Sausage Cornbread Dressing

This is a cornbread dressing recipe that I got out of a school cookbook.  I added a few of my own touches, but it is fairly easy to make and has great flavor.

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread, prepared, cooled, and crumbled
• ½ loaf of French bread, stale, cut into cubes
• ½ C. (1 stick) butter
• 1 C. onions, chopped
• 1 C. celery, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bunch of green onions, finely chopped
• 1 lb. pork breakfast sausage
• 1 T. of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• 1 t. sage
• 2 (15 oz.) cans chicken broth (you won't use it all)

Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven, sauté onions, and celery over medium heat in the butter until soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add sausage and chop it up while it cooks for 10 minutes.
4. Add the green onions, Creole seasoning, and sage and cook for 3 minutes.
5. Add some cornbread, chicken broth, and then some french bread, alternating and scrapping the bottom of the Dutch oven often. (you might not need all the cornbread, I usually only use about 3/4 of the pan of cornbread and about 1 ½ cans of the chicken broth.  Keep adding until it feels like the proper consistency.)
6. Cook for 10 minutes and continue scrapping.
7. Remove the dressing from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
8. Place the dressing in a casserole dish or baking pan.
9. When you are ready to serve, bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Tips and Tricks:

• Make the cornbread the day before you make the dressing.
• You need a really sturdy spoon to stir this dressing.  It gets thick as it cooks, but it’s important to keep it moving.
• I have served this at a pot-luck dinner and skipped the baking step.  I put it in a crockpot and kept it warm for hours.  It still tastes great.

Oyster Dressing

This is my Mom’s recipe that she changed for my Dad.  She always made Oyster Dressing with French bread, but my Dad preferred a cornbread dressing.  Well, her recipe developed into a Cornbread/French bread Oyster Dressing.  The dressing mix is my shortcut.

Ingredients:

• 1 Jiffy cornbread, prepared, cooled, and crumbled
• 1 loaf of French bread, stale
• 2 C. onions, chopped
• 1 C. bell pepper, chopped
• 1 C. celery, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bunch of green onions, finely chopped
• ½ C. of fresh parsley finely chopped
• 1 pt. fresh oysters, drained and pureed (save the oyster liquor)
• 1 lb. of Savoie or Richard’s Dressing Mix
• 1 T. of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• ½ t.  of cayenne pepper
• ½ C. vegetable oil
• ¼ C. (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 egg, scrambled

Directions:

1. Soak 1/2 of the French bread in 1/2 C. of the oyster liquor until soft and soggy, reserve.
2. In a Dutch oven, sauté onions, bell peppers, and celery over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes.
3. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add dressing mix and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Add the oysters and cook for 5 minutes.
6. Add the green onions, parsley, Creole seasoning, and cayenne and cook for 3 minutes.
7. Add some cornbread, french bread, and then some oyster liquor, alternating and scrapping the bottom of the Dutch oven often. (you might not need all the cornbread or all of the oyster liquor)
8. Cook for 15 – 20 minutes and continue scrapping.
9. Remove the dressing from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
10. Add the butter and the egg and stir well.
11. Transfer to a casserole dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
12. When you are ready to serve, bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Tips and Tricks:

• Make the cornbread the day before you make the oyster dressing.
• You need a really sturdy spoon to stir this dressing.  It gets thick as it cooks, but it’s important to keep it moving.

Mexican Cornbread

This is the perfect addition to a bowl of Chili.  I made this several times until I got this recipe CORRECT.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Jiffy Cornbread mix
• 1 C. frozen corn
• ½ C. sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1 C. Mexican cheese or Cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 C. of jalapeño peppers, pickled
• 1 can of Rotel tomatoes, drained

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Place the last three ingredients into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped
3. Combine all of the ingredients until well incorporated
4. Pour into 9” x 9” cast iron skillet or stoneware baking pan and bake for 40 minutes

Tips and Tricks:

• I use light sour cream for this recipe.
• Jiffy Cornbread has a sweetness that we LOVE.  You can use other cornbread mixes, but this is our favorite.
• I serve this with Chili.