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weekly_food_challenge2017-12-22 06:31 pm
tree_and_leaf) wrote in weekly_food_challenge2017-12-22 06:31 pm
Anything but turkey: Cornbread stuffing/ dressing
I started cooking this when I started celebrating Thanksgiving (I'm British and live in the UK, but my partner is American), but we like it much better than the traditional British sage-and-onion sort, so it's become a general festive favourite.
Makes enough for six people.
Note: not vegetarian because of the stock, but you can easily use vegetable stock/ bouillon instead.
Equipment needed:
Oven.
Oven proof/ baking dish.
Large mixing bowl or large jug.
A frying pan.
A whisk.
Measuring jug.
Kitchen knife.
You need to start off by baking some cornbread. I use this recipe, which makes about twice what you need for the stuffing recipe - but I like cornbread so it's not a problem. You actually want the cornbread to be slightly stale for stuffing purposes, so make it a few days in advance, enjoy fresh cornbread with a chilli or something, and keep half of it for baking.:
1 cup medium ground yellow cornmeal (in the UK, this is easiest to come by as Polenta, but a large supermarket will probably also have medium ground cornmeal in the international aisle. Do not buy fine ground!)
3/4 cup plain flour
1 tsp sugar (you can use more than this if you like. Many Americans would, particularly if they're from the North).
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, beaten (don't over do it)
110g butter (the original recipe says half a cup, but measuring butter in cups does my head in).
Preheat your oven to gas 6/ 200 C/ 400 F.
Grease whatever pan you intend to bake the cornbread in generously with the butter. I use a square pyrex pan. Then melt the butter.
Put the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl or large measuring jug (latter is ideal as the batter is runny and it's easiest if you can just pour it straight in to the baking tin), and stir well.
Whisk together the eggs and the buttermilk, then stir in the melted butter. Add the whole thing to the dried ingredients and stir till combined. Pour into the baking tin.
Bake for 25 mins, or until it starts to come away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick comes out clean.
Eat half of it and reserve the rest. The stuffing is actually better if it's stale, so it's probably worth crumbling it up now, so it has a chance to get dry.
And now the actual stuffing/ dressing. (It's called 'dressing' in the South of the US, which I'm inclined to say makes more sense than 'stuffing', if you're not going to go all President Bartlett and risk giving everyone food poisoning by actually stuffing it in the bird).
Take:
Crumbled up cornbread, as describe above.
2 sticks of celery.
1 medium onion (or a large one. Depends how much you love onions).
1 tbs thyme
1tbs caraway seeds
(I also like to add half a tablespoon of Old Bay, which is a favourite Mid-Atlantic slightly hot spice blend, primarily for seafood. You could add similar quantities of a spice blend you like. Obviously, check if it has salt in it).
1/2 tsp salt. (NB: adjust if necessary. If you're using a spice blend with salt, and depending on the saltiness of the stock you're using, you may want to omit this step entirely, or use add a pinch).
Several good grinds of black pepper
About a cup of chicken stock (or turkey stock, but let's face it, you're unlikely to have any at this stage). A stock cube is totally Ok. I like the Knorr chicken stock pots, myself. If you want to make this dish vegetarian safe, use vegetable stock instead (Marigold bouillon powder, for choice).
2 eggs, beaten.
A generous knob of butter to fry the veg in (they should be swimming about happily in the fat).
Turn your oven to gas mark 4/ 180 C/ 350 F.
Chop your veg according to taste - we like them finely chopped, but you may prefer the onions in particular more coarsely chopped. Fry until soft in the melted butter. This always takes longer than recipe books say - allow at least 15 minutes.
Put your cornbread in a mixing bowl. Now stir in the vegetables and the seasoning.
Add enough stock so that the cornbread is moistened but not soggy.
Now add the eggs.
Put it all into a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for thirty minutes, then uncover and bake till the top crisps up (about twenty minutes).
Makes enough for six people.
Note: not vegetarian because of the stock, but you can easily use vegetable stock/ bouillon instead.
Equipment needed:
Oven.
Oven proof/ baking dish.
Large mixing bowl or large jug.
A frying pan.
A whisk.
Measuring jug.
Kitchen knife.
You need to start off by baking some cornbread. I use this recipe, which makes about twice what you need for the stuffing recipe - but I like cornbread so it's not a problem. You actually want the cornbread to be slightly stale for stuffing purposes, so make it a few days in advance, enjoy fresh cornbread with a chilli or something, and keep half of it for baking.:
1 cup medium ground yellow cornmeal (in the UK, this is easiest to come by as Polenta, but a large supermarket will probably also have medium ground cornmeal in the international aisle. Do not buy fine ground!)
3/4 cup plain flour
1 tsp sugar (you can use more than this if you like. Many Americans would, particularly if they're from the North).
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, beaten (don't over do it)
110g butter (the original recipe says half a cup, but measuring butter in cups does my head in).
Preheat your oven to gas 6/ 200 C/ 400 F.
Grease whatever pan you intend to bake the cornbread in generously with the butter. I use a square pyrex pan. Then melt the butter.
Put the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl or large measuring jug (latter is ideal as the batter is runny and it's easiest if you can just pour it straight in to the baking tin), and stir well.
Whisk together the eggs and the buttermilk, then stir in the melted butter. Add the whole thing to the dried ingredients and stir till combined. Pour into the baking tin.
Bake for 25 mins, or until it starts to come away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick comes out clean.
Eat half of it and reserve the rest. The stuffing is actually better if it's stale, so it's probably worth crumbling it up now, so it has a chance to get dry.
And now the actual stuffing/ dressing. (It's called 'dressing' in the South of the US, which I'm inclined to say makes more sense than 'stuffing', if you're not going to go all President Bartlett and risk giving everyone food poisoning by actually stuffing it in the bird).
Take:
Crumbled up cornbread, as describe above.
2 sticks of celery.
1 medium onion (or a large one. Depends how much you love onions).
1 tbs thyme
1tbs caraway seeds
(I also like to add half a tablespoon of Old Bay, which is a favourite Mid-Atlantic slightly hot spice blend, primarily for seafood. You could add similar quantities of a spice blend you like. Obviously, check if it has salt in it).
1/2 tsp salt. (NB: adjust if necessary. If you're using a spice blend with salt, and depending on the saltiness of the stock you're using, you may want to omit this step entirely, or use add a pinch).
Several good grinds of black pepper
About a cup of chicken stock (or turkey stock, but let's face it, you're unlikely to have any at this stage). A stock cube is totally Ok. I like the Knorr chicken stock pots, myself. If you want to make this dish vegetarian safe, use vegetable stock instead (Marigold bouillon powder, for choice).
2 eggs, beaten.
A generous knob of butter to fry the veg in (they should be swimming about happily in the fat).
Turn your oven to gas mark 4/ 180 C/ 350 F.
Chop your veg according to taste - we like them finely chopped, but you may prefer the onions in particular more coarsely chopped. Fry until soft in the melted butter. This always takes longer than recipe books say - allow at least 15 minutes.
Put your cornbread in a mixing bowl. Now stir in the vegetables and the seasoning.
Add enough stock so that the cornbread is moistened but not soggy.
Now add the eggs.
Put it all into a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for thirty minutes, then uncover and bake till the top crisps up (about twenty minutes).