Tom Douglas

Slow Cooked Sage Foccacia Stuffing by Adrienne Lasko, Dahlia Sous Chef

Have you ever had a half size oven, four small burners, and NO counter space?  I have.  It never seemed to be an issue until one year, my roommate and I decided to make the entire Thanksgiving dinner ourselves.  The crockpot stuffing recipe idea came about to save on everything: time, oven, burner, and counter space.  I woke up Thanksgiving morning, set the crockpot on an end table in the living room, plugged it in, and set it on low.  Then I prepared the stuffing (which you could do on Wednesday night and then just mix in the morning), dumped it in the pot and let it do its own thing all day long.  Around 4pm, just before our guests started arriving, I put the crockpot insert on the dining room table and hid the base in the closet. The insert is so heavy that the stuffing stayed hot all the way through dinner!

Even though, over the years, I’ve upgraded in the kitchen department, I still continue to use this technique every year.  It’s super light and fluffy, while being moist all the way through.  The recipe is super basic- feel free to be creative and make it your own.  You can add nuts, omit the sausage; the possibilities are endless.

You can pick up our Sage Foccacia Stuffing Cubes with my recipe attached at the Dahlia Bakery ($5.95 per bag and feeds 4 to 6 people.) The foccacia is made by Gwen LeBlanc (our head bread baker) and her crew. It is a “stuffing flavored” foccacia with sage, roasted onions, celery seed, and thyme baked right into the bread. We cube it up, toss it in butter, then dry it out in the oven.  Then we bag it up and attach the recipe.  Stop by the Dahlia Bakery and pick up a bag.  Enjoy and have a great Thanksgiving!  Here’s the recipe:

Slow Cooked Sage Foccacia Stuffing

Serves 4 to 6

(You will need: 1 large crockpot or heavy bottomed 4 quart pot)

12 cups (1 bag) sage foccacia cubes

1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken stock, as needed

1/2 pound butter

1/2 pound sausage (optional)

2 cups finely diced onion

2 cups finely diced celery

8 large sage leaves, chopped

2 sprigs thyme, leaves pulled and chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the sausage (if using) in a pan.  Add the butter, onions, and celery and cook everything together until soft.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add the herbs.  Add 1 1/2 cups of the chicken stock.

If cooking in a crockpot (the best way):

In a large bowl, toss the foccacia cubes with the veggie-sausage-stock mixture. Season with more salt and pepper, if needed, then dump the mixture into the crockpot. Turn on low heat and forget about it!  The stuffing should cook in the crockpot for at least 4 hours, but check the stuffing after about 2 hours.  You may need to add some of the remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock.

If cooking in a heavy bottomed pot, start the whole process in the pot and toss the sage foccacia cubes right into the pot. Cover with the lid, and put the pot in a preheated 300°F oven for around 2 hours.  Check, and continue to cook if necessary.

November 24th, 2009