Great Stuffing: the last Thanksgiving post...

I know almost a week has past since that exquisite meal...
I do promise this will be the last post concerning Thanksgiving.

This year we decided to cut down and only do one stuffing, usually we do a cornbread stuffing and a bread stuffing, so we made up this hybrid version.

It was so good, I needed to preserve it here for posterity and next year's meal.
I may not be able to wait that long to make this stuffing again. It would be a nice addition to any roasted chicken dinner.

Laurie & Genna's Best of Both Stuffing

Ingredients

1 8X8 pan of cornbread, cubed and staled
1/2 loaf of sourdough whole wheat bread, cubed and staled
3 cups broth, vegetable or fowl
6 tablespoons melted butter
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 chopped red bell pepper
small onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fennel bulb ( optional)
3/4 cup chopped tart apple, Granny Smith or Pippin
1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms
fresh sage and thyme sprigs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1) Make an 8 X 8 pan of cornbread, cool, cut into cubes and allow to become stale. Or to speed that up heat the cubes in a low ( 225 F) oven for an hour or so.

2) Cube the whole wheat sourdough bread and allow to become stale or add it to the cornbread cubes in the oven.

3) Preheat the oven to 350 F and butter a 13 X 9 inch glass baking dish.

4) In skillet, saute the onions, fennel and fresh herbs in the olive oil until soft.

5) Add the chopped pepper, celery and apple, continue to saute until the whole mixture is soft. Set aside in a large bowl.

6) Saute the mushrooms in the same pan with a little more olive oil until most of the moisture has cooked out of them. Add them to the bowl.

7) Toss the bread cubes into the bowl with all the cooked vegetables, add the broth,melted butter, salt and pepper and toss to combine. Make sure all the bread is moistened, feel free to add more broth if it looks dry.

8) Fill the glass baking dish with stuffing.

9) Cover with foil, bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil cover and bake for another 15 minutes.

Serve with roasted bird or just by itself.