I was in middle school when I tasted stuffing for the first time. I grew up in France, unaware of the possibilities of marrying bread with stock and vegetables. But as soon as I sank my fork in my first mound of stuffing, I was sold. Since that day, I've had stuffings with scallops, and others with water chestnuts. I've also had many made with sausage, which are delicious. But until recently, I'd never had a stuffing made with bacon.
As I'm equally passionate about bacon as I am about stuffing, I set out to rectify this missed coupling. It seemed to me that the rich saltiness of bacon would be a perfect complement to the comforting sweetness of a stuffing base. With some dried cranberries and diced apples mixed in, the stuffing was truly memorable, salty, sweet and delicious.
I make roast chicken about once a week, and love to serve it with this stuffing on the side. Why limit something so good to just a few times a year?
One box goes quickly. To take the picture above, I had to scrape the bottom of the covered dish for scraps and beat my husband back with a wooden spoon to keep him from eating it.
Bacon, Apple and Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing
Ingredients:
1 package of Stove Top Cornbread Stuffing
4 strips of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 apples, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 cup of dried cranberries
- Prepare the stuffing according to package directions.
- In a large frying pan, cook the bacon over medium heat. When the bacon is lightly browned, add the apples and cranberries. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes, until the apples begin to soften, and add 3/4 cups of chicken stock. Scrape up the bottom to get all the browned bacon bits.
- Pour the bacon, stock, and fruit into the cooked and fluffed stuffing. Mix well together.
- Place the mixture in an oven proof dish with a cover. Cover and cook at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
- Enjoy immediately on turkey or chicken.
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