A Twist On This Year's Thanksgiving Dinner

Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing

Cornbread Sausage Dressing:
1 recipe cornbread
1 lb. breakfast style sausage
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon Bell's Seasoning

Make the cornbread first:
1 1/2 cup AP flour
2 1/4 cup plus 2 T yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup plus 3T sugar
2T plus 2t baking powder
1 1/2 t kosher salt
4 large eggs
2T light corn syrup
2 1/2 cups Buttermilk
1 1/2cup unsalted butter (3 sticks) melted
2 pie tins, 9 inch size
Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cooking Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing

Method:
• First you want to get your butter melted in a small sauce pot, then set it aside for later.
• Next, measure all of your dry ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl and give them a good whisk to incorporate.
• In a separate medium sized bowl you'll add your eggs, corn syrup and buttermilk. Give these a good whisk to combine.
• Now you're ready to add your buttermilk mixture to your dry ingredients- and whisk again!
• Next, add your melted butter to the batter. You'll have to incorporate it carefully as it may splash a bit at first.
• Treat your pie plates with a non-stick spray and pour the batter in
• Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. You're looking for edges to be a little bit crispy and the top to be a golden brown.
• When you take them out of oven, place on a cooling rack so that air circulates all around.
• Now you cut the cornbread into 1 inch cubes and set aside. 2 quarts and 2 cups of cornbread cubes will make enough for a 10 x 12 x 2 roasting pan. You will have some left over for snacking! Tip- this may be made days in advance as stale cornbread is great for making dressing.
• Cut into fairly small pieces and sautee in vegetable oil 1 cup of each, carrot, celery, onion
• Combine the vegetables and set aside.
• Cook off 1 lb. of your favorite breakfast style sausage. As you cook this, you want to try to keep some nice clumps of meat as well as some crumbles. This will ensure that the sausage flavor blends throughout while still getting some great bite! I do not separate the rendered fat from the cooked sausage but you can if you like. Once you have all of these ingredients ready to go, set your oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the cornbread cubes, the cooked sausage, the vegetables, the chicken stock, the egg and the Bell's Seasoning. Place the mixture into your roasting pan and cover with foil. Cook covered for about 30 minutes.
• You can take the foil off for the last 10 minutes of cooking to get a golden brown topping. Tip- this reheats really well too so you can make it ahead of time and save yourself some stress on Thanksgiving day! Enjoy!