Thanksgiving Dressing
This recipe makes a lot of dressing because we serve it to a large table of family and friends. And of course, you want a little extra for leftovers! Bake in an baking dish, and not in the turkey to reduce risk of foodborne illness.
Servings: 8
Equipment
- 2 baking sheets
- 1 Large cast iron skillet
- 1 Instant-read thermometer
- 1 10" x 14" oven-proof baking dish
Mise en place
- 1 ea cornbread Pre-made. Use a savory cornbread, nothing too sweet. About 2 1/2 pounds.
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter plus a little more for buttering the baking dish
- 2 packages Jimmy Dean sausage one regular, one hot
- 3 ea red bell peppers
- 1 ea onion diced
- 4 stalks celery sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp fresh sage finely chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves only, finely chopped
- 1 C crimini mushrooms sliced
- 3 C chicken stock
- 3 ea eggs
- 1/4 C parsley, flat leaf leaves and tender stems, chopped
- 1/2 C port wine
- salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Butter the baking dish, set aside.
- Slice the cornbread into 3/4" dice. Spread evenly over two rimmed baking sheets and bake 10 minutes until toasty. Let cool. Add cooled croutons to the large bowl.
- Char the red bell peppers on an open burner on your stove until black all over. Place the charred peppers into a paper bag or a bowl covered with plastic wrap for about 10 minutes to steam the skins off. Remove the charred skins and seeds. Chop and set aside.
- In cast iron skillet over medium heat, add the evoo, then both packages of sausage. Mash with a spoon until broken up and fine, and no longer pink. You can pour off some of the fat if you want, but leave at least a few tablespoons in the pan.
- Add the onions and celery to the skillet and sauté 4-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté 2 minutes more.
- Add the red peppers, garlic, sage and thyme to the skillet, and sauté another minute.
- Add one cup of the chicken stock to the skillet. Stir well to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings. Turn off the heat.
- In a blender, blend the other two cups of stock, the eggs and parsley until well emulsified. Add the mixture to the skillet and stir well to combine.
- Pour the contents of the skillet into the bowl of croutons.
- Add port wine all over the dressing and fold in gently - you don't want to the cornbread cubes to disintegrate.
- Transfer the dressing into the buttered baking dish.
- Bake in 425 oven until an instant read thermometer reads 150F (66C) degrees when inserted into the center of the dish, and the dressing crisped on top, about 45 minutes.
- Sprinkle with a little more chopped parsley and serve.
Notes
You can omit things you might not eat, like the sausage, chicken stock (substitute veggie stock), eggs or wine.