P's Southern Cornbread Dressing
Southern Roots and Mama-Nez
My paternal grandma, Inez - who we lovingly referred to as “Mama-Nez” - was an AMAZING, self-taught southern cook who never measured anything and referred to everything she put into a recipe as a “pinch of this” or a “smidge of that”! While this drove her daughter-in-law crazy (My Mom), I ADORED IT and quickly learned exactly how much a “pinch” of salt was or how much a “smidge” of butter should be! :) The reason being - I loved my Grandmother more than anything and I was her favorite (duh!)- I ALWAYS wanted to be in the kitchen with her.
She lived with us from the time I was in sixth grade and we were inseparable - especially in the kitchen. We cooked everything from Chicken-n-Dumplings, Apple Pie, and her infamous Southern Cornbread Dressing. That’s what we’re gonna talk about here friends - the most amazing Thanksgiving side-dish you’ve ever put on a plate (and in your mouth!) with turkey and gravy - YUMMERS!!
A Holiday MUST-HAVE
There was NEVER a Thanksgiving or Christmas Holiday when we didn’t have this cornbread goodness. If she didn’t make it, my siblings (all 5 of them) might have boycotted the family get-together. LOL! It really is a “one-dish-wonder” that could totally be made as a dinner all to itself. Because it has all the things - cornbread, veggies, and sausage all wrapped into one dish - it makes for wonderful leftover lunches or dinners. In fact, many times we would all fight over who would get to take home more of the leftovers…just for this reason. That’s why, friends, I always recommend you make more than you’ll need for ANY Holiday get-together - you’re absolutely going to want to have some leftovers of this goodness! ;)
OK…now I’m hungry! Let’s get this party started, y’all!
The Dressing
Having grown up in Texas and now having lived in Chicago for the past 15 years, I feel like there are traditions in different parts of the country that rarely change. The south usually makes a version of this Cornbread Dressing and the North (and East Coast) usually make a “Stuffing” made out of day-old bread cubes. Some brave home chefs will actually stuff the bird with the stuffing mixture - but many are fearful of the contamination that can occur from an undercooked bird and its juices…so they leave the bird “unstuffed” and just make a great side-dish. Either way you go (Dressing or Stuffing), you MUST try this version and let me know what you think. Let’s get cookin, friends!
Ingredients
1.5 lbs Cornbread (I buy premade store bought cornbread - shhh…this is my little secret…)
1 stick of Butter (YEAP - the whole stick, friends)
1 large yellow Onion
4 stalks of Celery
2 cups of Mushrooms (I use a combo of button/shitake but you could use baby bellas too)
3 cloves chopped Garlic
¾ lb Italian Chicken Sausage (mild or spicy whichever your family likes best)
1.5 Tbsp fresh Rosemary
1.5 Tbsp fresh Thyme
1.5 Tbsp fresh Sage
¼ Cup fresh chopped Parsley
½ Cup chopped Walnuts or Pecans (can be left out if there’s a nut allergy in your family!)
3 Eggs beaten
1½ Cups Chicken Broth (or enough to make the mixture wet but not “soggy”)
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Directions
Saute all the chopped veggies with the butter, about 5 mins - add the garlic toward the end around min 4 so it doesn’t burn.
Crumble the cooked cornbread in a large mixing bowl and add the cooked veggies
Remove casing from Chicken Sausage and crumble in the same pan you used to saute the veggies. Cook the sausage until done and add to the bowl of cornbread.
Add chopped fresh herbs and beaten eggs to the bowl of cornbread and mix well.
Add the broth, one cup at a time (to make sure you don’t use too much). You will probably use all the broth, but it just depends on how dry your cornbread is.
Mix well and add to 9x13 casserole dish that has been buttered very well - bottom and sides (you may have enough for another small casserole dish - remember what I said about leftovers?? Hide this small dish and eat it in a dark corner somewhere later in the week - HAHAHA!)
Bake at 350 for 45 mins covered with foil (Mama-Nez always buttered the foil - not sure if this adds more flavor or just keeps it from sticking to the top of the dressing - but I always do it! Why mess with a GOOD THING, right?!). Remove the foil and bake uncovered for another 30 mins until the top is browned and slightly crunchy on top!
YUMMERS!!!
xoxo, Philip
