Cali Rich's Recipe for Cornbread and Sausage Dressing

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Cornbread and Sausage Dressing

Course:

Brunch

Cuisine:

American

Cornbread:

1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Grease and flour 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
3. Whisk milk, oil, and eggs in bowl; set aside.
4. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
5. Add milk mixture and whisk until smooth.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake on lower-middle rack until golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
7. Cool in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours.

Dressing:

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Cut cornbread into 1-inch squares.
3. Divide cornbread between 2 rimmed baking sheets and bake until dry, 50 and 60 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets halfway through baking.
4. Cool cornbread completely on sheets about 30 minutes.
5. Cook sausage in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
6. Transfer sausage to paper towel-lined plate and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from pan.
7. Add onions, celery, and carrots and add 2 tablespoons of butter to fat in same pan.
8. Add garlic, sage, and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
9. Stir in broth, remove from heat, and let it cool for 5 minutes.
10. Whisk half-and-half, eggs, salt, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl.
11. Slowly whisk in warm broth mixture until incorporated.
12. Fold in dried cornbread and reserved sausage and let sit, tossing occasionally, until saturated, about 20 minutes.
13. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
14. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
15. Transfer soaked cornbread to prepared pan.
16. Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter and drizzle evenly over top.
17. Bake on upper-middle rack until surface is golden brown and crisp, 30 to 40 minutes.
18. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.