Cornbread Stuffing with a Steady Rise

Set out cranberries fresh, mushrooms diced, and celery finely diced before you start Cornbread Stuffing with a Steady Rise. The batch is written for 16 people.

Count on 30 minutes of prep, 30 minutes of cooking, about 1 hour from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

• ½ cup cranberries fresh, whole
• 3 cup mushrooms diced, I used button and cremini
• 2 tbsp celery finely diced (1 stalk)
• 1 ½ cup yellow onion diced (1 medium)
• 3 tbsp rosemary fresh, picked and chopped
• 1 tbsp sage fresh, picked and chopped
• 1 tbsp thyme fresh, picked
• 5 tbsp butter divided
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 ½ cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 8 cups savory cornbread cubed
• kosher salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

How the cooking goes

1. Heat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a mixing bowl, place cubed cornbread.
3. Melt ¼ cup butter and sauté herbs, onion and celery until soft, tender and the onions are opaque. Pour over cornbread in bowl.
4. Return pan to the heat then add remaining 1 tablespoon butter plus 1 tablespoon canola oil. The oil helps the butter not to burn as fast. When pan is hot, add the mushrooms and cook over high heat, stirring minimally to get a nice sear. Once they have started to brown, add a generous pinch of salt. This will help draw out their remaining moisture. Continue cooking until they are a nice brown. Pour over cornbread in the bowl.
5. Slowly add stock to the cornbread, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go. The exact amount of stock will depend on how dry your cornbread is. If you let it air dry overnight, you will need another ½ cup of stock (so 2 cups total). The amount of salt depends on how salty the stock is. You use unsalted stock, so that you can control the seasoning.
6. Stir in cranberries.
7. Lay into baking dish and bake in preheated oven. Bake until warmed throughout and the top has begun to brown, 30-35 minutes depending on the size of dish used. This can also be mixed the night before and baked when needed!

After it comes off the heat

Wait until the loaf is cool before slicing. Wrap it at room temperature, and freeze slices you will not eat in a couple of days.

If you want another plate from Sides, open Roasted Rosemary Potatoes beside the Main Plate and And Scalloped Potatoes for the Sharing Bowl.