Recipe: Sausage-cornbread stuffing

Total Time: About 1 hour, 10 minutes, plus 20 minutes cooling time and 30 minutes to bake extra stuffing as pudding.

Note: The cornbread is best made a day in advance. This recipe makes more stuffing than the average turkey can take, but the extra can be made into a cornbread pudding as indicated below, or just drizzled with a cup of chicken stock and baked.

1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2teaspoon salt

3/4cup buttermilk

1/4cup vegetable oil, plus extra for pan

4 large eggs, divided

1 large onion, finely diced

3 stalks celery with green leaves, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 medium red pepper, cored, seeded and diced (about 1 cup)

1/3 cup chopped fresh sage

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

3 tablespoons minced garlic (about 3 cloves)

3 1/2 cups stemmed, diced shiitake mushrooms ( 1/2 pound)

3 1/2 cups diced andouille sausage or fresh chorizo (1 pound)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup whole milk

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl and toss with a fork to blend. Combine the buttermilk, oil and 2 of the eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly mixed but still lumpy. Oil a 9-inch-square baking dish and heat it in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the batter into the pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until browned and firm. Cool completely before proceeding.

3. Cut the cornbread into 1-inch cubes and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the onion, celery, red pepper, sage and parsley.

4. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until softened, about 2 to 3 minutes, then add the shiitakes. Cook until soft but not browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer the garlic-mushroom mixture to the bowl with the cornbread.

5. Melt the remaining butter in the saute pan and brown the sausage. Add it to the cornbread mixture. Toss until the ingredients are well blended, then season lavishly with salt and pepper to taste. Cool completely.

6. Fill the neck and body cavities of the turkey with the stuffing.

7. Beat the remaining eggs with the milk and mix with the remaining stuffing. Transfer the pudding mixture to a shallow nonstick baking dish and bake at 350 degrees until set, about 30 minutes.

Each serving: 310 calories; 11 grams protein; 16 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 22 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 96 mg. cholesterol; 577 mg. sodium.