Stuff for your Dressing

With the Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching, I thought it was appropriate to have a little discussion about stuffing...or as my late grandmother used to call it, "dressing."
The general consensus, at least among my northern friends, seems to be that the bread and nut a giblet mixture served with your bird; is called stuffing...regardless of whether it's getting stuffed inside the bird, or served alongside it.
From what I’ve been able to find, stuffing has its roots in the early 16th Century, when the term “stuffing” first appears in print. Prior to that, it seems that anything that got stuffed all up in them (former resting place of the) guts, was called “farce.” Sometime around the late 19th Century, the hoity toity set felt that “stuffing” was too; shall we say common; and “dressing” became de rigueur. Interestingly enough, I’ve always associated “stuffing” with a north of the Mason-Dixon culinary term, and “dressing” with being its southern equivalent. Whatever the case may be, and whatever your personal preference for calling the bread and nut and sausage and if you’re weird fruit, amalgam is; I think we can all agree that stuffing is pretty awesome.

My personal stuffing recipe, one that I also think is pretty awesome, has changed over the years; but it has its genesis in a recipe I got from the New York Times about eight or nine years ago. That recipe, itself, seems to be on the older side, and has what I would call, southern leanings; what with its call for pecans (not walnuts), cornbread (not white bread) and hot sausage (not giblets; although the sausage thing may be more “Italian” than actually southern, but it seems like up north, we ain’t too fond of meat in our stuffing). Those ingredients are mixed with eggs, chicken stock and a healthy dose of herbs, to create a stuffing; that while not your mama’s Stove Top, it will have everyone at the dinner table happily and silently munching away. I also learned, through trial and error and my family's penchant for over-indulgence, to make a lot; stuffing a little bit of my dressing in the bird, but reserving the rest to be baked outside towards the end of the cooking process. Not to mention, my stuffing’s got booze in it; and who doesn’t like a little booze during the holidays?

Elliott Cooks Stuffing
- 1 large Yellow Onion, small diced
- 2 Carrots, small diced
- 2 stalks Celery, small diced
- 2-to-3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 ½ lbs Hot or Sweet Italian Saugage, casings removed & crumbled
- 1 lb pecans, shelled & halved or lightly crushed
- 6 Cups, Cornbread*
- 1/8 cup Thyme, picked
- 1/3 cup Sage, minced
- 1/4 cup Rosemary, minced
- 2 Eggs, beaten
- Chicken stock, as needed
- 1/4 cup Butter, unsalted
- 1/4 cup, Bourbon or Rye Whiskey

In a large cast iron skillet or saute pan, sweat the carrots in butter until soft, then add the onions and celery until the onions are translucent.
Add the garlic and continue to sweat, being careful not to brown or burn it.
When all vegetables have been sweated, add the sausage and saute until just cooked.
Deglaze with the bourbon, and reduce until sec (until most of the liquid has reduced).
Add the cornbread, pecans and herbs and stir to fully incorporate.
Transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool slightly.
Add the beaten eggs and mix thoroughly.
Add chicken stock, if necessary.
Stuff a small amount of dressing in the cavity of the bird and place the rest in a buttered casserole dish and cover with foil. Bake along with the bird for approximately 30 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to bake until browned on top (It should stand to reason that the stuffing can be made ahead of time, but unless you want it to sit in the oven, or your kitchen counter, for like four hours; you'll put it in the oven when the bird's almost done).


* Cornbread Recipe
(I don't know about you, but I like having extra cornbread. Cornbread is awesome. So I'm giving you a recipe that will more than fill a 9 by 9 by 2 inch baking dish)

2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter, plus grease for pan

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Sift, or whisk, together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and sugar. Then add beaten egg, milk and butter.
Grease a shallow (9 by 9 by 2 inch) baking dish with butter, then pour in batter. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted inside comes out clean.
Cornbread should be made a day early so it has a chance to dry out slightly.