Using a musical analogy, if turkey is the lead singer of the band that is Thanksgiving, then dressing is the lead guitarist. Culinary historian Michael Twitty wrote a people’s history of cornbread stuffing. Rounding out the band will be greens, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, candied yams and cranberry sauce. Dressing is the rhythm section that vibes with Thanksgiving turkey. A delicious dressing is well seasoned and not dry. We’re not talking about stuffing, the stove top dreck that is high in sodium but low on flavor.
My friends in New York love my dressing. One of my friends requested that I make it for Easter, and I have brought my dressing to a few potluck dinners. Now that I live in Savannah, I make a dressing that incorporates local food and flavor.
Inspired by the vegetables I got from the farmer’s market, I decided to make an Italian flavored cornbread dressing. I used red and yellow peppers, fresh basil and Vidalia onion. Then I went to my local grocery which is walking distance from my place. I bought Italian sausage, chicken broth and Jiffy cornbread mix there.
Eating local also means supporting to locally owned business. I got a small order of the garlic parmesan wings from 520 Wings. According to local Savannahnians on Yelp, they are the best wings in town.
Now that I have all the ingredients, I got to work.
Instructions:
Make the cornbread the night before so that it was completely cool.
Roast the vegetables in the oven with garlic powder, salt and olive oil.
Cook the sausage in a saucepan.
Once sausage is done, drain the oil and pat dry. Set aside.
Take the cornbread and break into the big chunks and place the pieces in a casserole dish.
Add chicken broth and the vegetables to casserole dish.
Crack one egg and add to the casserole dish.
Fold the cooked vegetables into the cornbread.
Add the Italian sausage to the casserole dish.
Using a big wooden spoon, mix all the ingredients together.
Bake for thirty minutes.
Add the chicken parmesan wings and basil on top.
Put back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
Sounds good I'm going to use some of this recipe tonight