Old School Texas Cornbread Stuffing

This is the real deal, folks. Gen-u-wine old school Texas cornbread dressing. Notice I say dressing and not stuffing. This is meant to compliment your bird not get stuck inside it only to dry it out. Don’t be a victim of ye olde stuffing, make it a side dish- it doesn’t do anybody any good inside that bird. Trust me.

We have been making this recipe in my family for decades. It officially started with my great grandmother, at least that’s when it was documented. We do NOT add meat to this as for me, the turkey’s the thing. More meat in the dressing just confuses me. But if you must have that additional dose of meat, add as you like.

This dressing is simple, fragrant and delish. If you want a little bit of the Lone Star state on your plate- this is it kids. Yippee-kay-yay.

OLD SCHOOL TEXAS CORNBREAD DRESSING

Serves: 8

What You Need:

3 packages of cornbread mix. (If you’re on the East Coast, you’ll have to deal with what you can find but Martha White’s is the best.)
6 slices of old school white bread left out overnight and dried
2 cups chopped celery (I cheat and buy this already chopped)
2 cups chopped onion (this too)
1 stick unsalted butter
3 eggs slightly beaten
3 boxes organic chicken broth
fresh or dried sage, poultry seasoning and salt and pepper to taste (I add thyme to this mix too)

What You Do:

1. Preheat oven 450 degrees.
2. Make cornbread and set aside to cool. You can also do this a day ahead.
3. Crumble cornbread and dried sliced bread together in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
4. Sauté onions and celery in butter on medium heat until al dente. Add to the bread mix.
5. Mix together well with clean hands- NO SPOONS allowed, adding in chicken stock and eggs as you mix. Make sure it is nice and juicy as it will dry in the oven and who wants dry dressing?
*Make sure not to over mix. The beauty of this dish is its rustic and fluffy texture. You want big chunks of bread in your stuffing not a soupy mess. Just slightly mix to maintain the rustic chunkiness.
6. Season to taste with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, sage and any other herbs you want to add to the mix.
7. Spoon into a roasting pan and bake until slightly browned on top and piping hot- about 45 minutes.

Voilá and Enjoy!

Photo by foodnetwork.com

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