Ingredients:
Brown the sausage. Continue to cook the sausage by itself until it's dark brown, but not burned. Drain any excess grease. Add the celery, brown for 10 more minutes. The sausage should not darken further when once the celery is added. Add the onions and cook for 4 more minutes.
Add 1 qt water, the salt and sage (few shakes of black pepper if desired. Could add pinches of other spices as well, thyme, cinnamon, a little garlic, nearly whatever). Reduce heat, simmer real low for 40 minutes.
Combine sauce and bread cubes in a large bowl. Mix to wet all the bread cubes. The bread cubes should be "half crispy and half mushy". See below for more info on water. Place in a 9 x 13 baking dish, cover with foil. Bake at 325-350 during the last 25 minutes while you are roasting your turkey. Baking is really only to heat it, you do not want to bake it dry. Mixture can be prepped a day ahead, increase baking time by 10 minutes if straight out of the fridge.
Proper amount of water - It is hard to tell someone the precise amount of water that should be added, you may need to experiment a little over a couple of batches. Your stove, pans, etc. could make a difference in the final product. If anything, the 1 qt water will be a little on the dry side. You can always add small amounts (1/4 cup at a time) of water to the mix to get it to the right consistency before you bake it or you can check half way through the heating and add if it seems dry. You'll have to learn how to determine the right amount of water for yourself. You may make the recipe a couple of times before you get real comfortable with the amount of water required. The finished product should be served real warm and slightly wet, hold it's own shape, but not real mushy or wet. Gravy goes well.
Servings: 8
Time to Prepare: 1 hour
Submitted By: Bill Miller
Original Source: Dead Pat