like your relish to be)

Method

• Chop in your food processor until it's the texture you like.  Don't overprocess if you want it to be like Grandma's.
• Mix in the sugar and store in a sealed container.  Start with one cup and add more later if necessary.

"Fun" fact: Grandma likes to eat this as an ice cream topping.
Funner fact: Make a batch for Thanksgiving and it'll still be good at Christmas.

Swiss Potatoes

• 3 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/8 inch slices
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill weed
• 3 cups grated Gruyere cheese (about ten ounces) or it works with
• regular Swiss cheese which is much cheaper and still tastes good
• 1 1/3 cups whipping cream
• 1 1/3 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt broth
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.
Overlap 1/3 of potatoes in prepared dish.  Season generously with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon dill weed and 1 cup cheese. Repeat layer twice,  using 1/3 cup of potatoes, 1/2 teaspoon dill weed and 1 cup cheese for each layer.  Whisk cream, stock and mustard in bowl.  Pour over potatoes.  Bake until potatoes are tender and the top is crusty and brown, about 1 hour.  Cool 10 minutes and serve.

NOTES:

• This was Johnny's one request for Thanksgiving dinner. :)
• Holly says: "Also does not require whipping cream; I'm sure I always use milk/half & half."
• I used the mandolin for cutting potatoes - worked very well.

Sweet Potato Casserole

(as close as I remember)

Casserole:

• 4 whole Medium Sweet Potatoes (about 4 lbs)
• ½-1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• zest and juice of one orange
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 2-3 teaspoons ground ginger 
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper, or to taste
• cayenne pepper (optional)

Streusel:

• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Pecans
• ½ cup Flour
• ¾ stick Butter

Bake sweet potatoes in a 375-degree oven until fork tender, about 30-45 minutes. When they are finished cooking, slice them open and scrape out the flesh into a large bowl. Mash thoroughly and combine with remaining ingredients. Place mixture in a large-ish casserole dish and smooth surface.

In a separate bowl, combine streusel ingredients. With a pastry cutter or fork, mash together until thoroughly combined. Sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Pear, Brandy, and Walnut Cranberry Sauce

1/3 cup, plus 2-3 tablespoon brandy, divided
water
2 cinnamon sticks, each broken in half
8 black peppercorns
12 ounces fresh cranberries, picked over
3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
2 medium bartlett pears, peeled
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted and divided

• Pour 1/3 cup brandy into liquid measuring cup; add enough water to reach 1/2 cup liquid total. Set aside. Place broken cinnamon sticks and peppercorns in center of small piece of cheesecloth or large tea bag and tie closed using kitchen twine.
• In medium saucepot, combine cranberries, brown sugar and cinnamon-pepper bundle. Using large holes on a box grater, grate pears into saucepot. Stir in brandy-water mixture.
• Over high heat, bring cranberry mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook 10-12 minutes, or until cranberries have burst and the mixture has combined, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
• Stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons brandy. Let cool. Remove and discard cinnamon bundle. Stir in 7 tablespoons toasted walnuts. Transfer mixture to small serving bowl; sprinkle with remaining walnuts.

NOTES:  This was really excellent!  Less bitter than Grandma's but with all the cranberry goodness.  I made the cranberry part about 3 days before we ate it and just added the walnuts that day.

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