Everyday Baking, Cooking, and Crafts

Kickin' Turkey  Dressing Muffins

Thanksgiving is in two days!!!! Here is my family's traditional Turkey Dressing. We don't do stuffing...we don't stuff anything in our turkeys...we from the great state of Texas eat dressing. At least, that's the way it has been in our family for the past 100+ years.
 
My grandmother made some of the best dressing; moist, large pieces of biscuits and cornbread. You could see the pieces. It resembled a cobblestone walkway. She put 8 eggs in her dressing...E-I-G-H-T of them. She also made enough dressing to cover a small municipal airport runway about 1 inch thick. However, to her credit, she always prepared for a small mob of people. Usually, around 30 or more. So the dressing had to be plentiful as everyone always had three helpings, at least.

Now, on my husband's side of the family, my father-in-law was the major cook for Thanksgiving in that family. His cornbread dressing was completely different than what I was used too growing up, but, WOW-WEE, it was delicious. Ray, would chop, and chop, and chop. He chopped, for what seemed like several hours, until all the ingredients were a even and ultra-fine consistency. Next, he used his hands and crumbled the cornbread and biscuits into a even and coarse sand-like texture. His secret was using a sweet cornbread mix and added just a hint of jalapenos to his recipe, which added a really nice kick to the taste. My husband's family hailed from Tennessee and with them came a different twist on flavors and ingredients. I'm not admitting to anything here, but they might or might not have made moonshine~~~'nuff said!

So, over the years I have taken the best of both of our family's traditional cornbread dressings and combined the recipes. After 30 some-odd years, I have honed this to an art form and made a new tradition that is well loved by our family.
I hope you will agree. Enjoy!

Sweet & Kick'in Cornbread Dressing

• 2 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread mix - Prepare mix using the ingredients on the box>>> PLUS 1/2 cup of chopped hot jalapenos, chopped finely. Bake this in a cast iron skillet. Prepare the skillet by adding 2 Tablespoons of butter and place in the oven at it preheats.When the oven is ready, remove the HOT skillet and pour the prepared cornbread batter. Place it in the oven and bake at 350 degrees until the center of the cornbread is done. The top will be golden and the edges will be a dark caramelized brown! Remove from the oven and cut it into large squares >>>but leave it in the pan to cool and get stale at room temperature. 24-48 hours prior to making the dressing.

• 1 package of giant sized biscuits - bake according to package directions. Remove and leave them in the pan to cool and set in room temperature get stale for 24-48 hours.

• 1 cup carrots

• 2 stalks of celery

• 1 medium yellow onion

• 1 cup baby portebella mushrooms (or traditional button mushrooms)

• 1 can of cream of chicken soup

• 2 cups of chicken broth

• 1 tablespoon ground sage

• 2 teaspoons of sea salt

• 2 teaspoons pepper

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 teaspoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

• Plus all the baked cornbread and biscuits.

>>>NO EGGS<<<, Yes that's right...NO EGGS. My recipe is delicious without all the eggs and no one will ever know...except those the read my recipe! Also, because I don't use eggs, those people with egg allergies are safe. AND my cornbread dressing can be stored at room temperature and not have to be refrigerated!

Ready to Prepare Cornbread and Biscuits:

1. Two (2) days before Thanksgiving make the cornbread and biscuits. Let them set at room temperature and get stale...uncovered, if possible.
2. In a food processor, peel the onion and carrots. Now chop the onion, celery, carrots and mushrooms in a food processor. (I use the food processor to finely chop all the veggies to a an even consistency!) Set aside.
3. In the same processor, process the biscuit and cornbread into a consistency of coarse sand. (we don't like big chunks in our family). Set aside in a HUGE bowl or extra large roasting pan.
4. IN a large non-stick skillet. Saute the veggies in the butter and olive oil. Saute over medium heat until they are semi-soft and the onions are slightly translucent and the carrots are just barely tender....do not over cook and let them get mushy. Set aside.
5. Open the can of cream of chicken soup. Add in the two cups of chicken broth and mix well. Set aside.
6. Get out the seasonings.

Day Before Thanksgiving: READY TO ASSEMBLE and BAKE

This takes about 15-20 minutes to assemble:

1. IN a very HUGE roasting pan with tall sides. Combine all the seasonings, sauteed veggies, crumbled cornbread and biscuits. Stir like you are playing in a HUGE Zen garden until it is all well combined.
2. Now, BE GENTLE and LIGHT handed at this point. Over mixing will make this dressing more like play-dough and that is not a good thing! Believe me!
3. Gently pour the soup mixture over the entire cornbread veggie mix. Using a large slotted spoon or flat spatula, gently fold and turn the dressing until it is well distributed.
4. Take a fork and rake and lift the dressing to make it light and airy...DO NOT PACK IT DOWN!!!!

Ready to Bake:

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove and place on a serving dish. Ready to pick up and place on your dinner plate!
 

HINT: 

 I like to use a large ice cream scoop and measure the pre-cooked dressing into several muffin pans and bake it this way. It makes a super easy way to serve a large mob of people and even better way to store any leftovers! Bake at the same temperature but only about 12 - 15 minutes if using the muffin pan method.