Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving today. We went to our friend's house and had dinner with him and his family. I made some stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and some gingersnap cookies. The stuffing that I made was a bit different than the same old same old, and I really liked it. I made the recipe from combining elements of several different ones and this is what I came up with:

Black Eyed Pea, Fennel and "Sausage" Cornbread Stuffing
2 Tbs. Canola oil
2 regular or vegetarian sausage patties
1 small onion, chopped
1 c. fennel bulb, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. smoked Spanish paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 c. cornbread, crumbled
1 c. black-eyed peas, cooked (or 1 14.5 oz can, drained and rinsed)
2/3 c. broth
1 egg or egg substitute (I used 1 Tbs. ground flax seed whisked with 3 tbs. water)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the canola oil in an iron skillet over medium heat. Fry the sausage patties until browned and then remove from the skillet. Let cool, and then crumble. Set aside. Add the onion, fennel, carrot, clove and spices in the skillet and saute until vegetables are softened. In a large bowl, add cornbread, vegetable mixture, black eyed peas, broth and egg and toss to combine. Return to the skillet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until browned.


The cornbread that I made was the maple cornbread from the Vegan Lunchbox site. It gives the stuffing a really deep rich flavor:

2/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup plain soymilk

Stir above together. In another bowl whisk together:

1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Mix wet and dry together and pour into a greased 9x9 square pan. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 (or in miniloaf or muffin pans for about 25 minutes), until tester comes out clean.