Momma's Cornbread Dressing with faux giblet gravy

November 25, 2024–Momma's cornbread dressing was a staple of the holidays at our house. It was never "stuffing"-cooking anything to eat other than giblets inside a turkey is just weird and never comes out right-but was always beside the turkey, next to the giblet gravy but before the ham and casseroles. Here's my Momma's recipe, from cornbread through dressing. I've also put a quick way to fake giblet gravy at the end, for those of you who've never mastered the Art of Gravy.

Cornbread dressing begins with the cornbread. Here's Momma's classic, simple cornbread-no flour, no sugar, no frills-because it's not a cake or a casserole. All it takes is a good brand of cornmeal mix (do NOT get the cheap stuff!), eggs and buttermilk. You'll need:

1 large cast iron skillet

2 cups self-rising cornmeal mix

2 eggs

Buttermilk

Shortening/lard/bacon fat, 2-3 tablespoons

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees with the iron skillet in the oven. You want the skillet to be piping hot when you add the cornbread batter to it, to get a nice brown crust.

Once the oven has preheated (and while the skillet is still getting hot) mix together cornmeal mix, eggs and enough buttermilk to make a batter the consistency of cake batter (flowing but not too runny). No, I don't know exactly how much buttermilk you'll need, just "enough." Somewhere between ½ and 1 cup, if I had to guess. Start with a little bit and add a little more until your batter is where you want it. It needs to be smooth and the consistency of cake batter, but don't over beat it.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven and place a generous dollop of grease into the skillet. Give this a few seconds to melt and completely coat the bottom of the skillet. As soon as the skillet is coated, pour the batter into the skillet and quickly return it to the oven.

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out dry, about 12-15 minutes.

Allow to cool briefly and turn out onto a plate. Serve warm with butter.

For dressing, make your cornbread the day before and store it in the fridge or covered at room temp-it'll work just fine if it's a bit stale. The same goes for the bread or rolls you'll add to your dressing. Stale bread is fine for this recipe.

You'll need:

1 pan cornbread

4 slices of white bread OR dinner rolls OR biscuits

4 large eggs

2 cans (10.5 oz) cream of chicken condensed soup OR 1 can and 10.5 oz of chicken broth (measured in the can)

6 stalks celery, cleaned and chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 Tbl poultry seasoning (or more, to taste)

¼ tsp sage (or omit, to taste)

Salt

Pepper

Extra chicken broth (just get a 32 oz. box and don't sweat it)

2-3 Tbl butter, plus enough to thoroughly grease a 9 x 13 pan

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

-Crumble cornbread and bread into a large mixing bowl, set aside

-Melt butter in a large skillet, then saute celery and onions until lightly browned, remove from heat

-Add eggs, chicken soup, chicken broth, poultry seasoning, celery and onions to cornbread and bread, mix well.

-Add salt and pepper, and a small amount of sage (if you think it needs it) to taste.

Make sure it's well mixed, taste and adjust as needed.

The dressing should be a little "soupy", almost like a chunky cake batter. If it's too thick, add a little water or chicken broth. If it's too runny, crumble in another slice of bread or roll.

Store uncooked dressing in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

To cook dressing, pour into a well-buttered or greased 9 x 13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees until the center is firm and a toothpick comes out slightly moist (nobody wants dry dressing)-usually 30-40 minutes.

This recipe scales up well. Momma used a washtub, and gave plenty of leftovers and uncooked dressing to take home, because that's just what Southern Mommas do. If you've never made it before, I wouldn't make more than a double batch until you get comfortable making it. Also, go easy on the sage-the flavor will develop if you make it the day before and refrigerate it overnight. It's a great time-saver to only have to bake it on The Day.

Pro Tip: if you're making multiples of this dressing recipe, use a can of condensed cream of celery soup in place of a can of cream of chicken.

Making gravy can be a daunting task for many cooks, especially if you're trying to make it in a hurry on The Day. If you're not comfortable using the turkey pan drippings, flour and chopped giblets (cooked, please; nobody want giblets tartare) to make a traditional giblet gravy, you can fake one quickly like this:

Chop up a boiled egg (rescue one from becoming a Deviled Egg. You were going to have Deviled Eggs, weren't you? Of course you were, because no Southern holiday meal is complete without Deviled Eggs!)

If you don't have giblets to chop up in the gravy, steal a little dark meat off the turkey and chop it up.

In a saucepan, add:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can of chicken broth (use the soup can to measure)

¼-½ cup chopped dark meat (or giblets)

1 boiled egg, chopped

-Bring to a low boil, stirring continuously.

-Let simmer 1-2 minutes more, remove from heat

-Pour into a gravy boat and act like you made gravy from scratch.

I've seen people frantically trying to make their entire Thanksgiving or Christmas meal on The Day, and it's always a hectic disaster. Start making your cornbread a few days ahead, and have your dressing ready to just put in the oven a couple of hours or so before you plan on eating-it'll still be warm under the foil. You can even have the gravy made up and in the refrigerator, ready to be warmed and served.

Remember, the holidays are meant to be enjoyed with family and friends. Do as much in advance as you can, so you'll have more time to politely torment your liberal relatives with President Trump's electoral triumph.

Happy Thanksgiving and Good Eating!

Dr. Bill Chitwood is a retired Child, Adolescent and Family Psychiatrist who does political consulting and media relations. He is the author of Beyond Maga, available on Amazon under his pen name, Doc Contrarian. He can be found on Substack and social media as @DocContrarian.