Not So Traditional Venison & Cherry Stuffing

Make the most of your prized hunting meat by cooking it into a delicious Thanksgiving Meal. This Venison & Cherry Stuffing will elevate your stuffing game to a new level. In other words, It’s not exactly your Aunt Jackie’s stuffing but you may be asking her to make it next year!

Ingredient List:

- 1.5 lbs. of venison sausage (preferably your own! Or maybe some from your uncle Joe!)

- ½ lbs. of bacon

- 1 large loaf of sourdough bread (Can Substitute with Corn Bread for a more southern take)

- 10 Oz fresh Washington Cherries (can substitute with 8 oz of dried cherries if preferred) pitted and chopped

- 1 QT of wild turkey or venison stock broth

- 5 tbsp of minced garlic

- 1 cup of mushrooms, chopped

- 1 cup of celery, chopped

- 1 large red onion, chopped and diced

- 2 tbsp fresh thyme

- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary

- 2 tbsp fresh thyme

- 2 tbsp fresh sage

- 2 tbsp pink Himalayan salt

- 1 tbsp freshly ground pepper

1. First you will want to cut or rip your bread loaf in 1-inch chunks and dry completely. If you live in a dry climate area you can leave them out for a bit if you are somewhere warmer or want to seed up the process stick them in the over on warm or low for a bit to dry them out.

2. Next take your bacon and cut it up into 1-inch cubes. Then in a skillet, over medium heat, crisp it up and render the fat off. Remove the bacon and set to the side. Be sure to leave the fat in the pan for the next step.

3. Take you venison sausage, if not already chopping into bite site pieces do so. Then add to the bacon fat in medium high heat. Continue to break up the venison sausage while cooking in the bacon fat.

4. Next add the sausage, bacon fat, bacon pieces, bread and all other ingredients in a large bowl and toss thoroughly. Once all ingredients have been evenly mixed place them all into a 9 x 12 baking dish. Cover with top with a lid or foil and bake at 450 degrees for 40 minutes.

For the last ten minutes increase the oven to 400 degrees, remove the foil or lid, and bake for another 10 minutes or until crisp at