Stuffing (: Lindsey-made: Get your grub on already.

Ingredients

6 corn muffins or an 8 1/2-ounce corn-bread mix, prepared and crumbled (5 cups)

2 chorizo ahumado (smoked), casings removed (remove all together for vegan preference)

2 jalapenos, minced (with seeds)

2 TBSP earth balance (or butter or olive oil) –not needed for ahead of time recipe

1/2 loaf of bread, cubed (dried-out/day-old)

Note: if you aren’t working with somewhat dried-out/day-old bread, put the cubes in a hot oven for 10 minutes to dry them out first –so they can soak up all the moisture/goodness from the recipe and not end up as just mushiness.

1 yellow onion, diced

2 granny smith apples, diced

6 ribs of celery, sliced

1 16-ounce box/can vegetable broth

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup dates, pitted and chopped

2 TBSP fresh chives, chopped

1/4 cup fresh sage, chopped or 1 heaping tablespoon dried sage

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground ginger

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. *If homemaking cornbread, first preheat oven and prepare one box of corn-bread mix (Jiffy or Martha White’s where you just add water) according to the label directions.  Leave oven hot.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, cook chorizo and jalapenos, breaking up the meat and cooking through. At the same time, heat another large skillet on medium heat.  Melt earth balance (or butter or heat oil) in the pan, add the bread cubes, and stir to coat the bread pieces with the melted butter and let them toast (only turn them when they become browned). 
3. Remove the chorizo and add onion and celery and sauté in leftover fat until soft, about 3 minutes. Add sage, cranberries, dates, apples and pepper; stir to coat. Cook until herbs are fragrant, about 1 minute.
4.  Transfer onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add the toasted bread, corn bread, chorizo, jalapeños, chives and broth (1 cup at a time); toss to combine. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish and cover with foil; bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is golden brown, about 15 minutes more.

 -or- easy, day-before preparation:

1. Slice bread into half-inch cubes and crumble corn muffins. In large bowl, mix the cubes and crumbles with diced apples, dried cranberries, chopped dates, sliced celery and diced onion.  Sprinkle over mixture the cinnamon, cloves and ginger.
2. In medium-size skillet over medium heat, sauté chorizos and diced jalapeños until the meat is cooked through, breaking with a fork as they cook. Add chorizo, jalapeño and fat to bread mix, along with minced sage leaves. (If cooking in advance, cover and refrigerate overnight.)
3. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Moisten bread and chorizo mixture with vegetable stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4.  Transfer to greased 9-inch-by-12-inch shallow casserole. Cover with foil and bake on middle level of oven for 30 minutes. Uncover, and cook for another 15 minutes, until stuffing puffs up and begins to turn golden brown on top.