Welcome Back to 7 Days of Homemade Thanksgiving Recipes!
Today I am sharing my favorite Cornbread Dressing Recipe that I make every year!
And yes, I said “Dressing”! I don’t make stuffing. Well, I did when I was first married quite awhile ago. But then I read several articles one year on food poisoning and it somehow being connected with stuffing your turkey.
A recent article by Mail Online states:
A third of cooks put the stuffing inside the turkey. But the FSA said: ‘This runs the risk that stuffing and bird itself might not cook through fully – and an under-cooked turkey could mean food poisoning. ‘The safe and easy way to enjoy crisp stuffing this year is by cooking it separately in a roasting tin.’
You can read the entire article HERE
This is what Alton Brown has to say about the subject:
When it comes to turkey, Stuffing Is Evil. That’s because stuffing goes into the middle of the bird and is extremely porous. That means that as the turkey around it cooks, juices that may contain salmonella bacteria soak into the stuffing, which then must be cooked to a minimum of 165°F in order to be safe. Getting the stuffing to this temperature usually means overcooking the turkey.
The way I see it, cooking stuffing inside a turkey turns the turkey into a rather costly seal-a-meal bag. If you’re a stuffing fan, I suggest cooking it separately (in which case it’s “dressing,” not stuffing) and inserting it into the bird while it rests. Odds are no one will notice the difference.
You can read the entire article by Alton Brown HERE
Now that we have gotten that out of the way…on to the Cornbread, sausage and cranberry DRESSING!
Ingredients
- 8 – 9 cups of your favorite cornbread (mine is homemade- Day old is best and feel free to mix in sourdough or whole wheat cubes too)
- 1 pound bulk sausage
- ½ cup butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1½ cups diced celery
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage (or 1 teaspoon dried sage)
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 1/4 C apple cider vinegar (Braggs)
- 2 Cups Raw Cranberries
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups chicken (or turkey) broth (homemade preferred-yes, mine is...canned if you don't have it)
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Break up the sausage into the hot skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until done.
- Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside in a medium bowl.
- Add the ½ cup of butter to the skillet. When it has melted, add the onions, celery, and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables have softened a bit.
- Add the cider vinegar to the pan. Cook for a minute or so, stirring up any bits of sausage or vegetables on the bottom of the pan.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sage, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Add the mixture in the pan to the bowl with the cornbread, add cranberries, stir to combine.
- Add the cooked sausage and the turkey/chicken broth and stir to combine.
- Butter a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Spoon the mixture into the dish.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake at 350˚ for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes.
My family loves this dressing. It’s very versatile…some years I leave the sausage out (my husband isn’t overly fond of it.) and substitute bacon…mmmm, bacon! Some years I use dried cranberries and apricots, or just apricots. You get the idea. No matter how I make it, it is always a hit. And never any leftovers!
This article is hopping around the following Blog Hops:
Homestead Barn Hop, Wildcrafting Wednesday, From the Farm Fridays, Simple Saturdays Blog Hop, Simple Life Sunday Blog Hop.
Copyright:
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Medical Disclaimer:
Nothing in this post is to be construed as medical advice, simply a sharing of things that have worked for me & my family. If you have any symptoms of serious illness, taking medication, pregnant or nursing, or have never worked with herbal materials or essential oils before, please consider consulting a medical professional before use. I am unable to offer advise for your particular medical situation; please ask your Doctor, Nurse Practitioner or Naturopath for further guidance. The statements made here have not been approved by the Food & Drug Administration. These statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. This notice is required by the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act.
About Kat Y (Simply Living Simply)
[…] stuffing at any holiday, believe me. Simply Living Simply will back me up on that – here’s her recipe. Oh and here’s another one with cranberry stuffing vamping up a pork tenderloin by […]