SOUTHERN CORNBREAD STUFFING
It’s Christmas and the time of the year to enjoy a little bit of ‘excess’ so I will be posting a couple of celebratory recipes the next couple of weeks.
Stuffing’s origins are somewhat cloudy and not entirely well known. The earliest documented evidence appears in the Roman cookbook Apicus de Re Coquinaria containing recipes for stuffed chicken, hare, pig and dormouse! (1)
Stuffing is much better and safer, especially where meat is involved, if it is cooked in a separate dish and not stuffed inside the cavity of the turkey.
I love the southern approach to this recipe using homemade cornbread and you can spike up the cornbread with some jalapeno chilies and aged cheddar cheese if you like………Enjoy!
Next Week: The proper way to cook a turkey
(1) wikipedia Original recipe and image courtesy of Gourmet November 1997
Ingredients
1 1/2 loaves corn bread
2 cups pecans
7 leeks (about 1 pound; white and pale green parts only)
3 celery ribs
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage (about 3 links)
2 cups fresh or unthawed frozen cranberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves
2 cups chicken broth
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325° F.
Cut corn bread into 1/2-inch cubes and in 2 large shallow baking pans bake in middle of oven until just dry, about 20 minutes. Transfer corn bread from 1 pan to a large bowl and in pan toast pecans in oven until insides are golden, 10 to 20 minutes.
Halve leeks lengthwise and then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. In a bowl of cold water wash leeks well and lift from water into a sieve to drain. Chop celery. In a 12-inch skillet cook leeks and celery in butter with salt and pepper to taste over moderately low heat, stirring, until leeks are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove sausage from casings and break into small pieces. Add sausage to leek mixture and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through.
In a small heavy saucepan cook cranberries with sugar over moderately high heat, stirring, 5 minutes, or until some begin to burst. Chop parsley.
To bowl of corn bread add remaining corn bread cubes, pecans, sausage mixture, cranberries, parsley, broth, and salt and pepper to taste and toss together. Cool stuffing completely. Stuffing may be made up to this point 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring stuffing to room temperature before proceeding.
For cooking all or part of stuffing outside poultry:
In a shallow baking dish bake stuffing in preheated 325° F. oven 1 hour (for moist stuffing, bake covered entire time; for less moist stuffing with a slightly crisp top, uncover halfway through baking time).
CORNBREAD
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups milk
2 large eggs
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400° F. and butter two 9-by-5-by-3 inch loaf pans.
Into a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk in cornmeal and sugar until combined well. In a bowl whisk together milk and eggs until just combined. Add butter to flour mixture and with an electric mixer beat until mixture resembles coarse meal. Beat in egg mixture until just combined (batter will be thin).
Pour batter into pans and bake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool corn bread in pans on a rack 10 minutes and turn out onto rack to cool completely. Corn bread may be wrapped in plastic wrap and kept in a cool, dry place 2 days or frozen 2 weeks.
