Pork sausage stuffing

Cut a loaf of artisanal bread into cubes and toast them low and slow until all the moisture has been driven out, making croutons.

Spread the cubes evenly over a couple of rimmed baking sheets and dry in a 200F oven for about one to two hours.

Make impromptu pork sausage: mix a pound of pork with about a tablespoon of chopped fresh sage, one crushed clove of garlic and salt and pepper; this can be done ahead.

Saute the sausage first to get some browning, then saute the onions and celery with herbs.

Combine the cooled, drained sausage with the bread cubes and the sauteed vegetables, adding chopped parsley, chopped fresh sage and picked fresh thyme; toss to cool the vegetables before the eggs go in.

Temper the eggs by slowly adding a little warm stock to them so they do not scramble when they meet the hotter stuffing.

Mix the tempered eggs in with more stock until everything is saturated enough to be picked up in fistfuls and pressed together into a mass.

Grease the pan with schmaltz or chicken fat and mix a little more in.

Bake the stuffing in a casserole in a 400-something degree oven.