Recipe: Southern-style cornbread dressing

Thanksgiving is on the way, and I have started getting ready for the big event!  I have already made bourbon cranberry sauce, apple pie (waiting patiently in the freezer), pumpkin bread (also in the freezer), and my family recipe for traditional cornbread dressing. Last Thanksgiving I shared my recipes for the bourbon cranberry sauce and pumpkin bread (see the related stories). Today I will provide my recipe for cornbread dressing.

 

Before I start, I must explain two important aspects of southern cornbread. One, it is savory and NOT sweet. No bonafide southern cook will ever, ever add sugar to the cornbread recipe. Secondly, it must be made with buttermilk to be authentic.

 

Now that these facts have been established, I will share the recipe.

Make this from scratch or by using a cornbread mix.

 

If making it from scratch, use:

 

2 Cups of self-rising cornmeal mix,
2 large eggs,
2 Cups of buttermilk,
3 Tablespoons of salted butter.

1/2 Cup of butter

4 Cups of finely chopped onions (about 2 large onions)

3 Cups of finely diced celery (about 8 stalks)

2 Tbsp. of ground sage

1 teaspoon of thyme

2 Tbsp. of poultry seasoning spice

6 large eggs

6 slices of toasted bread (I use French bread)

One boxed container of chicken broth

2 teaspoons of black pepper

1 teaspoon of celery salt

 

From scratch, melt the butter, mix all ingredients together, place in a buttered skillet or pan. Then place into a preheated 350-degree oven and bake until golden brown. 

 

Dressing

 

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and cook the onions and celery until the onions turn translucent. Add the sage and thyme, stirring until combined.

 

Crumble the toast and add the poultry seasoning until combined. Crumble the cornbread. 

 

Blend the eggs in a large bowl. Add the crumbled toast and crumbled cornbread into the egg mixture. Also, add the onion and celery mixture. Combine and add pepper and celery salt. The mixture will be slightly moist. Begin slowly adding chicken broth until the mixture has the consistency of oatmeal.  You don’t need to use all of the chicken broth. Mix all ingredients well and move to a buttered glass baking pan.

 

Bake it uncovered at 350 degrees for about one hour, until golden brown on top.

 

You can freeze the dressing before baking it. If that's what you choose to do, make sure to leave more time for it to heat up to 165 degrees and for the top to turn golden brown. 

 

Enjoy!

 

Shannon Beigert is a chef and baker who loves to entertain guests at her Olympia home. If you want to let her know that this recipe worked well for you, send her a note at  shannon@theJOLTnews.com