Apple Cranberry Sauce

Along wiht my turkey dinner I decided to make cranberry sauce.  I as plesently surprised with how easy it was to make and how good it tasted.  I will be going back to the grocery store this week to buy more cranberries while they are still in season so that I can freeze them and make more sauce as desired. 

Ingredients:
12 oz whole cranberries
1 small apple, peeled and diced
1 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
juice of 1 lemon

Directions:
Bring the cranberries, water, apple, sugar and lemon juice to a boil. Reduce heat then simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally.  Remove from the heat and serve warm or cold.

The world's best dressing

Hi,  I have been away for awhile I kind of got overwhelmed at Christmas with all the baking and the cooking but after a short break I am back and I am glad to say that I did it!! I completed 365 days of no repeat meals! Hooray for me!  Actually I have yet to repeat a meal this year as well which means that I have not repeated a meal since January 1 2010.  I had to blog about this meal.  I made a full turkey dinner for supper last night and this is the best dressing I have ever tasted.  I was a bit skeptical because the last one I made did not turn out and I wondered if having grown up with stuffing if I could ever truly appreciated dressing.  I am glad to say that this one was awesome (and I am glad because it was a lot of work).  I will definitely be making this again. 

Roasted Chestnut and Sausage Dressing

Ingredients

• 1 medium carrot, peeled and rough chopped
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• 1/2 bunch fresh sage
• 1 1/2 pounds loose sweet Italian sausage
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 5 cups cubed sourdough bread, crusts removed
• 1 pound roasted chestnuts
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 large egg

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and butter a 9 by 11-inch baking dish.
In a food processor puree the carrot, onion, celery and sage until you have a fine pulp. Set a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the sausage in a little olive oil. Once you have a nice brown color and the fat has rendered - about 5 minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the vegetable pulp to the pan and saute until most of the moisture has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper. Add to the mixing bowl with the sausage and also add the bread crumbs and chestnuts.
Mix together chicken stock, cream and egg. Pour this wet mixture over the dressing mix. Season and fold everything together. Pour out into the roasting dish and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown on the top (if it gets too brown before the 30 minutes is up, tent with foil).