Herbed Grain Free Stuffing - Wheat Free & Grain Free

This weekend was a busy weekend. The weather here was ugly today -- not cold (upper 60s) -- but rainy, dark, foggy...just yucky. Both of my sons came for dinner this evening. I just made simple and quick lightly dusted chicken cutlets (w/ almond flour, Parmesan, salt, and pepper) that I quickly browned in a skillet on the stove. We had green beans w/ toasted almond and the guys had noodles with their meal (they are not wheat free). This weekend I have been experimenting with a number of different recipes -- one of which I tested out on my family tonight -- it was an epic fail...LOL. So, don't worry...I definitely won't be posting THAT recipe. It was a "cranberry chipotle chutney" and I thought it might go nice with our simple chicken cutlets (I had planned to make turkey breast cutlets, but couldn't find any). Anyway...I wanted it to be sweet-tart-spicy. Well...the truth is, it was just yucky-yucky-yucky! It tasted good when I was making it (I thought)...but all the berries didn't burst when I cooked them, which is a bad thing. When the berries don't burst (like they do when you are making cranberry sauce)...you get a nicely sweetened/flavored "sauce" from the berries that have ruptured...but when you bite into those softened but intact berries when you are eating....well, it is not a good thing...it is sour enough to send shivers down your spine! Hahaha! So, the topic of conversation at our dinner table was "Mom...this is not good -- what were you thinking"....LOL. Oh well...we all survived!  :-)

Yesterday I posted the recipe for my stuffing bread cubes. Below is the recipe for the herbed sausage apple stuffing that I like to make. I always add celery, onion, apple and herbs -- the sausage and cranberries are added on and off from year to year, and I always want to add mushrooms but don't normally because hubby doesn't like them...which is why making my own grain free stuffing is really nice -- I can add anything I want! ;-) Check out my stuffing recipe below -- the great thing about stuffing is you can put whatever you like in it to make it your own. Enjoy!

Herbed Grain Free Stuffing

Ingredients: 

6 cups of grain free stuffing bread cubes (*click link for recipe)
2 cups turkey or chicken broth (more or less to moisten, depending on preference)
1/2 pound Italian sausage, (or preferred type or flavor of bulk sausage), optional
2 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried)
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup onion, finely diced
1 cup celery, chopped or thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced, optional
1/2 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped, optional
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms, cooked, optional
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Please grain free bread cubes in a large bowl and set aside.  In a medium to large skillet, brown optional bulk sausage well, breaking and crumbling into pieces as it cooks; remove cooked sausage and add to the bowl of bread cubes.  Place butter in a large saucepan or stockpot; add onion and celery and cook for about 4-5 minutes until celery and onion is crisp-tender.  Add chopped apple and cranberries (if using) to the celery and onion mixture and cook a few more minutes just to soften slightly.  Add herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley), the bowl of bread cubes with optional cooked sausage and mushrooms to the pot; stir until mixed.  Pour broth over the stuffing mixture and toss lightly (add enough to moisten, but do not over saturate).  Spoon mixture into a well greased 9 x 13 baking dish or casserole dish; cover and bake at 350 degrees F for about 35-40 minutes.  If desired, uncover and bake an additional 10-15 minutes to give it a drier "crusty topping" or until stuffing is the desired moistness and consistency (you can add additional broth, if needed while it is cooking).  

*Note -  The fresh cranberries are tart and not sweet like adding dried sweetened "Craisin" type cranberries.  If you want to add a bit of sweetness, you can add a sweeter type of apple other than Granny Smith.