Cornbread Dressing With Fennel And Sausage Food

SAUSAGE AND CORNBREAD STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
• Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat; add the onion, garlic and sausage. Cook, breaking up the sausage with a spoon, until the onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Add the celery and fennel; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
• Toss the vegetable mixture with the pear, herbs, reserved fennel fronds, walnuts and cornbread; season with salt and pepper. Gently toss the stuffing mixture with 1/2 cup broth to moisten (adding more to moisten if needed); transfer to the prepared baking dish. Lightly mist a piece of foil large enough to cover the dish. Pour 1/2 cup broth over the stuffing and cover with the foil.
• Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover the stuffing and bake until golden around edges, about 30 minutes more.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Lightly mist an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, stir together the egg white, water and buttermilk; stir in the muffin mix and wheat germ until incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center tests clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

NO-BAKE SAUSAGE AND CORNBREAD DRESSING

Steps:

• In a large saute pan on low heat, add the ground spicy pork sausage and cook slowly to render out the fat, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, fennel seed and celery salt. Once the fat is rendered and the meat starts to brown and crisp, add the carrots, celery, chestnuts, fennel, onions, garlic and sage. Cook until the meat continues to brown, the carrots become soft and tender and the onions become translucent, about 10 minutes.
• Add the crumbled cornbread and chicken stock and stir until completely incorporated and the bread is moist. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with the parsley.
• Serve family style in a large bowl while still hot.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch cast-iron pan with butter.
• Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the buttermilk, whole milk, oil and egg until smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick is smooth when tested, about 25 minutes.

SKILLET SAUSAGE AND CORNBREAD DRESSING

Steps:

• For the cornbread: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch cast-iron skillet with butter.
• Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the buttermilk, whole milk, oil, Dijon mustard and egg until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared skillet and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. The cornbread can be made up to 1 day in advance. Wrap tightly in several layers of plastic wrap and store at room temperature.
• For the stuffing: Crumble enough of the cornbread into large pieces to make 4 cups. Reserve the remaining cornbread for another use.
• Add the sausage to a large skillet over medium heat and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until the fat starts to render, about 8 minutes. Add the onion powder, garlic powder, fennel seed and celery salt and season with salt and pepper. Once the meat starts to brown and crisp, add the onion, carrot, celery, chestnuts, fennel, garlic and sage. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is browned, the carrots become soft and tender and the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
• Add the white wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring the wine to a boil and cook until mostly evaporated, about 3 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock and Dijon mustard and bring to a simmer. Fold in the cornbread until completely incorporated and the bread is moist and heated through, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Transfer the stuffing to a serving bowl and garnish with the parsley.

CORNBREAD, SAUSAGE, AND FENNEL DRESSING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°. Divide cornbread between 2 baking sheets. Bake, tossing occasionally, until brown in spots, 40-45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up with a spoon, until dark brown, 6-8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a bowl; let cool.
• Reduce heat to medium and heat 8 tbsp butter in same skillet. Add fennel, celery, scallions, and garlic and cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add pears and wine, increase heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until wine is almost completely evaporated, about 5 minutes.
• Increase oven temperature to 400°. Butter a 13" x 9" baking dish. Combine sausage, fennel mixture, parsley, marjoram, thyme, sage, and 1 1/2 cups broth in a large bowl. Add cornbread and toss; season with salt and pepper. Let sit 10 minutes, then add remaining 1/2 cup broth and toss, adding more broth if needed (bread should be moist but not soggy). Add eggs and mix gently to combine. Transfer dressing to prepared baking dish and dot with remaining 2 tbsp butter.
• Cover dressing with foil and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until top is golden and crisp, 20-30 minutes longer. Serve topped with fennel fronds.