Wild Rice Stuffing with Sausage...Gluten-free Thanksgiving Delight!

Hi all! First of all, please know I am thankful for all of YOU!

I thought I'd share the recipe I'll be serving on our Thanksgiving table, as I have often been asked for a bread-free, gluten-free, real food stuffing for Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy it!

Wild Rice Stuffing with Sausage!

serves 4-6

2 cups chicken or turkey stock

1 cup wild rice or wild rice blend (Lundberg's is a good choice!)

¾ tsp sea salt

1-1.5 pounds bulk sage breakfast sausage (can also use a combination of sweet and hot Italian sausages either bulk or link with the casings removed)

1 large onion, chopped medium

6 stalks celery, chopped fine

1 1/4 sticks butter, divided

3 medium Granny Smith or other tart apples, peeled, cored, small dice

3/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries, unsweetened

1/2 cup packed fresh sage leaves, chopped first or 1.5 T dried sage

1/2 cup chicken stock

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

• Bring stock to a boil and skim any scum. Add wild rice or wild rice blend and salt, and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to low and cook covered until rice is tender and has split open, about an hour. Drain well in a colander and set aside in a medium bowl. (You may retain the stock from the colander to use later.) Note: if you use a wild rice blend, you will not have any stock to drain!
• Sauté sausage in very large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, breaking into pieces with spoon, about 15 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to large bowl; add wild rice.
• Add onions and celery to same skillet and sauté in the sausage fat until golden brown, about 10 minutes; remove and add to sausage and wild rice mixture.
• Melt 1/4 cup butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples and sauté until tender, about 8 minutes; mix apples into wild rice mixture.
• Melt 1/4 cup butter in same skillet. Add sage and sauté until dark green, about 2 minutes. Mix sage and butter into wild rice mixture. (Alternatively, melt the butter and pour into wild rice mixture, adding ground sage and stirring well.) Season with salt and pepper.
• Add raisins or dried cranberries to wild rice mixture.
• Butter 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Spoon wild rice mixture into prepared dish; drizzle with 1/2 cup chicken stock. Cover with foil. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake stuffing covered until heated through, about 1 hour. Uncover and bake until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Now you have stuffing!

Note: You may also stuff the turkey with this mixture. Just place any that does not fit into the cavity in a buttered glass baking dish and bake as above. Stuffing the turkey will increase the amount of time you will need to bake the turkey.

Note: If you are looking for butter substitutes because of allergies, you may consider: ghee (no lactose or casein) lard, or refined coconut oil (which will not have any coconut flavor) or a mixture of them