Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 1 large hen, deboned after cooking slowly in enough chicken broth to cover it and having 1 stick of unsalted butter
3-4 cups of crumbled cornbread (homemade and not a sweet cornbread recipe)
7-8 slices day old white bread crumbled
1-2 sleeves of saltine crackers crumbled
1 stick of butter (unsalted)
18-20 homemade biscuits crumbled
1 to 1 12/ large onions, chopped
6-7 cups of hot hen broth (chicken broth or stock may be used) …you want the dressing to be stirable at the end before baking but not soupy
salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Rubbed sage to taste
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (optional—I never use it)
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional—I sometimes use it for my own)
½ cup of celery chopped and sautéed (optional-- I never use it)
2-3 eggs, beaten (put in last after tasting for seasoning preferences is complete)
Season salt (to put on top of the meat which is torn off the bone and put on top of the dressing for baking)
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Directions: |
Directions:1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a boil.
3. In a super large bowl/pan combine the crumbled cornbread, crackers, white bread, and biscuits. Add chopped onion. Pour in 3 cups of boiling broth; cover and let stand.
4. *Meanwhile, heat butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add to bread combination.
5. *If you are going to add celery, sauté it in the butter before adding it to the bread.
6. Add sage, salt, and pepper as you gently mix the dressing. If you want to add poultry seasoning do it before you add salt. Taste to see how much salt, black pepper, and sage you prefer. To the cornbread mixture add the remaining broth as needed to be able to stir the dressing but do not allow it to become soupy. Do not over stir the dressing or you will make it mushy in texture. If you want to add the optional red pepper flakes do it now.
7. If you find your dressing has become a little too soupy or thin, you can always add another biscuit or a little more cornbread.
8. It is important to have enough liquid to help break down the crumbled bread and to be able to stir freely as no one wants to be able to “slice” their dressing.
9. Thoroughly beat the eggs together and add to the dressing mixture after all tasting and seasoning is complete. It is very important to make sure the eggs are stirred into the dressing properly since you do not want clumps of eggs cooking in it. Remember not to taste it after the raw eggs are added.
10. Put the meat from the hen along with the skin on top of the dressing. Add Season salt on top and put in a large roasting pan.
11. Bake in preheated oven uncovered until set and browned. |
This recipe for Daphie’s Hen and Dressing (coming from Gram’s teachings) is from