Crispy, Sweet, & Savory Cornbread Dressing

November 11, 2009  { }  

You might call it stuffing, but if you don’t stuff it then what?  I know it as dressing.  At least that’s what my Grandma Ruth called it.  We never stuffed our turkeys when I was growing up.  Last Christmas I thought I’d try it.  I found out that I don’t like stuffing from inside the bird.  I’m used to a flavorful, crispy-on-the-outside stuffing with a warm, soft inside.

That’s what I have here.  And now that I’m a Texan I gave it slightly southern twist.  Not because I was really going for that, but because when I first made this recipe I didn’t know how to bake gluten-free bread and I couldn’t find any in the store without sugar.  It was a blessing in disguise.  The sweet cornbread and the savory spices make you want seconds.  Or even thirds.  The cornbread recipe I use for this is below – you have to have a substantial cornbread so it stays together when you add the broth and toss it.  Skillet cornbread, as much as I love it, wouldn’t work.

As far as where this fits into my diet, this is definitely a once in a while (ok, during the holidays) recipe for me.  It goes in that ‘treat’ category – you don’t have to eat perfectly to lose weight and maintain it.  You just have well most of the time.  So, this holiday season I’ll have a few days where my diet is not a healthy as usual.  But it’ll stop there.  Life as normal will resume and I won’t have the Holiday 5 to lose.

Reminders:

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Cornbread

1 cup stone ground cornmeal
¾ cup sorghum flour
¼ cup cornstarch or arrowroot
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
2 extra large eggs
1/3 cup light agave nectar
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup oil – grapeseed or extra light olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly butter a 9 inch spring form pan.

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl then whisk until mixture is uniform.  Form a well in the middle.  Set aside.

Beat eggs, agave, water, and vegetable oil together with a whisk.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients.  Mix until entire mixture is moistened.

Pour cornbread mixture into spring form pan and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean when tested with a toothpick and top is lightly browned.  Once removed from oven, place on a cooling rack.  Use a knife or spatula to loosen cornbread from edges of pan.  Open remove spring form pan.  Let cool and then use a knife or spatula to remove from bottom portion of pan.

Print friendly recipe

Cornbread Dressing
serves 4 -6

1 recipe cornbread, cut into 1 inch cubes and dried out (about 5 cups) **

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 ribs of celery sliced thin
½ teaspoon ground thyme
¼ teaspoon ground, dried sage
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
¾ – 1 cup homemade chicken stock
¼ cup water
freshly ground black pepper

**Note:  You can dry the cornbread by chopping it into cubes, leaving it uncovered, and let it sit out until it’s stale.  Or, you can dry it in a 325 degree oven.  My grandma taught me that the secret to a really good dressing is to start with really dry, stale bread, so I do both.  I make the cornbread a couple of days before I need to make the stuffing, and after it cools I cut in into cubes, and leave it out to dry.  If it still isn’t good and stale, I let it dry a little longer in the oven while I’m prepping the other ingredients.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  If your cornbread isn’t dry enough, let it dry a little longer in the oven.

Melt butter over medium low heat.  Add onion and celery.  Cook for 5 minutes, then add spices.  Cook for another 5 minutes or until celery is tender.  Remove from heat and place into a large bowl.  Dump cornbread into the bowl.  Add ¾ cup chicken stock and ¼ cup water.  Gently mix so you don’t tear up the bread.  This is where you have to use your own judgment – you want the dressing to be wet but not soggy.  So, you might need to add more stock.  You want just enough liquid so the bread can absorb it all but not so much that it’s swimming in a big puddle of broth.

Gently turn dressing into desired dish – I like my dressing thinner so I use a baking dish that lets me spread it out.  Season the top with a few turns of the pepper mill.  Cover and bake for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake another 30 minutes, until top is golden brown and crispy.

Enjoy!

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