Sage for the bird!
Now—mama says that everyone has a favorite stuffing (called “dressing” in the south; not to be confused with salad dressing, haha), but her mama’s stuffing/dressing was famous in Houston, and her mama used to make it for Christmas gifts for her friends!
I try to help mama when she makes the dressing, because she makes it about two or three days ahead so that the cornbread is a bit stale and that makes the dressing hold its integrity (read: not get soggy), and I myow really loudly when I smell that the cornbread is done. Works every time. The smell of cornbread baking could make a Jack Russell into a lapdog!
So make the cornbread recipe on the Albers cornmeal box, omitting the sugar and adding a nice big spoon of chile powder (mama’s mama’s secret). Or use any cornbread recipe you have around, mama says. The best way to make cornbread is to make the batter, just barely wet with the milk or buttermilk, and then heat olive oil in an iron skillet and pour in the batter—then bake the whole thing in the oven at 350 F/175 C for 20 minutes.
Of course, I do none of this but I am a tried and true observer of kitchen happenings! And I smell when it’s right.
When the cornbread is cool, break it up into small (but not too small) chunks in a large bowl and let it get a bit stale for a couple of days.
This is when I leave the kitchen, because onions make my beautiful eyes water!
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Leaves from the branch of a fresh sage plant or
2 teaspoons crumbled dried sage
3 large onions, chopped fine
4 large stalks of celery, chopped fine
4 garlic cloves, chopped fine
A handful of parsley, chopped fine
A cup of roasted almonds, crushed
A dash of cayenne pepper
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt
4 large eggs
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the sage leaves and all the vegetables until translucent and add them, along with the almonds and cayenne, to the cornbread bowl. Moisten the mixture with the broth and just before stuffing that big old bird, beat the eggs and stir them into the cornbread mix.
Mama promises you the best dressing ever and yes, you can add roast chestnuts or REALLY fresh oysters, cut in pieces, or whatever your tradition calls for, but mama likes it plain and simple. She says you can freeze extra dressing to stuff little (slurp, slurp, drool) Cornish game hens or roasting birds of any kind. Also pork chops!
I’m outta here—writing this is almost painful to my little hungry paunch…
Ahhh…cornbread’s done! My salivary glands are on “Go”!
