Cornbread Dressing

This was the one recipe I messed up on for Thanksgiving, but I think it turned out okay in the end!  While I realize, it's not a true southern cornbread dressing (or stuffing if you prefer that term), because it includes french bread (it shouldn't have any other bread ... or if you must put in other bread, it should really be leftover biscuits), I wanted to make it slightly more authentic by adding sage and eggs to help it stick together.  Unfortunately, my brain was not working until after I put the eggs into the hot broth mixture!  Insta-cooked eggs!  My one other change to this recipe was to use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth out of consideration for vegetarian guests.

I've included the cornbread recipe first ... then the cornbread dressing.  The Metro near me sells corn flour and something that they translate as corn semolina which looks remarkably like cornmeal to me, but I'm not completely sure what it is!  Regardless, the mystery corn semolina seemed to work.

Cornbread (from Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients

¼ cups Plus 2 Tablespoons Shortening
1 cup Yellow Corn Meal
½ cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Buttermilk
½ cups Milk
1 whole Egg
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Baking Soda

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Heat 2 tbsp shortening in an iron skillet, muffin pan, or other baking pan.
3. Combine corn meal, flour, and salt in a mixing bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, and egg. Add baking powder and baking soda. Stir.   Mix with corn meal mixture.
5. Melt 1/4 cup shortening in microwave.  Add to mixture, stirring constantly.
6. Pour into hot pan, smoothing surface with spatula. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top. 

Cornbread Dressing (from Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients

1 whole Pan Of Cornbread
1 loaf French Bread, Somewhat Crusty
1/2 cup Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
2 cups Celery, Chopped
4 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth (or vegetable broth)
¼ cups Fresh Parsley, Chopped
½ teaspoons Dried Basil
2 teaspoons (to 3 Teaspoons) Fresh Rosemary, Chopped
2 teaspoons fresh sage, chopped
½ teaspoons Thyme
Salt To Taste
2 eggs

1. Chop the cornbread and loaf of French bread up into 1-inch cubes. Spread them out on two baking sheets and let them dry for approximately 24 hours.
2. Warm up a large skillet over medium heat and add butter. When it’s melted add the onion and celery and cook for a few minutes until onions are almost translucent. While it’s cooking chop up any fresh herbs you will be using.
3. Add 4 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add ½ a teaspoon of basil, ½ teaspoon of ground thyme, a few teaspoons of fresh chopped rosemary and ¼ cup of chopped fresh parsley. Stir until combined.
4. Allow the broth mixture to cool.  Beat eggs in a separate bowl, then add to the cooled broth mixture.
5. Place all of your dried bread cubes into a large bowl and mix them up a bit. Gradually ladle the broth mixture into the bread, tossing lightly as you go. Keep gradually adding the broth mixture, tasting as you go and adding more seasoning and herbs if needed. Add salt carefully. You don’t want to over salt your stuffing. If the mixture is not quite moist enough add a bit more chicken broth and stir.
6. Place in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.