Neely's Cornbread Dressing with Apples and Sausages

If its stuffed inside the turkey, its called "stuffing." If its left as a side dish, its called "dressing."

I normally ask my dad to bring the "dressing" to my house for our Thanksgiving dinner. He usually makes the boxed stuffing. But this year, I decided I wanted to make it from scratch. At a potluck from work, one of my staff brought his homemade stuffing which was so good so I asked for the recipe. His recipe had clams and italian seasoning with sourdough bread. But I found this stuffing recipe on the Food Network from the Neely's and also looked so delicious. I decided to try this recipe because I always wanted to try a sausage and cornbread stuffing.

This recipe called for bourbon, which I didn't have. So i substituted with white wine. I also used fresh cornbread, instead of the dry stuffing cornbread. It turned out really well, but everyone was surprised by the sweetness from the cornbread. So next time, I'll try to make it with some kind of sourdough or french bread instead of the cornbread. I just love the flavor of the the other stuff in it.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
• 1 medium onions, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped coarsely
• 1 teaspoon freshly minced thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon freshly chopped sage leaves
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 1/4 pounds cubed and dried cornbread
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 cups turkey or low-sodium chicken stock
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

1)Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2) Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in 12-inch skillet.

Cook sausage for 5 to 7 minutes until browned. Add onions and celery and saute until softened. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Mix in apples, thyme and sage and saute for another 2 minutes. Add wine. Allow to simmer until wine is almost evaporated; 1 to 2 minutes.

3) In a large bowl, add cornbread stuffing, parsley, chicken stock, eggs and pecans. Mix well. Mix in vegetable mixture to bowl. Combine and stir well together. Add to a large greased casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes.