Southern Cornbread Dressing with a Steady Rise

For Southern Cornbread Dressing with a Steady Rise, the counter starts with unsalted butter cubed, all-purpose flour, and granulated sugar. Portion it for 12 servings.

Count on 20 minutes of prep, 40 minutes of cooking, 8 hours of resting, about 1 hour from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

For the Cornbread

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ¾ cup cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 large eggs
• ⅔ cup crème fraiche or sour cream
• ⅔ cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter for the pan

For the Stuffing

• 1 loaf crusty bread such as French bread or sourdough bread, cut into 1 inch-cubes
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 4 stalks celery finely diced, leaves included
• 2 carrots finely diced
• 1 large onion finely diced
• 4 cups chicken broth or more as needed, bonus points for homemade!
• 2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped, or dried
• 2 teaspoons dried sage
• kosher salt for seasoning
• ¼ cup parsley chopped fresh

How the cooking goes

Prepare the Cornbread

1. The day before making the stuffing, bake the cornbread: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a cast iron skillet over a moderate flame. Heat the oven to 350°F and butter an 8-inch baking dish or cast iron skillet. If you are making crispy cornbread, pop that pan in the oven.
2. In a small saucepan or in the microwave, melt the milk with cubed butter. You find this easiest to do on the stovetop. Be sure it is just melted and not too hot, or you’ll need to let it cool before combining with the eggs.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt). Keep it to one side.
4. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until no streaks remain, then whisk in the crème fraiche or sour cream.
5. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the egg mixture. Do this slowly while whisking constantly, because it’s a little warm and you don’t want to cook your eggs.
6. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Adding it slowly in the beginning will keep the dry ingredients from clumping. Try not to over mix by adding the next addition when the last one is almost incorporated.
7. Tip the batter into the buttered pan and spread it out so it bakes evenly.
8. Oven-bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes until the top provides a little resistance when pressed lightly or until a cake tester comes out clean. Baking in a preheated skillet will decrease the bake time, so check it after 10 minutes just to see where it is and how long you think it has left. Even though we are making stuffing, that is no excuse to overbake!
9. Allow it to cool in the skillet and then cut into 1 inch cubes or smaller until the seasoning suits the pot.
10. Lay cornbread and French bread cubes onto two sheet pans and dry overnight (~24 hours) at ambient temperature until they are crisp.
11. Dump into a large bowl and toss to mix.

Prepare the Stuffing

1. Warm the oven to 350°F. Melt the butter in a wide pan or Dutch oven over a moderate flame.
2. Put celery, carrots, onion, and spices. Cook until the onion is almost translucent. Add chicken broth and heat it until it boils. Taste and add a little salt as desired.
3. Gradually ladle the hot broth mixture into the bowl with the bread, tossing gently. If the mixture is not moist enough, add more broth. Stir in parsley.
4. Transfer mixture to a 9×13 inch baking dish or a cast iron skillet. Bake until the surface is deep gold, 20 to 25 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes prior to serving.

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 Loaded Mashed Potatoes for the Sharing Bowl and Healthy Broccoli Slaw for the Home Table.