Cornbread Stuffing...

...or dressing as it is called here in the South, is usually made from scratch. If you have only eaten boxed dressing, you will be delighted with the simplicity and wonderful flavors inherent in home-baked dressing. Cornbread gives a very different texture than white bread alone and adds the sweetness of corn to the flavor. It can be a side dish for a roast chicken dinner or baked in a casserole dish and served in place of breads or potatoes, but it is traditionally baked as a stuffing inside a whole turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.

The cornbread stuffing I usually use incorporates white bread crumbs and crumbled cornbread. The breads are highly seasoned with celery, onion, sage and chicken broth for the most fragrant and flavorful dish. In the South, the turkey is stuffed with a portion of the dressing. This helps the turkey retain its natural juices and remain moist. The stuffing is spooned into the bird loosely to allow for expansion. The rest of the stuffing is refrigerated until about an hour and a half before the meal is to be served. It can then be spooned into a large casserole dish, dotted with butter and baked until the top is golden brown.

Chicken broth can be used for this recipe and canned broth works fine. If you prefer, cover a whole chicken with water, along with the giblets from the turkey, in a stockpot. Add an onion and 2 stalks of celery, salt and a bay leaf. Boil covered over medium heat for 1½ hours to produce a flavorful stock for the stuffing. Save the chicken meat for another recipe. Strain the broth and allow it to cool before adding it to the stuffing. You will need about three quarts.



Aunt Carrie’s Cornbread Dressing
~ written as it was handed down to me

Prepare 2½ quarts of broth with preceding instructions. Allow to cool.

Bake two recipes of iron skillet cornbread. Cool completely and break into small pieces.

Tear or crumble 8 slices of white bread and allow it to sit out only long enough to dry it slightly.

Put breads in a large mixing bowl.
Add the following:
• 1 cup white onions, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup butter
• 4 beaten eggs
• 8 to 10 cups chicken broth
• 2 large bunches scallions, sliced

Toss the ingredients together until all bread is dampened but not mushy. More or less broth may be added to combine the ingredients. Use several cups of the stuffing to fill the turkey and place the rest in a casserole dish. Top with scallions. Cover with foil and refrigerate.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degree F.
Place casserole dish in the hot oven and bake for one hour. Remove the foil and return to the oven for about 10 minutes longer to brown.

The remainder of the chicken broth can be used to make gravy to serve with the turkey.

Serves 12

George’s notes:

• Aunt Carrie was my great-grandmother’s cook, who was legionary for her cooking, as well as running a ‘numbers game’ during the late 1920’s until her arrest in the 1942. But that never stopped her from turning out great Southern classics.
• If you don’t have an iron skillet, bake two 8 x 8 pans of cornbread from your favorite scratch recipe.