Thanksgiving Side Dressing
It is not a Thanksgiving meal without a side of dressing. I am sure many are asking what is she talking about? Stuffing, of course. Being from the South, we call that cornbread side dish dressing and you cannot serve turkey without it. There were seven children in my family and not a single one of us asked Mother for her dressing recipe before she died. For five years after my mother's death, first one sister then another would try to replicate her dressing recipe (I think even an aunt and sister-in-law got in on the perfecting of this dish) but each one seemed to be worse than the last. Then I, the youngest in the family, was asked if I had any idea what Mother put into her recipe for that great dressing taste. The first year I tried my hand at the side dish, everyone agreed it was better than all others but still lacked some flavor that was unique to Mother's. Finally I added a dash here and a dollop there to come up with the almost-Mother-taste. We finally all decided that unique taste was Mother herself so what I concocted came close enough that I have been making the dressing for our family Thanksgiving meal these past ten years. Here it is. I hope you try it and love it from the first bite to the last.
First of all boil chicken pieces (legs, thighs, breasts) for an hour or until juices run clear. Save the cooled broth. While the chicken is boiling make a skillet or 9X9 baking dish of cornbread - do not brown but make sure it is done through.
Cornbread
Deboned chicken with the skin discarded
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons sage
3 boiled eggs, chopped
3 raw eggs
8 oz can chicken broth
Salt and Pepper
Butter
Crumble cornbread into a large mixing bowl. Add onion, all six eggs, sage, the broth left over from the boiled chicken. If the dressing is not thin and soupy, add the canned broth until dressing is thinned. Chop the deboned chicken into bite sized pieces and add to the dressing. If the dressing is thicker because of the added chicken, add broth again until thin. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Spray non-stick vegetable oil into a 9 X 11 dish, pour in the dressing, spread evenly over the cooking dish. Drop slivers of butter over the top of the dressing. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes until golden brown. Insert a toothpick into the center if the toothpick does not come out clean, put the dressing back into the oven, turn the heat down to 300 degrees and bake ten more minutes.
