Corn Bread Dressing
Call me crazy, but during the holiday crush, I can easily be content with a bowl of this classic corn bread dressing, and nothing more, for dinner. It's just that satisfying. Crusty and soft, savory and sweet, and somehow dense and light at the same time, I crave it both day and night. And I have to credit my grandmother for this one. Although she had Southern roots, she spent most of her life in the far Northern reaches of Alaska. So it's little wonder that the kind of corn bread dressing she ultimately came to love had a rich, and rather more Northern leaning flavor, with a tender crumb and just a little bit of sweetness to help chase away all that cold. Still works like a charm!
Servings 12 servings
Equipment
- 13x9x2 inch baking dish or pan
- 12 inch skillet
- very large bowl (8 quart capacity or larger)
Ingredients
- 1 batch corn bread (slightly stale) cubed
- about 7 cups white bread (slightly stale) cubed
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (plus more for greasing pan)
- 2 cups yellow onion chopped
- 1½ cup celery finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon dried sage
- kosher salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup pecans roughly chopped
- about 2 to 3 cups chicken (or turkey) broth or stock
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400℉ and grease a 13x9x2 inch baking dish or pan with butter.
- In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes or until soft.
- Stir in the herbs, salt, and pepper. Cook for another few minutes, or until the onion and celery are completely tender. Remove from heat and allow the vegetable mixture to cool slightly.
- In a very large bowl, toss the corn bread and the white bread together.
- Spoon the cooled vegetable mixture over the bread mixture and then toss everything together.
- Add the pecans and toss again to evenly distribute.
- Pour about 2 cups of chicken (or turkey) broth over the mixture and toss to coat. Check for seasoning at this point, adding salt and pepper to taste (and perhaps more herbs, if you like).
- Add the beaten egg and gently toss the whole mixture one last time to thoroughly combine. The texture you are looking for here is clumpy, not doughy, so try not to overwork the mixture. You can add more broth, if necessary, to achieve clumping.
- Transfer the dressing to the greased baking dish and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until golden on top.