It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Part 2: The Stuffing

Last week, we talked about turkey. This week, the subject is stuffing. Or is it dressing?

Purist may say that stuffing is cooked and/or served in the cavity of the turkey whereas dressing is cooked separate and served along side the turkey. In my humble opinion, I really don’t care. First off, I do not recommend cooking the turkey with stuffing in the cavity for two reasons; the first reason being that it will increase the cooking time, potentially further drying the turkey out. The seconded reason should be evident from my last blog – you can’t fry a turkey with stuffing in the cavity. Now, if you want to cook the stuffing (or dressing) separate and then put it in the cavity once the turkey is done, I have no problem with that; although, it does seem pointless to me.

Anyway, with that debate put to bed, the next debate rages on – cornbread dressing or rice dressing. That, my friend, is up to you. When it’s up to me, it’s hands down cornbread! I have nothing against rice dressing or stuffing or dirty rice or whatever you want to call it, but I really love the cornbread.

So, here is my cornbread dressing (or stuffing) recipe:

-2 eight oz packages of Jiffy Cornbread mix (Yes, it must be Jiffy unless you want to make a sweet cornbread from scratch. You are better off saving time, money, and texture getting Jiffy)
-1 pound of Jimmy Dean sausage (It doesn’t have to be Jimmy Dean, any ground pork sausage will do, but I like the flavor profile in the JD)
-1 tablespoon of fat (butter, olive oil, vegetable oil, or my favorite, bacon grease)
-¾ cup onions, chopped
-3 stalks of celery, chopped
-1 teaspoon thyme
-2 teaspoons sage
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-1 teaspoon kosher salt
-1 teaspoon black pepper (freshly ground, of course)
-16 ounces of turkey broth (if you cannot find or make turkey broth, turkey stock or chicken broth will do)

The day before, make the cornbread according to the directions and let is sit out overnight (after you bake it, of course).
Preheat the oven to 350F – remember to add 20 minutes of preheat time after the oven thinks it is preheated.
Heat the fat in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Once the fat is hot, (not smoking) brown the sausage. When the sausage is browned, use a slotted spoon or mesh spoon to removed it from the pan and set it aside – do not drain.
Saute the onion and celery in the sausage renderings (aka pork fat) until the onions are translucent and the celery is soft, about 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, crumble the cornbread and mix in the sausage, onions and celery, sage, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Slowly add about half of the turkey broth and toss to coat.
Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish or roasting pan and bake at 350F for 15 minutes.
Slowly pour the remaining broth on the dressing and bake for 15 more minutes.

Enjoy!