Deep South Cornbread Dressing

Cornbread dressing is the cornerstone of any Thanksgiving meal. While this recipe is obviously more work than your off-the-shelf box mix from the grocery store, your family will thank you for stepping up the flavor.

Ingredients

1 Cornish (Game) hen
2 quarts Chicken broth
1 /2 Onion
1 /2 Carrot
1 Bay leaf
1 Tbl. Bacon grease (or canola oil)
1 /4 cup Bell pepper, diced
1 cup Celery, diced
1 cup Onion, diced
2 tsp Celery salt
2 tsp Poultry seasoning
1 recipe Cornbread, crumbled
2 cups Mushroom Béchamel Sauce
2 cups Heavy cream
1 1 /2 cups Chicken broth, strained from cooking hen
4 Eggs
2 Eggs, hard-boiled

Instructions

Place the hen, broth, onion, carrot and bay leaf in a medium-sized stockpot. Simmer one hour and 20 minutes over medium heat. Remove hen and strain the broth. Allow hen to cool and pull meat from the bones. Chop meat.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium-sized skillet, melt bacon grease over low heat. Add vegetables and seasoning and cook slowly for 10 minutes. Pour into a mixing bowl. Add Mushroom Béchamel Sauce, cream, broth, and eggs mixing well. Add crumbled cornbread and hen meat. Mix until all is well incorporated. Pour into a three-quart baking dish. Bake one hour 15 minutes. Do not overcook dressing (it should be moist but not runny).

Yield: 8-12 servings.

Click here to get the recipe for Mushroom Béchamel Sauce.

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