I love stuffing. It might be the best part of Thanksgiving. Especially if it is sausage stuffing. Maples sausage. Cornbread stuffing. With apples. The options are endless! But that is my favorite. I was putting together a Friendsgiving and wanted to put together mini bites for the event so there could be a lot of mingling and chatting. Not so much a sit down dinner.
I was trying to make it a Thanksgiving theme of small bites and appetizers so it felt like Thanksgiving, but not as traditional. I knew that stuffing had to be a part of the menu. But then I found the cutest little apples and I thought, instead of putting the apples in my stuffing, why don’t I make the apples the bowl? They are mini, adorable, and my stuffing would still get the apple flavor and then they could eat it too!
I did learn a lesson that I need to share with you. I chose red apples for a reason, because they are beautiful and would look nice on the tablescape. However, I did submerge my apples after coring into water, but I should have added lemon to keep them from turing brown in the oven. One or two stayed reddish, but they would have looked so beautiful if they all stayed red. Lesson learned and you can learn from my mistakes. I still think they looked good, and of course they were a huge hit! They were my favorite part of my menu.
Ingredients
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, small dice
- 3 ribs celery, small dice
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound maple sausage (I use Jimmy Dean)
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and finely diced
- 10 sage leaves, finely chopped
- 3 sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped
- 10 cups stale cornbread, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3 to 4 cups chicken stock
- 10 mini apples
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- In a large saute pan add olive oil, onions and celery and saute over to medium heat. Season with salt and cook until the vegetables start to become soft. Add the sausage and cook until the sausage begins to brown. Stir in the garlic and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add sage and rosemary and cook for another minute, then remove from heat.
- In a large bowl mix together the cornbread, cranberries, and the sausage mixture. Add chicken stock and knead with your hands until the bread is very moist, actually wet. Taste to check for seasoning and season with salt, and transfer to an ovenproof dish.
- Bake the stuffing until it is hot all the way through and is crusty on top, about 30 to 35 minutes.
- While stuffing is baking, make your apple bowls. Cut the tops off, just enough to start coring out the centers. When you are done with each apple put into bowl of water with squeeze of one whole lemon.
- When stuffing is done baking, scoop a spoonful into apple bowls and place in baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees until tops of stuffing and apple start to brown and look roasted.
- If that is too much work, stovetop stuffing works just as well. Cook on stove top, then scoop into apples and bake as directed.
To see the entire Friendsgiving event and all the decor and food, you can see that here: Friendsgiving Event with Small Bites, Fun and Friends
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