Unstuffed Stuffing - Adrian Abel Azevedo (Can be made vegan*)

Steps

1. Open your box of Stuffing Mix. [Mrs. Cubbinson's Traditional or Cornbread box are my go-to, but this year, I'm going to use Mrs. Cubbinson's Artisan Bread Stuffing made from focaccia] and dump into a large mixing bowl.
2. Chop your celery stalks and granny smith apples into bite size pieces. Put half of the celery and apples into the mixing bowl with the stuffing mix. Only half! Leave the other half to the side.
3. Measure out 3/4 of a cup of raisins and start to snack on them.
4. In seperate pans & on a medium-high flame, brown (cook) all of your ground round and pork sausage. (Grams calls it ground round, she means ground beef. Ground round is something specific, but she means ground beef). Season the ground round with a little garlic salt and cumin, to taste.  Season the pork with paprika and rosemary, to taste. (My favorite is Jimmy Dean's Sage Pork Sausage.)  Once all the meat is browned place in large mixing bowl
5. In one of the pans you just used, place it back on the heat and sauté the apples and celery you left behind on a medium flame for about 3-4 minutes just to soften them up. (I asked why she does this, her answer was "...to vary textures") Toss soften apples/celery into large mixing bowl.
6. Open your can of olives and mixed veggies and place into the large mixing bowl. (Secret: I only use about 1/2 of the can. I'm not a huge fan of canned mixed veggies, BUT I'd be struck down by lightning if i left them out completely)
7. Now that everything is opened, chopped, browned, or sautéd, dump the remaining raisins into the bowl!
8. Add your 3/4 cup of vegetable broth. And add your 1/4 cup of milk into the large mixing bowl. (I asked "Why Milk?" Her response, "...because I said so." And now, begin combing what may look like the food pyramid in your large mixing bowl.
9. Once everything is evenly mixed, sprinkle 1/4 cup of brown sugar and a teaspoon of cayenne pepper across the top of the bowl.  Or drizzle chili oil across the top of the brown sugar. If too spicy, use pepper. If you have a pepper grinder, give it about good 5 cranks over the bowl, otherwise, a teaspoon of black pepper will do. Now cover it and let it rest, at least, 30mins in a cool spot.
10. When ready to cook, place your stuffing into a large oven safe baking dish. Strategically place a few uncooked chopped apples/celery towards the top of the stuffing.
11. Once your turkey/meat of choice is done, pop your stuffing directly into the oven. I usually cook my bird around 375-385. While your turkey/bird is resting on your kitchen counter, bake your stuffing for 30-35minutes. When your uncooked celery or apples are hot but still have little crunch to them, the stuffing is ready.
12. Transfer your stuffing into your serving tray of choice and serve immediately, now that the turkey is done resting.  Pour some wine, you did it!
13. HOW TO MAKE VEGAN: 1. Swap out any meat for alternative meat products. 2. Mrs. Cubbison’s stuffing mix packages are not certified vegan, but the ingredient lists do not show any animal-derived ingredients. 3. Use non-dairy cow milk, i'm using Oat Milk myself, but all unsweetened/unflavored alternative milk will do.