The Best Turkey Dressing (Stuffing)

This dressing is adapted from "The Silver Palate Cookbook. It's rich and is always a big hit. No other bread is needed on the Thanksgiving table. Cook your turkey about 12-15 minutes per lb. at 325 degrees, basting frequently.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 12-14

Ingredients

• 6  tablespoons butter
• 2 1⁄2 cups onions, finely chopped
• 6  tablespoons butter
• 3  tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1  lb pork sausage
• 3  cups  cornbread, coarsely crumbled
• 3  cups  whole wheat bread, coarsely crumbled
• 3  cups  sourdough bread or 3  cups  French bread, coarsely crumbled
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1  teaspoon dried sage
•  salt, to taste
•  black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
• 1⁄2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1  cup pecans, chopped
• 2  eggs, lightly beaten
•  chicken stock or  turkey broth, to moisten

Directions

1. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large frying pan. Add onions. Cook over medium heat until onions are quite soft and tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer onions and butter to a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Melt another 6 tablespoons butter in the same frying pan. Add apple. Cook over medium heat, until lightly colored but not mushy. Transfer apples and butter to mixing bowl with onions.
2. Crumble sausage into frying pan. Cook over medium heat, until lightly browned. With a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to mixing bowl. Reserve fat. Add remaining ingredients, except eggs and stock, to mixing bowl. Mix well. Add eggs. Mix. Add enough stock to bowl to make a moist, but not runny, mixture. Add fat to stuffing if desired. Stuff a 20-lb. turkey. If cooking dressing separately from turkey, pour fat over dressing in casserole. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, or until nicely browned and cooked through.