Thanksgiving Sides

We've hosted Thanksgiving Dinner at our house the last few years. It's been a lot of fun having everyone over and since both mom's have had to cook Thanksgiving year after year, it's a "Thanks for all those years" type gesture.

But secretly the reason I like to have it at our house is because it's my chance to "guinea pig" our families with new recipes I want to try out. Over dinner we discuss if each dish is worth a repeat or just have a one time showing (ha ha). My father-in-law has told me on several occasions that he does not like stuffing but a few years ago I tried this stuffing recipe from Paula Deen and to everyone's surprise, he liked it. Well, it's been showing up at the Thanksgiving table ever since.

Ingredients
2 loaves oven-dried white bread
2 cups cooked white rice
1 sleeve crushed saltines
1 pound bulk breakfast sausage
2 cups chopped celery
1 large onion, chopped
7 cups chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 stick butter, melted
Mushroom Giblet Gravy, recipe follows

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Crumble oven-dried bread into a large bowl. Add rice and saltines.
3. Cook sausage in a large skillet until it starts to brown. Add celery and onion and saute until transparent, 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Pour over bread and rice mixture. Add stock and mix well.
5. Add salt, pepper, sage, and poultry seasoning. Mix well.
6. Add the beaten eggs and melted butter. Mix well.
7. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the stuffing mixture for the Mushroom Giblet Gravy.
8. Pour stuffing into a greased pan and bake until cooked through and golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Ingredients
4 cups turkey or chicken stock
Giblets from 1 turkey
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 tablespoons reserved stuffing mixture
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup cold water
2 pints button mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons butter
1 hard boiled egg, sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Bring stock and giblets to a boil.
2. Add bouillon and reserved stuffing mixture.
3. Make a slurry by whisking together the cornstarch and water and add to the boiling stock; cook 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, saute mushrooms until browned in butter.
5. Add mushrooms to gravy with egg and salt and pepper, to taste.