what type of sausage is best for a conrbread stuffing?

[blackbookali]

bulk? andouille? Chorizo?

[CocoaNut]

If you're in TX and in one of the areas which has Market Street, they make chicken with garlic and bell red pepper link sausage. I used it last night for the first time. Pan browned, then steamed to cook, then sliced in thin rounds and tucked into the surface area of a pan of unbaked cornbread/herb dressing (using a half bag white bread, seasoned, bagged dressing - you know the one). Baked for about 40 minutes. MAN, is that good dressing!

(since I'm going out for T'giving dinner, I had to make my "leftovers" last night!).

[toodie jane]

Gotta be Sweet Italian--or use some lean fresh ground pork, add poultry seasoning and some plump fennel seeds, toasted. Heaven with a cornbread stuffing.

Jimmy Dean???? That stuff is so salty, you could use it to preserve lemons.

Might as well just use some Slim Jims.

[hill food]

oooh there's a topic for debate: sausage cured lemons...or maybe lemon cured sausage?

[Clarkafella]

When making it tonight, I used about a pound of andouille (from a place in LaPlace, LA- really good), and about a pound of Jimmy Dean Hot. I was really surprised at the lack of grease in the Jimmy Dean- when I added the andouille, which I knew would have a very low fat content, everything was sticking to the bottom of the pan! I finally added a little vegetable oil, then the celery and onions, and all was right in the world...

[ipsedixit]

Taiwanese sausage.

[Zeldog]

Use a sausage you like to eat as a sausage. One thing to keep in mind is a hot-smoked sausage like andouille or spanish chorizo will have rendered some fat during smoking, so less will be rendered when you make the stuffing. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your taste. And be aware that just about any andouille you find in a supermarket will not have been smoked and supermarket Mexican chorizo is not a substitute for Spanish chorizo and is just a foul concoction not fit to eat.

[Veggo]

Some Mexican chorizo is good, some isn't. But don't dismiss it all.

[hill food]

it's not a substitute, but mostly because it's fundamentally different, as a grocer in South Phoenix once explained: " be sure to cook it through" and while it IS a different flavor it's still good. not sure if something I'd want to put in cornbread stuffing (we were doing tamales that Thanksgiving).

[c oliver]

I don't buy supermarket Mexican chorizo but freshly made at Latino markets and it's fantastic. No, it's not Spanish; it's Mexican. I stuff Anaheims with a (Mexican) chorizo, spinach, cheese, etc. and it's a favorite dish.

[sedimental]

It is certainly a matter of taste and (sometimes) nostalgia. I use a mix of sausage, typically JD breakfast pork and Isernio chicken. It is what my family has always done. We love it.

[mtomto]

A good basic pork sausage with sage is really all you need. Getting fancy for fancy sake just isnt necessary. Jimmy Deans (I know, I know) has a solid product I use specifically with Sage featured that works great.

[coll]

I've tried them all, and Jimmy Dean with sage is the one.

[vafarmwife]

Another vote here for Jimmy Dean with sage.

[kattyeyes]

A very enthusiastic third on Jimmy Dean, though I have not tried the sage-specific one. It's perfect for cornbread stuffing!

[biondanonima]

I love either Jimmy Dean or Bob Evans, any flavor. Bonus if you can find the sage kind, if not add extra sage to your seasoning!

[kattyeyes]

Good call--either of those guys (Jimmy or Bob) will do yer stuffing right!

[Veggo]

Jim-Bob sausage, funny. If a Bubba could jump into the fray, they could corner the market...

[LauraGrace]

I'm reasonably confident that there's a Bubba's brand of sausage. It's definitely ringing a bell. (Full Disclosure: I live in Kentucky) ;)

[coll]

There's Bubba burgers, it's probably a meat house.

[c oliver]

I'm sorry but I can't disagree with you more. Please see my post/thread about JD and the like:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/731000

I think it's all but flavorless and the texture is is even worse. This is a product that you can make easily with just having your butcher grind a little pork for you and you add what seasonsings you wish. I'd use nothing before I'd use JD or the like. BTW, as I said in my post, I'm sure he was a terrific guy and I bet him family hate what's happened to the product also.

[biondanonima]

I make my own sausage all the time but I can still appreciate a good slice of Jimmy Dean now and again. I prefer Bob Evans, though. Either way, they do have a different texture and flavor from what I make myself, but that doesn't make it bad, just different. Chacun a son gout, I suppose.

[biondanonima]

Bob Evans is harder to find - I can't get it around here (NYC) and I usually stock up when I visit my parents in MI at Christmas (as long as it's cold enough to keep it frozen in the trunk!). I read your thread regarding Jimmy Dean and I agree that it is a little "watery," so I paid close attention while frying up my Bob Evans today. Nothing watery about it, and very little grease either. The texture is a bit coarser than Jimmy Dean but still more emulsified than what I make at home. If you ever see it, give it a try - you may find you like it better. I still love my own recipe but the convenience factor is hard to beat!

[BabsW]

You've inspired me to try making my own sausage the next time I make my stuffing. I am dying to make a turkey in between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year just so I can get control over the whole process (I am a bit of a kitchen control freak).

I'm at my moms' now and we have to do things her way ( lol ) so maybe next week I'll get a fresh turkey and brine it and then follow your guidelines for making fresh sausage to use in the stuffing.

[c oliver]

Excellent! Please report back.

[BabsW]

I will!

[hill food]

my sympathies.

[BabsW]

It wasn't so bad, really. ;-)

[deet13]

IMO, it depends on how you're planning to cook the turkey.

I like to take a 1/2 pound of chopped up chorizo or a spicy Italian style bulk sausage, and mix it with 1lb of regular bulk sausage for the cornbread stuffing mix.

Also, I like to add a couple of chopped up red apples to the mix, just to counter the spiciness of the chorizo or Italian sausages.

I did one with Boerwoers sausage, but it was pretty Meh...

[todao]

IMO, bulk lean pork sausage. But I don't like Chorizo or Andouille; too spicey.

[hill food]

I like spicy, but I too would head towards a bulk pork, it's not the point of the dish and it's easier to work..