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!
Make the cornbread a day or two ahead, cut it in cubes, and leave it out at room temperature to dry. Walnuts and pecans are interchangeable in this slightly sweet, nutty and very savory stuffing, and feel free to throw in a handful of dried cranberries if you’re so inspired.
You can bake the stuffing ahead: to reheat it, pour in a little extra broth just to moisten, cover with foil, and warm it in the oven after you take the turkey out for about 20 minutes.
Ingredients
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
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
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.
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.
Return the skillet to the stove over medium heat and add the onion, carrots, celery, sage and thyme
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.
