Andouille Cornbread Dressing
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Thanksgiving dressing is the one side that I absolutely love. The diversity of dressing/stuffings out there is what really intrigues me. No two are the same. Some households take pride in theirs and others it’s an absolute afterthought. I’ve been making variations of cornbread dressing for years. Though this simple one has always hit all of the notes for me. Don’t be intimidated on making cornbread, it’s the easier part of things.
Ingredients
Cornbread
4 oz. bacon
2 cups coarse yellow cornmeal
¾ tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. Kosher salt
2 large eggs
1½ cups whole buttermilk
Dressing
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
2 medium yellow onions, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 apples, cored and diced
1 lb. andouille sausage, casing removed
½ cup apple cider
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 Tbsp. fresh sage, rough chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, rough chopped
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup chicken stock
Instructions
Cornbread
Cut in bacon, into bit size pieces.
Cook the bacon until crispy in a 10 inch cast iron skillet or medium to high heat.
Remove the cooked bacon bits onto paper towels and reserve the bacon grease for later.
Preheat an oven to 425°.
Place a 10 inch cast iron skillet into the oven and heat until it's very hot, around 10 minutes.
In the meantime, combine the cornmeal, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk eggs and 4 Tbsp of the reserved bacon grease. Keep 1 Tbsp of the bacon grease for later.
Slowly whisk in the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, making sure it was been thoroughly combined.
Remove the cast-iron skillet from the oven. Pour the remaining 1 Tbsp. of bacon grease into the skillet and swirl to coast. Then pour the mixture into the skillet.
Place the skillet back into the oven and back until golden brown, approximately 20 - 25 minutes.
Allow to cool, until removing from the cast-iron skillet.
Dressing
Cut the cornbread into cut in 1½ inch cubes.
Leave the cubes out overnight to dry or place on a baking sheet and cook in a 300° oven for 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°.
Butter a 9X13-inch baking dish.
Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the onions, celery and apples and sauté until softened, approximately 7-9 minutes.
Add the sausage, crumbling it into small bits, and sauté, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, until cooked and browned.
Add the cider, cranberries, rosemary, and sage and cook until the cranberries soften, approximately 5 minutes, scraping up the brown bits with a wooden spoon.
Place mixture in a large bowl and add the cubed cornbread, egg, 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. pepper, and enough chicken stock just to moisten the mixture.
Stir well. Pour stuffing into prepared dish.
Dot with remaining 2 Tbsp. butter.
Bake until stuffing top is golden brown and is heated through, approximately 35 to 45 minutes.
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