Cornbread Stuffing With Sausage and Apples

This is the Thanksgiving stuffing that most of my family prefers. I got it from Food TV. It's a recipe from Cock N' Bull Restaurant, Peddler's Village, Lahaska, Pennsylvania. The first time I made it, my kid's asked.." you're putting apples in the stuffing?..Yuck" But they gobbled it down.. they never used to even like stuffing at all before this one. Then every year since then, they beg for "the stuffing with the apples in it" This year, I'm making two kinds of stuffing. Bev has a near duplicate of my Grandmas stuffing, #44692 which I love so much. So I'm making both this year. I'm posting this so it is easy for me to find closer to Bird Day! It's moist and tasty. I usually make it in my slow cooker, but it's meant for stuffing a bird.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 2 chickens

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 lb bulk pork sausage (I use sage sausage)
• 1  cup  small diced onion
• 1  cup  small diced celery
• 2  tablespoons butter
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh sage
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh rosemary
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh thyme
• 3  cups  crumbled  cornbread
• 3  cups  cubed  stale bread
• 1  cup  chicken stock
• 2  large  peeled cored diced apples
• 2  tablespoons  chopped parsley
• 1  tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1  cup  chopped red bell pepper

Directions

1. Sauté sausage until browned.
2. Remove from pan and place in a large mixing bowl.
3. Sauté onions and celery in butter.
4. Add sage, rosemary and thyme.
5. When mixture is softened, about 3 minutes, put into bowl with sausage.
6. Add the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl.
7. If mixture is too dry, add more stock.
8. Stuff into bird, bake along side during last 45 minutes of cooking, or cook in a crockpot on low for up to 3 hrs taking care to stir once in a while and adding more stock or water if it gets dry.