I don’t know what the weather is like where you are, but here? It is cold! Ridiculously, outrageously, unbelievably cold! Okay, so I just checked and its sixty-one degrees, but it FEELS a lot colder and that’s what counts. Those thermometers just can’t be trusted.
When it starts to get colder out, I start baking and cooking and preparing myself for the winter by packing on an extra five or thirty pounds. I have to stay safe from the cold! Fat is the best way to do that! I’m sure of it.
I made chili this week. I made (two batches of) cookies. I made vegetable soup. And I’ve been making lots of crockpot chicken tacos, my new most favorite meal in all the land. But, forget all those, I’ve also made my favorite fall dish. Sausage dressing.
Wait! Come back! I know it isn’t Thanksgiving yet and you think dressing is a Thanksgiving dish. Or maybe you think it only goes with a big ol’ turkey or roast chicken. Either way, you are WRONG. So very, very wrong. Sausage dressing is DELICIOUS, no matter what the main course is. In fact, I’v been known to eat the leftover dressing for breakfast. Make it with meat loaf, make it with grilled chicken, make it with crab cakes, just make it! (Okay, don’t really make it with crab cakes. That might not be the best idea.)
Now that I’ve convinced you that sausage dressing isn’t just for Thanksgiving, let’s make a shopping list. You’re going to need a loaf of white bread, sausage, celery, onion, cream of chicken (or cream of mushroom) (or both!) soup, and sage. Mm, yummy!
First things first. Let’s tear up the bread into small bite-sized pieces and stick ‘em in a 9×13 baking dish. I use about 3/4 of a loaf of bread.
I love bread. Carbs are my friend.
Pop your bread in a 400 degree oven while we work on the rest. We just want to toast it for a bit.
Chop up your onion and celery. I used one smallish onion and about 5 stalks of celery. You can use more or less. Whatever. I’m not picky. You shouldn’t be either.
Alright, let’s get busy. Enough of this fooling around. Start browning your sausage in a big skillet. When it’s about half way done dump in your onions and celery. Sniff it. It smells good, doesn’t it?
Alright, your sausage is cooked through, your celery and onions are soft, and your bread is toasty.
Mmm. Toasty.
(It’s a horrible picture. I know. Let’s just acknowledge the fact that sometimes food doesn’t want to be photographed [and also that I don't know what I'm doing here] and move on. Thank you.)
Dump your sausage and veggies into a big bowl and add in your cream of chicken (or mushroom) (or both!) soup. Stir it all up into one big gloppy mess. I used one family size can of cream of chicken, but I always have an extra smaller can on hand for emergencies.
Dump your sausage-soup mixture on top of the bread and mix it all up. You want to be sure to coat every little piece of bread with the soupy goodness. Trust me on this. A piece of dry bread in this recipe would be, well, a tragedy. If you need to, go ahead and open up that smaller back up can of soup and drop a couple spoonfuls in.
Now run the back of your spoon along the top of the mixture to smooth it all out. I like to get it as smooth as I can, but that’s just because I think it’s fun to smooth it out. I suppose it would taste just as good if you were less enthusiastic about the smoothing process. You can take your chances if you like.
Oh, and don’t forget to sprinkle some dried ground sage on top. I probably used about a teaspoon. Use more if you love sage, use less if you don’t.
Cover your dish with foil and bake it for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until the top gets nicely browned.
I know the smell is going to be tempting, but I advise letting this cool for a bit before shoving your entire face into the dish. Third degree burns are painful.
Mm, dinner. And lunch. And breakfast too.
Sausage Dressing
- 3/4 Loaf of white bread
- 1lb breakfast sausage
- Celery
- Small Onion
- Family Size can (26oz) Cream of Chicken (or mushroom) (or both!) soup
- Sage
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Tear bread into bite sized pieces, place in 9×13 dish and put bread in oven to toast.
2. Brown sausage, onions and celery until cooked through. Do not drain.
3. Transfer sausage and vegetables to a large bowl and add soup. Mix well.
4. Remove bread from oven and pour soup mixture on to bread. Mix together well, making sure to get all of the bread coated in the soup mixture.
5. Smooth mixture with the back of a spoon and sprinkle with sage.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes or until browned.
7. Serve with turkey, chicken, or waffles. (Maybe not waffles.) Enjoy!
Sugarplumsmom says:
Sounds so yummy! And might actually be fairly good with waffles… my grandmother used to serve waffles with gravy for dinner on occasion.. but maybe that was just a Pennsylvania Dutch thing..
Sugarplumsmoms last blog post..Plum Shot
September 15th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Gina says:
Looks good – but I can’t forget the crockpot chicken tacos, even though you told me to. I have to know about them!
Ginas last blog post..This Makes Me Very Uncomfortable
September 15th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Kristin says:
Holy yummy Batman! MUST.COOK.THAT.
wait…..what kind of sausage?
Kristins last blog post..Friends: Lost and Found
September 15th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Suzi says:
Oh, YUM! I’m with you on the fall comfort food, too. In fact, I am eating a bowl of chili at this very moment!
September 15th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Christine says:
Yum! and I’m in agreement about the waffles – I think that would sort of be yummy. However, it’s still 96 degrees here, so that’ll have to wait for me.
Christines last blog post..Because Nothing’s More Romantic than Dolphin Puke
September 15th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Heather, Queen of Shake-Shake says:
What is this strange thing called fall you speak of?
I don’t know nothing about no cold weather because, hello?, it’s still in the 90’s.
September 15th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
the planet of janet says:
note to self: read karly AFTER you have eaten lunch. because otherwise, self? you will rush out and eat EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!!!!!
the planet of janets last blog post..Weekly Winners: September 6-13
September 15th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
noble pig says:
You are so right, it is not just for T-day! I love stuffing and this is a great recipe! Thank you Karly!
noble pigs last blog post..High Priced Moo-ver
September 15th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Mom-In-Scrubs says:
Mmmm…
I can just hear Lulu now: Mommmeeee! I don’ LIKE snufting!! It’s YUKKY!!
Oh, well. I loves me some stuffin’.
Mom-In-Scrubss last blog post..ABCs of Me, a meme
September 15th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
that girl says:
do brownies count?
September 15th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Angie says:
Dude, I so want you to come “co” author on my other blog – the one I ignore. Seriously. It totally sucks, sucked even before I started ignoring it, but you could turn it into AWESOMENESSSSSSS.
http://angiesyummies.blogspot.com/
Angies last blog post..Died and Gone To Heaven
September 15th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
baseballmom says:
Uh, it’s 80 here, so no fall food for us yet…even though I’m dying to make some! I wanna hear about the chicken tacos too!
baseballmoms last blog post..Getting there
September 16th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Auds at Barking Mad says:
Are ya tryin to kill me? First with the hot corn dip (OMG, I know you warned me, but I didn’t listen.) and now this?
My next comment will be coming to you live from the Cardiac Care unit at my local hospital! *lol*
Auds at Barking Mads last blog post..Odds and Ends…Giveaways and Other Cool Stuff
September 16th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Don Mills Diva says:
A big looger of drool just landed on my keyboard… thanks a lot!
Don Mills Divas last blog post..A tale of two dresses
September 16th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Kristen says:
Oh my goodness… this looks like comfort food at its finest!
Kristens last blog post..Anticipation
September 16th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
carol says:
It was 79 here today but the casserole recipe still sounds good. Anything made with sausage is yummy.
carols last blog post..Getting From Here to There: A Vision for the Future Part 1
September 16th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Zephra says:
Now I want to know how to make the tacos.
Zephras last blog post..Our trip to see Dad
September 17th, 2008 at 8:38 am
David King says:
It’s alot easier for me just to come over to your house and eat leftovers
David Kings last blog post..Why doesn’t anyone use AIM or ICQ anymore?
September 20th, 2008 at 12:24 am
David King says:
As long as you keep saving me the Burritos with the rice on em I will concede that
September 20th, 2008 at 6:31 am
Alex says:
Your recipe sounds delicious, but I botched my first attempt at it. I replaced the white bread with Hawaiian bread (hate white bread), and used Italian sausage instead of breakfast sausage (haven’t found any I like). The result tastes strange– overly sweet, and with clashing spices– so next time I guess I’ll have to go with plain white bread and try a different sausage.
Alexs last blog post..Switched servers (tangentspace.net is now at a new IP address)
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Leslie says:
I think you and your cooking skills need to come and live with me.
Yum!
October 1st, 2008 at 8:41 am