Cornbread Dressing 101
When families and friends sit down to their holiday dinners in the South, cornbread dressing will most likely be on the table. "Like many traditional recipes, cornbread dressing is a tribute to resourceful Southern cooks who created wonderful recipes with the ingredients they had on hand," says Linda Carman, Martha White baking expert. "We love cornbread down here, so I guess it's not surprising we would add it to our dressing."
Basically, cornbread dressing is a seasoned mixture of crumbled cornbread and white bread or biscuits, moistened with broth and then baked. As simple as that seems, there are countless variations on the basic cornbread dressing theme.
Dressing or Stuffing?
Dressing and stuffing are essentially the same, but Southern cooks usually don't stuff the bread mixture into the bird. Instead, they bake it in a separate pan - and call it dressing. No one is quite sure why, but it likely has something to do with their preference for cornbread dressing's irresistible buttery crust and the fact that the bird probably wouldn't hold enough to satisfy holiday appetites.
Start with Good Cornbread
Of course, to have good cornbread dressing, you must have good cornbread. Although some people make a special cornbread for their dressing, most recipes simply call for crumbled cornbread. You can choose a Martha White® cornbread mix for added convenience. Crisp cornbread made in a cast iron skillet adds texture and flavor to the dressing.
To simplify last minute preparation, begin freezing leftover cornbread a few weeks in advance. Or, if your cornbread always gets eaten, just make an extra skillet.
Most cornbread dressing recipes call for some wheat bread, which makes the dressing hold together a little better than all cornbread. Freeze leftover biscuits, white, whole wheat, or French bread - whatever you have on hand - to add to your dressing.
Texture
The texture of dressing is a personal preference. Texture is determined by how finely the bread is crumbled, by the proportion of cornbread to wheat bread and by the amount of broth used. The addition of eggs to the bread mixture makes the dressing hold together a little more.
Old South Herbed Cornbread Dressing is made with breads that have been finely crumbled, so the texture is fairly smooth. This dressing may be spooned into a pan for baking or formed into individual servings (called "pones") before baking.
At the other extreme, Classic Cornbread Dressing with Country Ham and Dried Fruit is made with coarsely crumbled breads. This recipe lends itself easily to the addition of other ingredients, but if you prefer traditional dressing, just leave out the ham and fruit.
Classic Seasonings
Onion and sage are classic English stuffing flavors adopted by Southern cooks, while celery is a more modern addition. Most traditional cornbread dressing recipes call for onions and celery sautéed in butter and added to the cornbread mixture along with chicken or turkey broth.
For most people, sage is the defining flavor in cornbread dressing. Even the proponents of poultry seasoning would probably agree that it is the sage in the seasoning that provides that distinctive flavor.
What about dried sage leaves versus ground sage? Many cooks prefer to use dried sage leaves because the finely ground sage can turn dressing a rather unappetizing shade of green, especially if you like a lot of it.
New Traditions
If traditional cornbread dressing — seasoned with onion, celery and sage — is your idea of the best cornbread dressing, you are set for your holiday dinner. On the other hand, many flavor combinations can be added to this basic dressing to complement your holiday menu.
To create your own stylish dressing, try adding savory meats such as cooked sausage, country ham or bacon. They are especially good combined with fruits like chopped apples, raisins, dried apricots or cranberries. Toasted pecans, walnuts or pine nuts also add a nice flavor and texture. The addition of herbs and spices - such as nutmeg, fresh parsley, cayenne, thyme, rosemary or marjoram — will also add interest to dressing.