Thanksgiving's Happy Again

This Thanksgiving is a nerve-wracking one, it being my first attempt at gluten-free foods. I've been sifting through a flood of recipes from my fellow Twitter community (Thanks everyone, keep those posts coming!) and have literally sat for hours seeing which will appeal to my palette more. Thankfully, my husband and I are only in charge of a few side items, which gives me more time to experiment and hopefully find some winners.

I know I'll have some safeties that are already being made. Coming from a Puerto Rican household, we'll have a spanish style rice--arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas). For those who haven't tried, I highly recommend! Every family does it a little differently, but click here for an example. And for my vegetarian/vegan friends, feel free to omit the ham and sausage. We'll also have sweet potatoes, which will be gluten-free friendly.

This leaves me the task of finding a gravy and stuffing that I can bring. For the gravy, I've decided to follow a basic pan-gravy recipe and use arrowroot flour instead of all-purpose. Here's a how-to instructional video. I don't have a vegan-friendly alternative here, but here is a wonderful assortment of recipes that could please the entire family!

For the stuffing, I've decided to adapt/modify Martha Stewart's Spicy Cornbread Stuffing. First, I'm halving it since the original recipe yields about 10 cups. I'll probably still have some leftover with the five cups, but that'll be great for Friday night left reheating! 

I'm also not making it spicy, so instead of the chorizo sausage the original recipe calls for, I'm using a mild Italian sausage. For a vegetarian/vegan option, omit the meat, and use vegetable broth rather than chicken or turkey broth.

To cut out dairy, I'll be using Earth Balance margarine instead of unsalted butter. And last, while I don't mind cilantro, I'll be using flat-leaf parsley as a substitute for this dish.  So, with all that in mind, here's the recipe:

Yields 5 cups:

• 3/8 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 loaf of cornbread (Using Pamela's Products Cornbread and muffin mix)
• 1/2 pound mild italian sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup homemade chicken or turkey stock, or low sodium canned chicken or turkey stock
• 4 tablespoons Earth Balance, melted
• 1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, washed well, dried, and roughly chopped
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions as follows (from Martha Stewart's site)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pine nuts in one layer on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a shallow bowl, and set aside. Cut cornbread into 3/4-inch cubes, and spread evenly on a baking sheet. Bake, shaking pan periodically, until golden brown on edges, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, and set aside.
2. In a food processor, pulse sausage until coarsely chopped; do not overprocess. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add celery and garlic, and cook until celery is soft, about 5 minutes more. Add sausage and pine nuts, and cook for 1 minute more. Add stock, and cook until absorbed, about 2 minutes.
4. Pour sausage mixture over cornbread, and mix well. Add margarine and parsley, and mix to combine.

Since I'm not stuffing my mixture into the turkey as instructed, I will place my stuffing into a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for another 5-10 minutes. This will allow the mixture to mold together a bit more.

And that's it! I hope to have a fabulous g-free stuffing that Martha would be proud of. I'll be taking pictures, and will report back on my experiences by the end of the week, but I wanted to share just in case anyone attempt. Tweet me on your successes.

Good luck to all my **-free eaters out there, and remember to give thanks for the leak-free tummy you'll be feeding!

Happy Thanksgiving,

SensiGirl