Authentic Southern Cornbread Dressing From Dixie Recipes

MOM'S TRADITIONAL SOUTHERN CORNBREAD DRESSING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425. In a 10-inch cast iron (or a 9-inch cake pan if you don't have a cast iron, melt 2 Tb of bacon drippings, or butter if you're substituting, in the preheated oven for 5 minutes until completely melted. Remove from the oven and set aside.
• Combine the first five ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine well. Ditch the whisk and switch to a spatula to combine with the liquid to avoid overmixing. Overmixing will give you a tough cornbread. Mix 2 C of buttermilk and 2 eggs, breaking up the eggs in a separate small bowl before adding to the mix. Stir until combined without overmixing.
• Last, add the melted bacon drippings or butter. Pour back into the prepared cast iron and back for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
• Once cooled, break up the cornbread into rough chunks and spread out onto a baking sheet to dry out for a minimum of 8 hours or preferably overnight. The more dry the cornbread, the more flavors it will soak up.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Melt 1/2 C butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green onions, onion, and celery. Cook until tender or about 5 minutes. Crack the eggs into a small mixing bowl and beat slightly.
• Add the cornbread and sautéed veggies to a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine. Add the eggs, stuffing mix, and chicken broth and mix until combined. The amount of chicken broth will depend on your personal preference. Check out the post content above for more on this topic.
• Pour into a 9" x 13" baking pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until lightly browned.

REAL SOUTHERN CORNBREAD

Steps:

• Put the skillet in the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.
• Combine the dry ingredients except for the baking soda in a bowl.
• In another bowl, mix the buttermilk and the baking soda.
• Set aside.
• In a small bowl, beat the egg with the sugar until combined.
• Add the oil and mix until combined.
• Pour this mixture into the buttermilk/baking soda, and mix.
• When the oven is preheated, toss the butter into the skillet and let it melt.
• Meanwhile, pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix in as few strokes as it takes to just make the dough come together.
• Pull the skillet out of the oven, swirling to get the butter covering the bottom and up the sides of the skillet.
• Pour the batter immediately into the pan, smoothing the top, then back into the oven for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown and pulled away from the sides of the pan.
• Turn out onto a cutting board, cut into wedges and serve.
• NOTE: IMNSHO- cornbread isn't worth making if you don't make it in a cast-iron skillet.
• It may just be my upbringing, but it tastes better somehow.
• And please do not add the baking soda to the dry ingredients.
• I can't explain why, but adding it to the buttermilk makes a big difference in the texture.

OLD FASHIONED SOUTHERN CORNBREAD DRESSING

Steps:

• Saute the onion and celery in the canola oil until soft, melt margarine in same pan.
• Mix with remaining ingredients except broth in large bowl.
• Moisten with broth to your taste (I like mine pretty wet, I usually get closer to the 3 cups).
• Place in a casserole dish or aluminum pan.
• Bake at 400°F for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a nice crust develops on the top.
• **May use to stuff a 10 to 14 pound turkey. If stuffing a turkey, add very little broth. It will absorb additional moisture in the turkey. Pack loosely.

AUTHENTIC SOUTHERN CORNBREAD DRESSING FROM DIXIE

Steps:

• Crumble cornbread into large bowl. Do not use cornbread mix (such as Jiffy) because it has sugar. Some mixes do not have sugar and those are fine.
• Put onions and celery into microwave-safe dish with 1/2 cup Chicken broth. Cook vegetables until softened - approx.6-8 minutes.
• Pour vegetables into cornbread bowl. Add sausage, sage and chicken,if using. Sometimes it's easiest to use your hands and mix, making sure all the ingredients mix together.
• Stir in cream of chicken soup. Slowly adding broth as you stir.
• The cornbread will beging to soak up the broth, so let it rest a bit in between adding all the broth. The final consisitency should be very soupy.
• Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
• Refrigerate overnight if you have time - the flavors will meld and create a tastier dressing. Add more broth as needed if it has thickened. It still needs to be soupy or it will be too dry once it is cooked.
• Pour into lightly greased 9 x 12 baking dish. I usually have enough to fill another 9 x 9 baking dish, as well. Bake at 375*, covered, removing foil last 10 minutes so it is golden brown on top - usually 45 minute - 1 hour. You want it to be very moist even after it is baked so do not overcook.
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OLD FASHIONED SOUTHERN CORNBREAD DRESSING

Steps:

• Put chicken in a dutch oven. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Remove chicken from heat, reserving the broth. Let cool and debone the chicken. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Discard sking and bones.
• Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat on stovetop. Add onion and celery and cook about 6 minutes until veggies are tender.
• Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 13-x-9-x-2-inch baking dish; set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine chicken, onion-and-celery mixture, cornbread, and remaining ingredients. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish.
• Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour, or until set.

SOUTHERN CORNBREAD DRESSING

Steps:

• Place the chicken breast halves in a large saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Cook 1 hour, or until the meat is tender and easily shredded. Shred chicken and set aside. Reserve 4 to 6 cups of the remaining broth.
• Prepare an 8x8 inch pan of cornbread according to package directions. Crumble the corn bread into a large bowl. Mix in the white bread.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the margarine and stir in the onions and celery. Slowly cook, stirring occasionally, until tender.
• Stir the onions and celery into the bread mixture. Mix in the chicken, 4 cups reserved broth, cream of chicken soup, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, pepper and eggs. Blend with a potato masher until the mixture is the consistency of gelatin. Use more of the reserved broth as necessary to attain desired consistency. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

SOUTHERN CORNBREAD DRESSING

Steps:

• Cook onion and celery in some unsalted butter until they are soft, do not brown. Remove from heat.
• Crumble the cornbread and toast into a large bowl, add the onion mixture and mix well.
• Add the chicken broth a little at a time mixing well after each addition until the mixture is moist but not soupy.
• Add the egg, salt and pepper, mix well.
• Turn the mixture into a baking dish and smooth with a spoon.
• Bake at 350: until golden brown on top.

CORNBREAD DRESSING (SOUTHERN W/SAGE, AKA HOLY GRAIL DRESSING)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350º.
• Melt margarine in skillet & saute onion & celery.
• Add salt, pepper, sage, thyme, & poultry seasoning to the cooked onions & celery--I usually will mix the spices together in a separate container before adding to the vegetables.
• In large bowl (I use the largest stainless steel bowl I own) combine bread crumbs, cornbread.
• In smaller bowl, blend soup, water, eggs, & vinegar.
• Add celery & onions to bread mixture, toss lightly, then add liquid mixture & blend thoroughly.
• Turn into 9x13 baking dish and bake @ 350º for an hour. (Can also be used as a stuffing.).
• If desired, dressing may be prepared ahead of time, baked 30 minutes, cooled and frozen, then baked about 45 minutes when ready to serve.
• NOTE: Mama also stuffed the bird with hers--it was wonderful--but my dressing needs are fully satisfied baking it separately.

CLASSIC SOUTHERN CORNBREAD DRESSING

Steps:

• THREE DAYS BEFORE SERVING (Monday before Thanksgiving), prepare 2 recipes of *scratch* cornbread; allow to sit on the counter, loosely covered, overnight. (To emphasize again, do NOT use a cornbread mix since they all contain sugar, which will ruin this dish!) If you've made it in advance and frozen it, remove from freezer and allow to thaw overnight.
• Prepare two batches of homemade chicken broth; strain and refrigerate overnight. (If made in advance and frozen, move from freezer compartment to fridge to thaw.).
• Wrap 12 slices of sandwich bread loosely in paper towels and allow to sit on counter overnight. (You want the bread to be a little 'crusty' instead of squishy-soft. Exposing it to air overnight will give it that 'day-old' texture. If you forgot to buy the bread, don't panic. You can pick up a fresh loaf tomorrow and toast it lightly, achieving a similar end result. If using white bread, be sure it's regular rather than 'thin-sliced', as volume is important. If using wheat -- which I actually prefer, btw, even though it's a little heretical -- buy a very plain type rather than one with lots of seed thingies.).
• TWO DAYS BEFORE SERVING (Tues.), clean and chop vegetables. (The best advice I can offer you is to spend $19.95 on an 'alligator'. A very labor-intensive task can be finished in a matter of minutes.).
• Melt 1 stick (8 Tablespoons) of butter or margarine in a large, heavy skillet over medium-low heat; add celery, onion, green onion and bell pepper. Cook until very soft, stirring occasionally. (You don't want to let the veggies start to brown. On the other hand, this should not be just a quick saute. Let them cook about 15 minutes. It will smell great!).
• Crumble cornbread. (You definitely want 'crumbs' rather than 'chunks' -- but they should be very coarse crumbs rather than fine. I do it in 4 batches, tearing 1/2 of a cornbread round into pieces, putting it into the food processor and then pulsing off and on several times. If you don't have a processor, you can do it by hand.).
• Crumble sandwich bread. (Call me a glutton for punishment, but I don't put it in the f/p. The crumbs get way too fine. I tear it by hand into pieces approximately the size of a raisin. May be my imagination, but it seems to make a difference in a dish that's all about texture. And, no, you don't remove the crusts.).
• In a huge pan, combine bread and cornbread crumbs, stirring well to mix. (I use the top of a large old turkey roaster, turned upside down. If you don't have anything humongous, you may need to divide ingredients to fit into two containers.).
• Add sauteed vegetables and chopped Italian parsley to bread, stirring well.
• Heat about half the broth. (Doesn't need to be boiling hot -- just fairly warm so it will combine well. If there is a solid white layer on top, there's nothing wrong with it. That's simply fat that has risen to the surface and congealed. Scoop off as much as you can and discard. The rest will liquify and disappear when you heat it.).
• Add 4 to 6 cups broth to vegetable/bread mixture to thoroughly moisten. (At some point, it will sort of come together and suddenly be very 'stirrable'. Not to fret if it only takes 3 cups of broth or takes as many as 7. It's all about consistency, not exact quantities.).
• Once the mixture is cohesive, continue adding small amounts of broth (about 1/2 cup at a time), stirring well after each addition, until it reaches the proper consistency. (At first, the bread will soak up all the liquid immediately. Once it's no longer absorbing it all -- after you stir it well, a little 'puddle' of liquid immediately reappears on top -- then you'll know you've added enough.).
• Season to taste with salt, seasoned salt and pepper. (So many variables! Much depends on whether you used Chef Kate's salt-free method for making broth or another version, whether you used salted or unsalted butter to saute the veggies, whether or not you plan to ignore my specific instructions to use kosher instead of 'table' salt, etc. I used far less salt last year than ever before. Finally figured out that I'd let the stock simmer an extra hour or so, and it was so rich and flavorful that more seasonings just weren't required. But assuming you've minded me so far, I'd suggest you start with 1 teaspoon each of the salts and go from there in *very* small increments. I add a ton of pepper, but that's a matter of personal taste. Just add slowly, stir a lot, and taste frequently! Remember that you have a couple of days to let the flavors develop.).
• Place the roasting pan on the stovetop turned front-to-back instead of sideways, so that it covers two eyes; turn both burners on medium and heat mixture thoroughly, stirring frequently. (As it heats, the part on the bottom will start to brown, which is a good thing. Adds lots of flavor. But if it gets too brown and begins to scorch, that is a terrible thing! So you don't want to just scoot your spoon around in the middle. You have to really dig down to that bottom layer, scraping it off as it hardens and mixing it back in, allowing more of the dressing to sink down and begin to brown.) At this stage, I cook it approximately an hour, scraping the bottom of the pan every 5 minutes or so. Achieving the right texture is critically important, and the best comparison I can think of is to oatmeal. You want it to look like oatmeal does shortly before it's done -- very little excess liquid left, but still easily stirrable and not quite to the final 'thickening' stage. If it becomes too dry as it cooks, stir in another cup of broth. If you accidentally got it too soupy initially, that can be easily corrected simply by letting it cook a little longer to absorb the excess.
• Allow mixture to cool; cover and refrigerate.
• ONE DAY BEFORE SERVING (Wed.), reheat dressing, stirring frequently; add additional broth if necessary. (It definitely tends to thicken up when chilled. If it's really stiff, stir in some broth before reheating so it won't burn. If the mixture is very 'loose' and easily stirred, you've got a little too much in there already, so don't add more. And even if it seems just right at this point, don't fail to stir well and often.).
• Once the dressing is hot, taste and adjust seasonings. (After it's sat overnight, you should be able to get a much better idea of how much more salt and pepper is needed. Again, just go slowly!). Continue to cook and stir for about 30 minutes.
• Cool mixture, cover and refrigerate.
• THANKSGIVING DAY, hard boil 4 of the eggs; peel, chop and stir into dressing. (Okay, I realize that might sound weird if you've never had it before. But, trust me, it's wonderful! Leave 'em out and you miss one of the best parts. You don't want to add them until the last day, though, because repeated heating tends to make them sort of rubbery.).
• Reheat dressing, adding more warm broth if necessary. (Unless you've really gone overboard to begin with, it's almost always necessary to add a little more broth each day after it's been chilled. Also keep in mind that you are about to add raw eggs, which will thicken it considerably. So the mixture should definitely be thinner than you want it to end up. There should be no liquid separating or 'pooling', but it should all be very easily stirred.).
• Make a final check for seasonings, adding sage if you must. (We despise it, but my mother always added a tiny pinch. And I do mean 'tiny'! I once asked her what possible effect it could have on such a large quantity of food. "None, I hope -- but you're 'supposed to'." I'm not sure if that meant she was the ultra-traditionalist or just a tiny bit superstitious. lol But, at any rate, this totally un-PC, sage-hating cook always adds a pinch in her memory. Even if you like it, it's best to add it pretty sparingly.).
• Shortly before baking, beat the remaining 4 eggs well and stir into dressing. (Don't do it earlier because there's a safety issue.).
• Bake at 350 degrees for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. (Okay, it's only supposed to take an hour, BUT -- you know how often an oven door may get opened while the preparation of the feast is in progress. Way more than normal! Plus, it's wonderful when the top is brown and a tiny bit crispy. You might even want to crank the heat up at the last minute if it hasn't browned sufficiently. And given the fact that it's a huge quantity, allowing a little extra time for it to get really hot in the middle is a good idea. So it's better to count on longer instead of shorter. If you're really worried about it, take it out at the one-hour mark and taste it. If it's dry, add some more heated broth and stir in well. If it's 'soupy', extend the cook time.).