Chicken Cornbread Dressing

 

Bake Cornbread and cool

(recipe will be posted tomorrow)

Saute Celery, Onion and Fresh Thyme in Butter

Crumble Cornbread and Shred Chicken

Add Celery, Onion, Thyme, Butter and Parsley to the bowl.

Then add chicken broth, milk, and eggs and combine well.

Place in casserole and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

When we drove into Alabama on August 13 our first stop after we crossed the state line was in Florence, Alabama.  We met my former neighbor from Pennsylvania, Jennifer Smith, at her favorite restaurant Ray's at the Bank.  All of the food we ordered for lunch was handmade and delicious.  I ordered the Chicken Casserole Dressing which I had never heard of before.  For Californians think of Thanksgiving Stuffing, only made with cornbread instead of bread with chicken added to it.  It was so delicious I was craving it ever since we left.  Our new house in Mentone, Alabama is 2 1/2 hours from Florence so I couldn't quickly drive back.  I looked everywhere for a recipe but couldn't find one so decided to try my best to replicate the taste.

I roasted two chickens the night before for dinner.  We all ate the legs and thighs so I had plenty of breast meat left over.  I also saved all the drippings from the roast chickens to make gravy.  (My roast chicken recipe is here.  To save the drippings skip the bread part in this recipe and just roast two chickens in a glass or ceramic casserole dish)

I also baked two kinds of cornbread the night before and I'll post those recipes tomorrow because I have fifth version I want to test tomorrow.  

So I took the leftover chicken and day-old cornbread and mixed everything together and I think it will now be one of our favorite comfort foods.

CHICKEN CORNBREAD DRESSING

Makes 5 quarts in a 15 x 10 inch baking dish

8 cups crumbled cornbread

4-5 cups shredded chicken

4 celery stalks, diced

1 sweet yellow onion or yellow onion, diced

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Fresh or dried thyme

fresh parsley, chopped, (optional)

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter the casserole or baking dish. (If you don't have a large dish 10 x 15 baking dish you can divide this into two smaller baking dishes.)

In a large mixing bowl, put the coarsely crumbled cornbread and the shredded chicken.  Set aside.

In a cast iron or other saute pan, quickly cook the onions and celery over medium heat in the half cup of butter.  You want the celery to still be a little crunchy so do not cook until completely soft.   It will seem like a lot of butter but that butter is for the entire dish and it is easier to just melt it all together with the celery and onions.  Add the fresh thyme.  

Pour the celery, butter, thyme and onions over the cornbread and chicken.  Then add the freshly chopped parsley.

In a 4 cups measuring cups, put the chicken broth, milk and two eggs and mix until the eggs are beaten.  Pour this into the mixing bowl and combine everything together.

Put in the casserole or baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes at 350.

While it is cooking make a simple gravy:

Combine two tablespoons of butter with two tablespoons of flour and cook over medium heat, whisking the entire time.  While continuing to whisk the butter and flour mixture, add two cups of drippings from the roast chickens or two cups of chicken broth.  Keep whisking until the mixture bubbles and thickens.  Adjust the seasoning to your taste with salt and pepper.

We ate it just like this but you can serve it with cranberry sauce, green beans and sweet potatoes if you are in a Thanksgiving mood!