Ciabatta and Sausage Dressing

As much as I love turkey around the holidays, it’s the dressing and gravy that I love the most. Dressing (specially this ciabatta and sausage dressing) has so many different flavors and textures and colors. Turkey? Meh… not so much. Not that the turkey is a bad thing, it’s just that I much prefer a plate with a lot of dressing and just a bit of turkey.

Ciabatta and Sausage Dressing

Sausage Dressing Equals Greatness

I had never had a dressing that contained sausage until this one. I was blown away by just how much flavor the sage sausage adds. The ciabatta adds such wonderful texture and flavor too. There’s no question, this baked ciabatta and sausage dressing is just fantastic.

Also try my more traditional Thanksgiving Day dressing.

This recipe is based on a recipe from Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bistro.

Ciabatta and Sausage Dressing
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5 from 1 vote

Ciabatta and Sausage Stuffing

As much as I love turkey around the holidays, it’s the dressing and gravy that I love the most. Dressing (specially this ciabatta and sausage dressing) has so many different flavors and textures and colors. 
Course Side
Cuisine American
Keyword stuffing
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 9
Calories 220kcal

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
  • 1 pound breakfast sausage
  • 1 medium carrot diced
  • 1 small yellow onion diced
  • 1 stalk celery diced
  • 2 cups turkey stock chicken stock can be substituted
  • cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons parsley chopped, plus more for garnish
  • 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
  • 2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
  • 1 12 ounce ciabatta bread cut into 1" pieces
  • kosher salt to taste
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 F.
  • Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Crumble in the sausage and cook until browned. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
  • Add remaining butter to the skillet and melt.
  • Add the carrot, onion and celery and saute until starting to soften.
  • Place the sausage, cooked vegetables, stock, oil, parsley, rosemary sage and bread into a large bowl and stir.
  • Season with salt and pepper.
  • Pour mixture into a 9″ x 13″ baking dish and spread out evenly.
  • Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and hot.
  • Serve garnished with more parsley if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 220kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 484mg | Potassium: 233mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1405IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Turkey and Stuffing Egg Rolls

When I came across this idea for making egg rolls packed with turkey and stuffing there was no way that I was going to wait until I had Thanksgiving leftovers to make them. I had to make them immediately. So I did. Cranberry sauce and gravy made for the perfect dipping sauces. Every bite tasted like the best Thanksgiving ever. Absolutely fantastic.

Turkey and Stuffing Egg Rolls

Terribly Addicting

I loved the crunchy egg roll contrasting with the sage stuffing and tender turkey. The cranberry sauce is a little thinner than your usual Thanksgiving version so that it’s easier to dip into. You might want to thin your gravy with a bit of milk or broth too if it’s too thick for successful dipping!

If I’m cooking for a crowd, I’ll break out my big deep fryer. But, if it’s just the two of us, I’ll fire up my Fry Daddy fryer. It’s the perfect size for both of us. It fries everything perfectly. And as an added bonus, it doesn’t use a lot of oil, which saves me money.

I get out my big deep fryer when it’s time to fry a large batch of food. It comes to temperature quickly and it maintains that temperature perfectly. It has a built-in oil filter and storage unit so I can re-use the oil several times.

Also try my chicken or pork egg rolls.

Turkey and Stuffing Egg Rolls
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5 from 1 vote

Turkey and Stuffing Egg Rolls

When I came across this idea for making egg rolls packed with turkey and stuffing there was no way that I was going to wait until I had Thanksgiving leftovers to make them. 
Course Appetizer or Main
Cuisine American
Keyword egg rolls, stuffing, Thanksgiving, turkey
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 12 rolls
Calories 154kcal
Author Mike

Ingredients

For the egg rolls

  • 1 pound turkey breast cooked, cut into small cubes
  • 1 package Stove Top stuffing prepared (or two cups)
  • 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon warm water
  • 12 egg roll wrappers
  • oil for frying
  • gravy warmed, for dipping (I used our Cajun gravy)
  • Cranberry dipping sauce for dipping (see below)

For the cranberry dipping sauce

Instructions

For the egg rolls

  • Heat a few inches of oil to 375 F in a deep fryer or Dutch oven.
  • Combine the turkey and dressing in a bowl.
  • Working in batches. brush egg and water around edges of the egg roll wrappers.
  • Add 2 tablespoons of turkey in the center of the wrappers.Roll up tightly and fold in the edges. Brush on more egg to help seal the rolls.
  • Fry the egg rolls for 1-2 minutes, rotating as they cook, until golden brown. Remove to a pap towel-lined plate to drain and cool.

For the cranberry dipping sauce

  • Place cranberry sauce in a medium saute pan over medium heat.
  • Stir until melted.
  • Add the sugar and zest and stir.
  • Add water as needed to reach the desired consistency.

Nutrition

Calories: 154kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 168mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

Holiday Make-Ahead Gravy

I like to make as much of our Thanksgiving meal ahead of time as I can. And I like to have a lot of gravy for my turkey, dressing, and mashed potatoes. And I like to save some for sopping with rolls, too.

This holiday make-ahead gravy came out fantastic. I ‘fry’ my turkey in my Char-Broil The Big Easy TRU-Infrared Oil-less Turkey Fryer. I don’t usually get a lot of drippings to make a lot of gravy. This recipe saves the day.

Holiday Make-Ahead Gravy

This Gravy Is More Than Worth The Effort

Note that this recipe for holiday make-ahead gravy consists of two parts. In the first, you’ll make 8 or so cups of turkey stock using roasted turkey wings (you can also use smoked turkey wings). You can skip this step if you can find turkey stock in the store. The second step uses SOME of the stock to make the gravy. You’ll have leftover stock unless you double or even triple the gravy ingredients (which will make a HUGE batch of gravy!).

Oh, and if you have cats or dogs, they’ll love the turkey meat that is left from making the stock. If you need an easy chicken gravy recipe instead, use my favorite.

Don’t use this gravy on good ole turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes. It’s great as a dip for turkey and stuffing egg rolls too.

Holiday Make-Ahead Gravy
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5 from 1 vote

Thanksgiving Make-Ahead Gravy

Fantastic flavor, perfect for that Thanksgiving turkey.
Course Sauce
Cuisine American
Keyword gravy
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 hours
Total Time 12 hours 10 minutes
Servings 16
Calories 144kcal

Ingredients

For the stock

For the gravy

  • 2-3 cups turkey stock, from above you’ll get about 8 cups of stock, so triple the gravy recipe if you want to use it all for gravy
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup whole milk more or less

Instructions

For the turkey stock

  • Preheat oven to 375 F.
  • Place the wings, celery, onion and garlic in a roasting pan. Place in oven and roast for 2 hours.
  • Place roasting pan on a burner on the stove (if you don’t have room, you can transfer the contents to a large stockpot).
  • Add 8 cups of water, the peppercorns and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.
  • Remove turkey and vegetables. Strain the resulting stock into a large resealable container.
  • Refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Skim off any fat.

For the gravy

  • Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
  • Whisk in the flour. Cook, whisking constantly, until golden in color.
  • Slowly pour in 2-3 cups of the stock, a little at a time, whisking constantly.
  • Add in the vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
  • Whisk in some of the milk. Taste and add more if you wish, but don’t make the gravy too thin. Let simmer until the desired thickness is achieved. Add more milk if it gets too thick.

Nutrition

Calories: 144kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 36mg | Potassium: 165mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 197IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional values are approximate.