The Best Southern Cornbread Dressing You've Ever Eaten; And The Most Fun You Have Had In The Ki
My name is Danny Hamil and I'd like to share with you one of the many good times I have had making cornbread dressing. Spending time with your children and grandchildren in the kitchen is a wonderful way to teach them just so many, many things; and the time spent together will always be remembered by them. This particular recipe was written with a twist at the time I was preparing it, and I am not talking a twist of lemon. Many young mothers and newlyweds are literally afraid to go in the kitchen. Do not fear. You can make this fantastic dinner, even if you are the greenest novice. You will have a terrific time preparing the meal and it is guaranteed to be one of the best meals you will eat and you will find yourself making it for your holiday entertainment frequently.
As in all good meals, some planning is necessary to make good ‘chicken and dressing' , as we call it in the South. I always start my meal the night before. You will need several ingredients to get some good aroma in the house. First of all on my list of chicken and dressing ingredients is a cold 6-pack of my favorite beer. Depending on how many friends you have over in the evening, you may want to double that order. It is not the main ingredient in the dressing, but it sure does help the cook! And who knows, if you accidentally spill a few ounces of a freshly opened bottle in the broth, the hops add a little extra taste to the broth. I would not recommend wine, not in the cooking process; reserve the wine for dinner tomorrow.
Good dressing starts out with good cornbread that is made the day before and been left out in the open to dry… dry bread will soak up all that good flavored broth and make fantastic eating. You will need to make two pones (that's another word for a full pan of cornbread). I use seasoned cast iron skillets and actually wouldn't know how to make cornbread in any other pan. The secret to making a nice crust on all sides of the bread is to lightly spray or grease your skillet with oil and put it in the oven when you start to preheat your oven so that the skillet gets hot. Be careful when taking the empty skillet out of the oven. There should be no problem at this point as you are still on your first beer. Did you spill any of your beer in the cornbread batter? Hmmm. There is beer batter for fish you know. Oh well, that is another venture. You will know you are on the right track when you pour your cornbread batter in the skillet and you hear and see the batter start sizzling. The ingredients are simple and straightforward. All you need to mix the ingredients is a bowl to mix in and a fork to mix with. Keep it simple and it keeps clean-up to a minimum. My friends and family will tell you that I can definitely mess up a kitchen – and in short order. Okay, mix 2 cups of self rising meal, ¼ cup vegetable oil, a couple dashes of salt, 1 ½ cup buttermilk (or whole milk if you don't have buttermilk), 1 tbsp sugar, (but no more as southern cornbread is not sweet), an egg or two. At this point, you are on your second beer, so who's counting eggs, and to me it really doesn't make a taste difference in the dressing. I am sure the eggs help to bind the dish, but you are going to break the bread up and make it a mush anyway so what the heck. As I said, if you screw up this dinner, you will really have to work hard at it. You WILL impress the in-laws at dinner time tomorrow. Bake the cornbread at 450 degrees for thirty (30) minutes or until golden brown.
Now for the fun part; turn the pan upside down and dump the cornbread out on a plate. Be careful with the hot pan and make sure your beer is out of the way. You don't want to knock the beer over and spill it. You've have already had one beer, or was it two, and you can't drive to the store and get more. You don't even have to be able to count when you cook Southern Foods. You may even flip the cornbread back over so you see the nice rounded top of the bread. At this point, you may be having second thoughts about taking a knife and cutting this hot bread into about- how many people in your kitchen now?- 6 or 8 sections. Do it anyway. Slice the bread in half and put yourself some real butter (I didn't say margarine!) inside your hot cornbread and enjoy. Yes, it goes well with the beer; the bread tastes good and is not sweet. It gets even better. Break your hot buttered cornbread up in a tall glass and pour either buttermilk or whole milk to fill your glass, and then eat it with a spoon. That is southern eating at its best. I hope you have plenty of eggs, as if we were counting eggs, because it is time to make another ‘pone' of cornbread for your dressing tomorrow. The first one is gone and what a good cheap meal you just had! Once cooked, break the cornbread into large pieces and leave out uncovered overnight so that it can dry out.
Wow! We are out of space here, and have really not even caught the chicken yet.
As in all good meals, some planning is necessary to make good ‘chicken and dressing' , as we call it in the South. I always start my meal the night before. You will need several ingredients to get some good aroma in the house. First of all on my list of chicken and dressing ingredients is a cold 6-pack of my favorite beer. Depending on how many friends you have over in the evening, you may want to double that order. It is not the main ingredient in the dressing, but it sure does help the cook! And who knows, if you accidentally spill a few ounces of a freshly opened bottle in the broth, the hops add a little extra taste to the broth. I would not recommend wine, not in the cooking process; reserve the wine for dinner tomorrow.
Good dressing starts out with good cornbread that is made the day before and been left out in the open to dry… dry bread will soak up all that good flavored broth and make fantastic eating. You will need to make two pones (that's another word for a full pan of cornbread). I use seasoned cast iron skillets and actually wouldn't know how to make cornbread in any other pan. The secret to making a nice crust on all sides of the bread is to lightly spray or grease your skillet with oil and put it in the oven when you start to preheat your oven so that the skillet gets hot. Be careful when taking the empty skillet out of the oven. There should be no problem at this point as you are still on your first beer. Did you spill any of your beer in the cornbread batter? Hmmm. There is beer batter for fish you know. Oh well, that is another venture. You will know you are on the right track when you pour your cornbread batter in the skillet and you hear and see the batter start sizzling. The ingredients are simple and straightforward. All you need to mix the ingredients is a bowl to mix in and a fork to mix with. Keep it simple and it keeps clean-up to a minimum. My friends and family will tell you that I can definitely mess up a kitchen – and in short order. Okay, mix 2 cups of self rising meal, ¼ cup vegetable oil, a couple dashes of salt, 1 ½ cup buttermilk (or whole milk if you don't have buttermilk), 1 tbsp sugar, (but no more as southern cornbread is not sweet), an egg or two. At this point, you are on your second beer, so who's counting eggs, and to me it really doesn't make a taste difference in the dressing. I am sure the eggs help to bind the dish, but you are going to break the bread up and make it a mush anyway so what the heck. As I said, if you screw up this dinner, you will really have to work hard at it. You WILL impress the in-laws at dinner time tomorrow. Bake the cornbread at 450 degrees for thirty (30) minutes or until golden brown.
Now for the fun part; turn the pan upside down and dump the cornbread out on a plate. Be careful with the hot pan and make sure your beer is out of the way. You don't want to knock the beer over and spill it. You've have already had one beer, or was it two, and you can't drive to the store and get more. You don't even have to be able to count when you cook Southern Foods. You may even flip the cornbread back over so you see the nice rounded top of the bread. At this point, you may be having second thoughts about taking a knife and cutting this hot bread into about- how many people in your kitchen now?- 6 or 8 sections. Do it anyway. Slice the bread in half and put yourself some real butter (I didn't say margarine!) inside your hot cornbread and enjoy. Yes, it goes well with the beer; the bread tastes good and is not sweet. It gets even better. Break your hot buttered cornbread up in a tall glass and pour either buttermilk or whole milk to fill your glass, and then eat it with a spoon. That is southern eating at its best. I hope you have plenty of eggs, as if we were counting eggs, because it is time to make another ‘pone' of cornbread for your dressing tomorrow. The first one is gone and what a good cheap meal you just had! Once cooked, break the cornbread into large pieces and leave out uncovered overnight so that it can dry out.
Wow! We are out of space here, and have really not even caught the chicken yet.
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