Southern Cornbread Stuffing
1 pan of cornbread ( recipe below)
6 slices white bread, toasted and cut in cubes
1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed
2 cups celery, finely diced
1 large onion, finely diced
1 stick butter
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 Tbs. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. sage (optional)
6 cups chicken or turkey stock
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 eggs, beaten
Cornbread Recipe
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup self rising cornmeal
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tbs. oil
2 eggs, beaten
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all together and pour into an 8"x8" baking dish that has been heated with enough oil in it to cover the bottom well or you can use an iron skillet.
Bake for 30 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, crumble cornbread, add bread cubes and the crushed saltines. Place butter in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion and celery until tender. Pour this mixture over the bread and crackers.
Add seasonings. You will notice that we use mostly poultry seasoning. We actually leave the optional sage out, because the poultry seasoning is a blend of sage, thyme, rosemary, marjoram and black pepper. It's not so overwhelming and 'green' like the sage can be when overused. If your family likes their dressing green with sage, use more sage and less poultry seasoning. However, I am convinced that the over use of sage and the under use of other seasonings is what ruins a lot of good dressing.
Add 6 cups of chicken or turkey broth, the beaten eggs, and the can of cream of chicken soup. The can of soup adds the best flavor to dressing, but I can always envision the comments on this. I am not sure when canned soup got such a bad reputation, but let me say you can leave it out if you think you might die after ingesting it right there at the Thanksgiving dinner table. If you do leave it out, add an extra cup of broth and you might need a smidgen more salt. Lightly mix all of this together. This mixture will be loose, not tight or too thick. If it's too thick, add some more stock to it.
Spray a large baking pan or casserole dish with nonstick baking spray and pour the mixture in. Smooth the top, but don't pack it down in the dish. That makes the dressing too compacted and dry when baked.
This is best when prepared the night before and refrigerated overnight to give the flavors a chance to blend. When you take it out to bake on Thanksgiving day, drizzle about a cup of the warm turkey broth from your just baked turkey over the top of the dressing. This seeps down into the dressing as it bakes and really makes it moist and flavorful.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes.
This makes a really big pan of dressing, so if you are cooking for a smaller family, you can put this in two casserole dishes and freeze one for Christmas or another meal when you might have baked chicken or whatever. If you use two smaller casseroles, bake for about 30-35 minutes.
