Here ya go, Todd. The first is what my grandmother made with no recipe for years, that I finally had to get her to let me measure as she went. We put a lot more sage in it than I've shown here, but that's just our taste. My grandmother always chopped up a couple of hard-boiled eggs and added to the dressing as well, which I always liked and still do sometimes. The 2nd is what I'm doing for a turkey delivery Friday that's going to a Sr Citizens' apartment complex for their Thanksgiving potluck dinner. The third is one of Paula Deen's recipes that I really like.
Hope one of these suits your purposes! For the drippings you can put a pan on the lower rack and catch the juice from your bird - add a cup of water to the pan so the juices don't burn. If you brine the bird, use those juices carefully as they will be saltier than normal, but a little of those drippings stirred into or drizzled over your dressing adds a very tasty smoky note to the dressing.
Any questions, just let me know.
Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time
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Basic Cornbread Dressing As I Learned It
4 cups crumbled Cornbread, your favorite recipe or my Blue Ribbon Recipe in this archive
2 cups 1-inch cubes toasted crusty white bread
10 saltine crackers, crumbled
2 cups strong chicken or turkey stock, or pan drippings from cooking turkey
3 celery stalks, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 large eggs
1/2 stick butter
1 teaspoon dried sage (or more to taste)
Salt and ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease an 8 inch baking dish. Combine the crumbled corn bread, toasted bread, and crumbled crackers in a large mixing bowl. Saute onion and celery in 1/2 stick butter till tender, then pour about 1 1/2 cups of the stock into the same pan with the vegetables. Bring to a simmer, remove the stock mixture from the heat and allow it to cool to just warm. When it has cooled, beat the eggs, sage, a little salt, and a little pepper into the cooled stock and add to the bread crumb mixture. Add enough remaining stock as needed to make good and moist but NOT real soupy - it may take all of it, or it may not, depending on how dry your breads are. Mix VERY GENTLY and pour into greased baking dish. Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes.
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Cornbread Sausage and Apple Dressing, using bagged cornbread crumbs
2 sticks plus 3 tablespoons butter divided
2 cups strong chicken or turkey stock, or drippings from turkey
2 teaspoons dry sage, or more to taste
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 large egg
2 large bags of your favorite brand cornbread stuffing crumbs
1 pound pork sausage, crumbled, cooked, and drained
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 medium apples, cored, peeled, and diced
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
In a large pot combine about 1 1/2 cups of the stock and the 2 sticks butter with sage and poultry seasoning. Heat till butter is melted, add dry cornbread crumbs and the cooked-and-drained sausage, and stir gently to moisten the crumbs. Set aside. In a large saute pan over medium high heat melt the remaining 3 Tbs butter, and saute onions and celery until onions are translucent and celery is crisp-tender. I like to cook the onions till carmelized, myself. You CAN add a crushed clove or two of garlic if you wish, but I don't. Add walnuts and saute for 1 minute. Add diced apples and saute for one minute more. Remove from heat. Combine cornbread stuffing GENTLY with sauteed ingredients, adding reserved stock as needed. Place in a lightly greased 9 by 13 by 2 inch pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, covering with foil for the first 1/2 hour so the apples don't dry out.
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I've also used Paula Deen's recipe a few times, and it is very tasty also. Here it is.
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Southern Cornbread Stuffing Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
See this recipe on air Wednesday Nov. 24 at 11:30 AM ET/PT.
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
User Rating: 5 stars
Cornbread, recipe follows
7 slices oven-dried white bread
1 sleeve saltine crackers
2 cups celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
8 tablespoons butter
7 cups chicken stock (start with 4)
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sage (optional)
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (optional)
5 eggs, beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine crumbled cornbread, dried white bread slices, and saltines, and mix together and set aside.
In a large skillet, saute the chopped celery and onion in butter until transparent, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Pour Sauteed mixture over cornbread mixture. Add the stock, mix well, taste, and add salt, pepper to taste, sage, and poultry seasoning, and mix well. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Reserve 2 heaping tablespoons of this mixture for the giblet gravy. Pour mixture into a greased pan and bake until dressing is done, about 45 minutes. Serve with turkey as a side dish.
Cornbread:
1 cup self-rising cornmeal
1/2 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into a greased shallow baking dish. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. To serve, cut into desired squares and serve with butter. Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Episode#: PA1A01
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This recipe on the Food Network Site