Law-Co blogger Genderist sent me her grandmother's recipe for cornbread dressing (a woman I know and whose food I trust). Thanks. I need this because as expats we're celebrating Thanksgiving on a Sunday (with a bunch of foreigners). But there's a leeetle problem. I was going to start on it today - but then when I checked my blackberry to look at the recipe and write it down in my book - I couldn't get all of the email.
Unfortunately, my work server is down this weekend. I knew it would be, but I plum forgot. So I was able to get all the ingredients out of the email - but none of the instructions about how to actually make the dressing.
I know that it's basically a question of mix it all up and bake it - but for how long and at what temperature??? (Oh, who am I kidding - my oven reads out in centigrade - and all the recipes are in Fahrenheit - I'm too darn lazy to do the math and convert so I just guess - which sort of defeats the purpose of my fancy digital oven.)
Anyway, Genderist, if you're out there - can you copy the recipe into the comments?? I've got it all down to the line "fluted mushrooms" - and could you maybe tell me what a fluted mushroom is while you're at it?
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5 comments:
And don't forget the sage. LOTS of sage.
Everyone does it differently. My mother left me a recipe when she passed with NO INSTRUCTIONS!! I had to figure it out.
This is my recipe. Take it with a grain of salt, but it works for me.
Half cornbread (Usually about 2/3rds of a cast iron skillet. Yes, I'm from Tennessee, can you tell?)
Half biscuits (About six big ones or eight little ones. Don't use flaky ones)
As long as it's half and half and crumbled up nicely, it'll work.
Three stalks of celery diced
One big onion diced.
Two to Three cans of chicken broth or enough homemade chicken broth to make it very very moist before it goes in the oven.
Six (yes, I said six eggs. Allow your arteries to clog without guilt.)
Sage to taste. Lots of pepper if you dig that (which I do)
Mix it up where it is about the consistency of cake batter.
Stick it in the oven at 375.
When it cooks up like cake batter (firm, but not dry in the middle) you're done usually about 30 minutes give or take a few depending on your oven.
I have never given a recipe in my life, but being that I only make about five dishes well and this is one of them, I felt compelled.
Eat some fish and chips and drink a pint for me.
Ah-ha!! I knew I wasn't using enough eggs (in previous years - I had just made a wild guess and was always trying to make some stupid vegetarian version).
Sadly - proper biscuits are hard to come by here in the UK. Sure you can get digestive biscuits or ginger biscuits but a real, real biscuit. Impossible. (Hmmm - I could use a soda farl...)
My aunt Virginia - who has appeared in the pages of the Knoxville News Sentinel for her fabulous home cooking (back in the 70s - she lives in Lebanon now) does an amazing cornbread dressing, and when I got married she gave me a recipe book with family recipes - but she omitted that one. Since I'm widely acknowledged as the next best cook in the family (though it's also acknowledged I have a ways to go to match her and a cousin's husband is now providing competition)I have to wonder if the omission was by mistake or design?
As I am known as the worst cook in my family, this is the one I get right.
Is there something akin to Bisquick in London you could substitute?
Of course, someone else would have to make it here at Chez Coma.
Have fun at your Thanksgiving Abroad extravaganza.
NANA'S CORNBREAD DRESSING
2 cups cornmeal
1 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 (12oz) can evaporated milk (hmmmmm)
1/4 C vegetable oil
2 C chopped fresh mushrooms
1 C chopped celery
1/2 C chopped green onions
3 T butter or margarine (melted)
3 eggs, beaten
2 (14 1/2 oz) cans of chicken broth
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
3/4 C sliced almonds
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
dash of parsley flakes
fresh parsley
fluted mushrooms (hmmmmm)
Combine the first 4 ingredients; add 2 eggs, milk, and oil, mixing well.
Place a well-greased 10-inch cast iron skillet in a preheated 350 degree oven for 5 minutes or until skillet is hot. Remove from oven, spoon batter into skillet. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned; cool. Crumble cornbread into large mixing bowl.
Saute mushrooms, celery, and green onions in 3 T butter until tender. Combine cornbread, sauteed vegetables, 3 eggs, broth, soup, almonds, poultry seasoning, pepper and parsley flakes, mixing well. Spoon into a greased 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Garnish dressing with mushroom and parsley. Yield: 12 servings.
Note: To make recipe a day ahead, prepare dressing, cover and refrigerate overnight before baking. To bake, remove from refrigerator, and let stand for 30 minutes. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes.
I hope you figured it out before today!
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