Cornbread Stuffing (Adapted from Tyler Florence)

Ingredients
3-4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 medium/ large onion, chopped
1 bunch of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic (or an entire head, if you're like me and love garlic)
1 1/2 pounds loose sweet Italian sausage (turkey sausage works but I like pork better)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 cups cubed cornbread (make your cornbread the day before and let it sit out all day and night. The more stale, the better)
1 cup craisins
1 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock (you may want to put more in if you like yours more moist)
1 large egg
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and butter a 9 by 11-inch baking dish.

Set a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the sausage in a little olive oil. Once you have a nice brown color and the fat has rendered - about 5 minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the vegetables, onion and garlic to the pan and saute until most of the moisture has evaporated (I like to keep my vegetables crisp tender because it adds such a nice texture). Season with salt and pepper (and then season again with more salt and more pepper). Add to the mixing bowl with the sausage and also add the bread and craisins.

Mix together chicken stock and egg. Pour this wet mixture over the dressing mix. Season and fold everything together. Pour out into the roasting dish and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown on the top (if it gets too brown before the 30 minutes is up, tent with foil). I like a nice crunchy crust up top so let it cook for as long as it needs to for you to have the kind of crust you like.

P.S. I make a double batch. I don't even like thanksgiving leftovers ever and I raid the fridge for this stuff first thing the very next morning.