Corn Bread and Ham Stuffing with Caramelized Apples and Fennel +Mushroom Turnovers

I pooped out last night and didn’t get my mushroom turnovers done.  So I had to do double duty today.  The first thing I did was make the mushroom stuffing as it had to cool to room temperature before stuffing the pastry.  Next I made the stuffing up to the final cooking, which I will do on Thursday.  Both of these recipes are from the William Sonoma Thanksgiving. 

Ingredients for Stuffing:

2 T butter

2 T EVOO

12 oz. ham, cut into ¼” dice

1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored and diced

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced (I did not peel, the peel is good for you)

1 large leek, white and light green portions, thinly sliced

½ t kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 packet corn bread stuffing (Williams-Sonoma)

½ C thinly sliced green onions, white and green portions

4-4 ½ C chicken or turkey stock, warmed

Directions:

1.       When ready to bake heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2.       In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil.  Add the ham and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 6-8 minutes.  Transfer the ham to a very large bowl. 

3.       Add the fennel, apples and leek to the pan and cook, without stirring for 2 minutes.  Add the 2T butter, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fennel mixture is golden, 4-6 minutes. 

4.       Transfer to the bowl with the ham. 

5.       Add the stuffing and green onion and stir until well combined.

6.       Stir in the stock ½ C at a time, making sure it is completely absorbed into the croutons and does not pool in the bottom of the bowl.  I have about 3 C of stock in the stuffing now.  It is covered and in the refrigerator.  I will put another cup in before cooking on Thursday. 

7.       Transfer to a buttered 13”x9” baking pan. 

8.       To bake, cover the pan with aluminum foil.  Bake covered for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue baking until the top is golden brown and crisp, about 25 more minutes. 

9.       Let rest for 10 minutes.

This serves 10 to 12.  Double the people coming, this means that all 6 of us can have leftovers the next day. 

Ingredients for the Mushroom Turnover Appetizer:

2 T unsalted butter

2 T EVOO

3 T finely chopped shallot

12 oz. cremini mushrooms, finely chopped

1 ½ t chopped fresh thyme

1 ½ t finely chopped rosemary

½ C heavy cream

1 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated

1 batch double-crust pie dough (made earlier)

1 egg lightly beaten with 1 T water

Directions:

1.       In a sauté pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the oil. 

2.       Add the shallot and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 40 seconds. 

3.       Add the mushrooms, thyme and rosemary, and season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are tender 6-7 minutes. 

4.       Add the cream and simmer for about 15 seconds, then remove from the heat and fold in the cheese. 

5.       Let the filling cool to room temperature.

6.       Roll out the dough one disc at a time to about 1/8” thick.  You will be making 24 of these pastries, so 12 per disc.  Don’t worry about re-rolling.  WS sells a bunch of different products to make these pockets.  I have different size discs that range from the size I use for pot stickers to calzone size.  I used the smallest one to make little half-moon sized container for about 1T of the filling. 

7.       Deviating from the recipe, the little stuffed pockets are on a parchment tray in the freezer.  When totally frozen I will transfer to plastic bags for storage. 

8.       When you bake, brush the pastry with an egg wash and bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. 

I plan to only cook 10 of these on Thursday as I have nuts, olives, cheeses, and onion dip.  Way too many appetizers, but way too much is what Thanksgiving is all about.  Jim is getting salad with tuna for dinner tonight.  After dinner I am going to do the heated part of the brine.  It can cool naturally overnight and I will finish it tomorrow.