Cornbread Dressing with Sausage and Apples

This may be prepared and frozen as early as eight weeks before Thanksgiving.

For the cornbread:

2 cups yellow cornmeal

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder (not baking soda)

1/2 cup corn oil

2 cups milk

2 eggs

Crisco or any solid vegetable shortening for greasing pan (butter is likely to burn)

Equipment:

2 8- or 9-inch square pans

Eggbeater

Large mixing bowl

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In mixing bowl combine and stir together the first five dry ingredients. In a deeper bowl combine the last three liquid ingredients and beat with an eggbeater until frothy. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir rather desultorily. Don't beat and don't worry about lumps, there are supposed to be a few small lumps.

Liberally grease the two 8- or 9-inch square baking pans. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake until golden brown and a wooden pick or metal skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the cornbread from the oven and let it cool. Turn it out onto a cutting board and cut each square into slices approximately 1/2 inch thick. Lay the slices flat and cut each slice vertically down the middle and then horizontally into 1/2-inch dice. This is an imperfect process, and some of the bread will crumble. That is exactly how it should be.

For the dressing:

3 tablespoons butter or corn oil

2 green bell peppers, seed and cut in chunks

2 medium onions, cut into eights

4 stalks cleaned celery, cut into 2-inch lengths

2 apples, unpeeled but cored and quartered

1 punch parsley, including part of the stems

1 to 1 1/2 pounds crumbled sausage meat (as spicy as you like)

3 tablespoons butter or corn oil

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon ground dried thyme

1 tablespoon ground dried sage

1 teaspoon ground dried oregano

Salt to taste

Butter for greasing baking dish

Equipment:

Food processor (or sharp knife)

12-inch skillet with a lid

large, shallow baking dish

In a food processor fitted with metal "S" blade, combine the bell pepper, onions, celery, apples and parsley. Pulse the processor until everything is nicely chopped but not pulverized, or you can chop these ingredients coarsely with a sharp knife. Reserve the chopped ingredients.

In a 12-inch skillet (make sure it has a lid), saute the sausage in 3 tablespoons oil until browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and discard the oil and put the sausage aside.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in the same 12-inch skillet over medium heat. When it begins to bubble add all the chopped vegetables and apples, toss with the butter, cover, reduce the heat to low, and let the vegetables "sweat" until they are translucent and soft, 20 minutes or less. Check now and then to be sure they aren't browning. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Add the cooled vegetables and apples, the spices, herbs and sausage to the cornbread and mix gently with your hands by lifting and turning gently. Place dressing in the baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees and bake until the top feels slightly dry to the touch and begins to brown a little, 30 to 35 minutes, or even longer if necessary.