INGREDIENTS
1 lb hot sausage
1 lb sage (or regular) sausage
2 cans (4-oz each) water chestnuts, drained and chopped
2 onions, minced (divided)
2-3 cups celery, thinly sliced (with leaves)
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
5 cups chicken stock
1½ cubes butter
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tbsp parsley flakes
2 tsp marjoram flakes
1 tsp ground sage (add an additional ½ tsp sage if not using sage sausage)
¾ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp oregano leaves
16 cups bread, cubed and dried¹
1 cup dried sweetened cranberries
pistachios (or pine nuts, roasted)
pepitas (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Place both sausages in large sauté pan and brown; add water chestnuts.  Place browned sausage mixture in a large mixing bowl and set aside, reserving drippings in sauté pan.

Add 1½ onions and celery to sauté pan with a small pat of butter and cook until onions are translucent. Place celery mixture in a separate bowl and set aside. Add remaining onion, mushrooms, and a pat of butter to sauté pan.  Sauté until mushrooms have release a significant amount of liquid.  Pour liquid into a separate bowl and reserve.  Continue to sauté mushrooms to desired doneness; add to celery mixture.

In a large stock pot, combine liquid from mushrooms plus enough chicken stock to total 5 cups of liquid; add butter.  Stir in Italian Seasoning (or substitute Herbes de Provence), parsley flakes,  marjoram, sage, black pepper, and oregano.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in onion and celery mixture; return to boil.  Remove from heat; immediately add bread crumbs and carefully stir to moisten.  Cover with lid and allow the stuffing to sit for five to ten minutes.

After liquid is absorbed², stir in all remaining ingredients, reserving some of the dried cranberries, pistachios (or pine nuts), and pepitas (optional).  Place stuffing in two 9×13 pans and heat under broiler until the top is slightly browned.  Top with reserved dried cranberry mixture.

Notes:
¹ For best results use baguettes.
² If too moist, prior to stirring in final ingredients, gently spread stuffing on a baking sheet keeping bread as intact as possible. Place in a 350º oven and allow to dry to desired moisture level, stirring occasionally.

(Updated 12/27/2023)

1 lb navy beans
1 cup brown sugar
4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 cup molasses
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1 lg onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 lb thick sliced bacon, cut into pieces and fried

Soak dry beans for 8 hours or overnight; drain. Place beans in saucepan and add water to 1 inch above beans. Heat to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Pour contents of the saucepan into crockpot. Add remaining ingredients and cook on low for 8 hours or until beans are tender. Water can be added during the cooking process, if necessary.

Pressure cooker version: 2 cups dry beans, 32 oz chicken broth, and remaining ingredients (except bacon) in pressure cooker. Cook on bean setting (high pressure) for 40 minutes. Add bacon.