Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing
A delectable cornbread stuffing with savory sausage for any occasion, delighting your taste buds and making your gatherings more special.
A delectable cornbread stuffing with savory sausage for any occasion, delighting your taste buds and making your gatherings more special.
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 12 cups cornbread i use 16 oz pepperidge farm cornbread stuffing
- 3 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups half-and half
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick) unsalted butter plus extra for baking dish
- 1 1/2 pounds bulk pork sausage (i used jimmy dean original.)
- 3 medium onions (about 1-1/2 cups), finely chopped
- 3 ribs celery finely chopped (about 1-1/2 cups
- 1 pound mushrooms (optional), sliced
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme (i used 2 teaspoons dried thyme), minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, minced (i used 2 teaspoons dried sage.)
- 3 cloves garlic (more is better.), minced
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt (sea salt)
- 2 teaspoons black pepper ground
- Carbohydrate 85.7878418595905 g
- Cholesterol 212.337484984383 mg
- Fat 38.7110836091352 g
- Fiber 4.98705790469952 g
- Protein 22.6734898246569 g
- Saturated Fat 14.5613662528716 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (360g)
- Sodium 1909.59360223916 mg
- Sugar 80.800783954891 g
- Trans Fat 3.3565244760069 g
- Calories 785 calories
Step-by-step
- Break cornbread into 1-inch pieces (include crumbs,) spread in even layer on 2 baking sheets and dry in 250? for 50 to 60 minutes. I use 16 oz Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing
- For a moist, flavorful cornbread stuffing with a crisp top, let the cornbread dry in oven set on low for an hour. Add a bit of half-and-half and allow it to soak for a minimum of one hour.
- Place cornbread in large bowl. Whisk together stock, half-and-half, and eggs in medium bowl. Pour over cornbread and toss gently to coat. Cover and set aside for a minimum of 1 hour in refrigerator.
- Heat heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot, about 1-? minutes. Add 2 tablespoons butter to pan and swirl to coat pan bottom. When foam subsides, add sausage and cook, stirring occasionally until sausage loses its raw color, 5 to 7 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer sausage to medium bowl. Add about half the onions and celery to fat in skillet. saute, stirring occasionally over medium-high until softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer onion mixture to bowl with sausage. Return skillet to heat and add remaining 6 tablespoons butter. When foam subsides, add remaining celery and onions and saute stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in thyme, sage, and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add salt and pepper. (If using mushrooms, add enough extra virgin olive oil to saute until softened.) Add the sausage and onion/celery/mushroom mixture to cornbread and stir gently to combine. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate to blend flavors at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
- Adjust oven rack to lower -middle position and heat oven to 400?. Butter 10x15-inch baking dish (or two 9x9" square or 11x7" baking dishes.) Transfer stuffing to baking dish. Pour any liquid accumulated in bottom of bowl over stuffing and, if necessary, gently press stuffing with rubber spatula to fit into baking dish. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes
A crisp, deeply browned exterior gives way to a custard-like interior scented with pork fat, sage, and thyme. Achieving this textural contrast requires deliberate moisture management from the start. Freshly baked bread holds too much trapped steam. Tearing the loaf into one-inch pieces and drying them in a 250 degree oven for fifty minutes drives out excess water without browning the starches prematurely.
Dry crumbs act like sponges. Pouring a liquid mixture of chicken stock, half-and-half, and lightly beaten eggs over the dried cornbread initiates a vital hydration phase. Allowing this mixture to rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour ensures the liquid penetrates completely to the center of each crumb. Skipping this step leaves dry, hard pockets surrounded by soggy outer layers.
Cooking the pork sausage first renders the fat needed to sweat the onions and celery. Brown the meat in a heavy-bottomed twelve-inch skillet over medium-high heat for five to seven minutes until it loses its raw pink color. Transfer the meat with a slotted spoon to preserve the fond in the pan. Searing the aromatics in that rendered fat builds savory depth before everything joins the hydrated cornbread base.
Refrigerating the combined ingredients for up to four hours melds the poultry seasoning, garlic, and black pepper throughout the starches. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and bake at 400 degrees for thirty-five to forty minutes. Pour any liquid accumulated at the bottom of the bowl directly over the casserole before it enters the heat to guarantee a moist interior beneath that crunchy crust.
