Cornbread, Pecan and Bacon Stuffing

By Marge Perry & David Bonom
In the Northeast, it’s called stuffing and in the South, it’s dressing. Others will insist it changes names depending whether it is cooked inside the bird (stuffing) or outside. We say it doesn’t matter what you call it—to many of us, it is the best part of Thanksgiving!
  • Cuisine: American
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INGREDIENTS

  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • buttermilk
  • carrots
  • celery stalks
  • Cornbread:
  • Dressing:
  • eggs
  • Fresh Sage
  • fresh thyme
  • ground black pepper
  • Low-sodium chicken broth
  • Onions
  • pecan halves
  • Salt
  • sugar
  • thick-cut bacon
  • Unbleached all-purpose flour
  • unsalted butter
  • Yellow cornmeal

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  2. For the cornbread, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Combine the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter in a separate bowl. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the cornmeal mixture and stir until just moistened. Transfer to a 9 x 13-inch nonstick baking pan. Bake until the cornbread comes away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 24-25 minutes. Cool in the pan 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool. When cool cut the bread into 1-inch cubes and spread on 2 baking sheets until ready to use. Wipe out the baking dish.
  3. For the dressing, cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet until mostly browned and crisp, stirring occasionally, 18-20 minutes. With a slotted spoon transfer the bacon to a plate covered with a paper towel and let drain. Pour off all but 1/4 cup of the bacon drippings from the skillet.
  4. Return the skillet to the stove over medium heat and add the onion, carrots, celery, sage and thyme
  5. Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and bake 25 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the stuffing registers 160°F, about 20-22 minutes longer. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.