Cornbread and Herb Stuffing
This is my all time favorite stuffing for poultry. And the fresh baked cornbread is a must! Once you try it – you will never go back to plain old bread stuffing ever again. We begin with:
Skillet Cornbread
¾ cup cornmeal
½ cup flour
2 TBLS sugar
1 TSP baking Powder
½ TSP salt
½ LB bacon, cooked and crumbled, 3 TBLS drippings reserved
1 egg
¼ cup + 2 TBLS milk
1 can cream corn (trust me – it adds moisture, texture and oodles of flavor!)
Pinch paprika (sprinkle on top)
Heat oven to 450 degrees
Place medium-size cast iron skillet (8 inches in diameter) in oven to heat
A suggestion – make this one day ahead – especially if this stuffing is to be part of your holiday meal. It will save tons of time. OK - Cook up the bacon and set aside, making sure to reserve about 3 TBLS of the rendered fat. Now – this is a big no-no for me. Animal fat is not part of my diet – not with IBS. So - I eschew the bacon and just lightly spray the pan with cooking oil; but if you can manage it – the bacon really adds to the cornbreads flavor profile.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Then whisk together the milk, the egg and two tablespoons of the bacon drippings in a separate bowl. Stir milk mixture into the flour mixture till evenly moistened, being careful not to over mix. Fold in creamed corn, along with the crumbled bacon and any other additions your little heart desires (use your imagination – onions, scallions or pimentos would go fabulously). Make sure everything is evenly distributed.
Using a heavy oven mitt – carefully remove the hot skillet from the stove. Brush the bottom and sides of hot skillet with remaining drippings (this will sizzle like crazy). Pour the batter into the skillet, spreading to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle the top with paprika. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cornbread is golden and begins to crack slightly. Now – don’t be surprised of it takes a mite linger. That creamed corn adds lots of moisture. It’s important the cornbread be cooked through.
Remove skillet to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes. Invert skillet onto cutting board and remove cornbread. It should just slip right out. Let cool, then cut into bite-sized cubes. Place cubes on a cookie sheet, and dry in a very low oven (135 degrees). This drying is important – otherwise you will end up with stuffing that more closely resembles polenta. So – now you have about 2 ½ cups of cornbread croutons. That’s not a lot, I know. Don’t panic. You will be adding regular bread to flesh it out. Cube about 2 ½ cups of anything you like. Make sure to stay away from wheat or multi-grain – it will hijack the flavor. I use left over ends of potato and buttermilk bread. You are going for a neutral palate here. The cornbread should be the dominant flavor. If you want to bake your own bread for stuffing – have at it. We have done that on occasion – but it’s terrifically time consuming. Making the cornbread is usually more than enough when you add in everything else. It’s also cool to use cornbread alone. I like to leaven it with regular bread – but plain old cornbread works just dandy.
Once all the cubed pieces are sufficiently dry (that’s also a matter of taste – it depends upon how firm you like your stuffing when you bite into it) – its time to assemble the stuffing. Put all of the bread and cornbread into a single large bowl. Add in about a ¼ - ½ cup of the home-made poultry seasoning (recipe below). You want high flavor – but be careful not to overdo it. Moisten the mixture with approximately 2 cups of chicken broth (I use Swanson’s salt-free). Again – this is to taste. You don’t want stuffing soup. I then add in 2 beaten eggs to help bind it all together, and transfer the entire mixture to a covered corning ware baking dish, popping it into a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. The idea is for the top to brown and get a bit crunchy – so if you’re using tin foil instead of a clear oven glass cover - take it off about ten or 15 minutes before the hour is up.
And there you go. I don’t put my stuffing in the bird any more. I brine my bird and stuff it full of chopped onions and apples to perfume the meat. Nummy!
Poultry Seasoning
½ cup Parsley
¼ cup Sage
2 TBLS Thyme
2 TBLS Rosemary
2 TBLS Marjoram
2 TSP Salt (I use Kosher)
1 TSP Pepper
½ TSP Onion Powder
1/8 TSP Ginger (any pumpkin pie spice will do – Cloves, Nutmeg, Allspice. The idea is to give the seasoning a little snap)
Crumble and combine all ingredients. Seal in an airtight container and store in a cool, dry place for up to six months. Shake well before using. Makes about 1 cup.
Obviously you can tweak this to taste. The first 5 ingredients form the base – everything else is an add-on. Salt brings out the flavor of the herbs a bit more – but it can be left out. Also - this is one of the few times I’m going to say that fresh doesn’t really work all that well. This is essentially a rub. I mix it with a little canola oil to form a paste to rub on the bird. That’s kinda hard to do if the herbs are fresh. Which brings me around to potency. Now – I grow all my own herbs for this and quite a few of the spices (except for the Ginger). I also dry them myself – so I know how strong the flavor is. Using store bought ingredients might change that somewhat – so be prepared to adjust. I’m not saying don’t use store bought – just make sure you taste each one first. Frankly - I think store bough herbs taste like cardboard. Thats why I grow and dry my own.
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