Monday, November 19, 2012

The Great Debate...Thanksgiving Part 2

Now that the presidential election has been decided we move on to the next great debate in our nation...STUFFING or DRESSING!  Depending upon where you live and what your ingredients are you are enjoying either stuffing or dressing this year for the big feast.  I will be enjoying BOTH!  People seem very passionate about their stuffing/dressing.  Oysters, sausage, fruits, cornbread, Stove Top...these all evoke big emotions and I'm sure some wonderful memories.  I am not quite as passionate about my stuffing/dressing as some may be, but I do tend to use the same recipes each year for both.  They are tried and true and while the dressing is a traditional cornbread dressing, the stuffing is anything but traditional.  For the stuffing I use a variation on Rachael Ray's Stuffing Muffins recipe.  They are super easy to make and even easier to transport.  They are packed with sweet and savory flavors thanks to a combination of traditional herbs and apples and dried cranberries.  The dressing is a traditional cornbread dressing-soft and yummy.  The subtle bacon flavor brings a saltiness to the dressing.  No fruits, no sausage, just the straight up cornbread and sauteed veggie taste.

I begin taking out my Thanksgiving recipes the week before and start writing my lists.  I only do the stuffing and desserts and the turkey with my Mom, my sister and Mom do the rest, with me helping out along the way.  Usually on Thanksgiving you can find me downing bloody marys and alternating between cooking with my sister and Mom and watching football with Big Daddy.  Being the one to make the stuffing/dressing and desserts is a great job!  I can get most of the cooking done the day before and on Thanksgiving I can focus on helping out in the kitchen and enjoying the holiday.  As much as I like turkey, let's face it, the sides really end up being the stars of the dinner show, at least in our house.  My one other job is a huge one-that is the job of keeping every one's bloody marys flowing!  I make the bloody mary mix 2 days in advance so the flavors can blend.  This year there has been so much happening in the past two weeks, I actually went against all my instincts and bought a pre made mix!!!!  But in true Dana fashion, I can't leave it at that-I have to add pureed celery, lime juice and horseradish to at least make it a little more like homemade.

So on to the point of this rambling blog...Stuffing or Dressing!  Whatever your preference, hope you try these recipes and enjoy them!

Stuffing Muffins (Rachael Ray's recipe with a few change ups)


3TBSP olive oil
1 stick butter, softened
2 bay leaves
3 celery stalks & leaves, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
handful Craisins (dried cranberries)
2 Gala apples, peeled and chopped
2 TBSP poultry seasoning (I use Bell's)
handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
8 cups cubed stuffing
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Using 3 Tbsp butter, grease a 12 cup muffin tin.  Heat olive oil and 5 TBSP butter in large stock pot.  You use the pot to accommodate the 8 cups of stuffing later.  Saute the carrots, celery and onion with the bay leaf for 5 minutes.  Add the craisins, apples, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.  Stir and cook until the veggies begin to soften-about 8-10 minutes.  Add the chopped parsley and stuffing to pot and stir to distribute veggies through cubes.  Remove bay leaf at this point.  Remove from heat and begin to add stock, one cup at a time.  Mix until moist but not wet.  Fill each cup and bake 20 minutes.  Allow the cool so you can comfortably remove the muffins.  These are best served warm and travel well.   

Cornbread Dressing

This is a traditional Southern dressing.  Before you get started on the dressing, you will need to make the cornbread-I usually make mine by Monday evening, so it will be a little drier by Wednesday when I fix the dressing itself.

Cornbread with buttermilk and bacon

Ingredients for the cornbread-the Jack Daniels mug is where I store my bacon drippings in the fridge.  I use a much larger glass for my actual Jack Daniels!
4 TBSP butter melted
3 TBSP bacon dripping(warm)
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal (I do not use self rising.  I use the stone ground)
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
*optional-3 slices crispy bacon broken into small pieces.  Honestly, I'm still on the fence about this being optional.  If there is an option for bacon, I don't think I know many people who wouldn't take that option.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Add 1 TBSP melted butter and 1 TBSP drippings into the a cast iron skillet (10").  Heat in the oven 5 minutes.  Sift cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl.  Beat the egg and both milks together.  Slowly whisk into the cornmeal mixture.  If using the bacon pieces (and how could you not), this is the time to add them.  Whisk in the rest of the melted butter and drippings.  Pour this yummy mixture into the hot skillet and return to oven.  Bake for 20 minutes at 450.  The finished cornbread should be a golden brown color and be firm to the touch.  Cool before adding to the dressing.  Or you can serve it as is. 

Cornbread Dressing

1 cornbread
6-7 slices white bread, dried in oven
1 sleeve saltines
2 cups celery, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 stick butter, softened
1 bay leaf
6 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
pepper
1 1/2 TBSP poultry seasoning
4-5 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 13 x 9 pan with butter.  In a very large bowl, combine cornbread (crumbled), dried white bread (crumbled) and broken up saltines. 
Meanwhile in a skillet, saute the celery, onion and bay leaf until slightly softened.  This should be about 5-8 minutes.  Add the sauteed veggies to the bowl of cornbread mixture.  Add stock, starting with 5 cups, mix and add salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and parsley.  Remove bay leaf when you come across it.  Add eggs, starting with 4 and mix well.  Add the extra cup of stock and 5th egg if mixture seems dry.  Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake about 45-50 minutes.  The consistency is more like a wet cake, not the usual dry crumbly texture some of us used to stuffing may be used to.  It is yummy and delicious though!

So here's two sides to try and tomorrow, if I'm not in a bacon coma (how can you cook only 3 slices of bacon and not eat any) I'll post some of my favorite desserts and my favorite Bloody Mary recipe.  It's spicy and thick and oh so worth the vodka!    



 

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