Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 2 batches of cornbread from scratch
1 loaf of sliced sourdough bread
1 lb Jimmy Dean SAGE Sausage
1 large onion, diced
3-4 stalks celery, chopping finely
3-4 Tbsp dried Sage
1 Tbsp dried Poultry Seasoning
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp black pepper
6-8 cups chicken or turkey stock
6 eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
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Directions: |
Directions:Step 1.
Make the cornbread and set it to cool. Once cooled, cut or crumble into bite sized pieces, then lay it out on a cooked sheet and place it in the oven for several hours to dry the bread out. I do this, then leave it sitting out all night on the cookie sheet, covered with paper towels or a light dishtowel.
Toast the sliced sourdough in the toaster, then cut it into small pieces and spread thinly on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with sage or poultry seasoning and put it in the oven to dry it out the rest of the way. d
NOTE: Important for the bread to be pretty dried out, although it doesn't have to be bone dry like a packaged mix would be.
At this point, you can package up the bread and stick it in the freezer for up to a few weeks. (I do this step the weekend before Thanksgiving! Just have to take it out Thanksgiving morning and let it thaw out a little)
Step 2
Brown the sausage into a pretty fine crumble. Spoon the sausage out, then saute the onion and celery in the same pan, in the sausage grease. (You can also do this step ahead of time, if you want.)
Assembly:
Preheat oven to 350º
In a VERY large bowl combine breads and sausage/onion/celery mixture. Toss carefully until evenly mixed. Add Seasonings and stir again, until evenly distributed. Try not to stir without destroying the bite-sized pieces. Smell it and add seasoning as desired. Add sage or salt, if necessary. The smell of the dressing should be pretty strong, but not overwhelming. It will lose a bit of strength once the fluid is added, and while it bakes... so now is the time to check it out.
Beat raw eggs together with whipping cream using a whisk, for about 30 seconds. Add the chicken or turkey stock and give it a quick stir. Pour liquid evenly over the seasoned bread/sausage mixture. Stir gently, still trying not to destroy the structure of the bite-sized pieces. Cover and let it set for about 15 minutes. Then stir it again and let it sit again for another 15 minutes. By now the liquid should be absorbed into the bread crumbs. If it's too dry, the dressing will be way too dry. You don't want it to be crumbly, so add a little more stock as needed. It needs to be just moist enough that it doesn't fall apart and tumble off the spoon.
Spoon into greased deep baking dish and bake 45 minutes covered, then remove the cover and bake another 10 minutes, until the top is toasted. |
This recipe for Amy's Cornbread and Sausage Dressing is from