INGREDIENTS

    For the cornbread base
  • 2 cups self-rising cornmeal, mix
  • 1 3/4 cups buttermilk (or combine 1 3/4 c. milk with 1 1/2 tsp of vinegar and let stand for a few moments to thicken)
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oilor vegetable shortening , melted

    • For the cooking chicken and broth

  • 3 lbs fryer hen, cut up (use dark and white meat for best flavor & moistness-also, contain small chicken parts in cheesecloth)or chicken parts , skin on. (use dark and white meat for best flavor & moistness-also, contain small chicken parts in cheesecloth)
  • 10-12 cups water , for cooking chicken
  • 8 sprigs fresh parsley
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves , crumbled to release essence

    • For the sauteed celery and onion

  • 4-8 tablespoons broth (before skimming fat)
  • 2 1/2-3 cups chopped celery
  • 2 medium yellow onions , chopped small (at least 1 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon (for the salt)
  • 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage (you can omit or cut in half if preferred)
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 4 tablespoons turkey drippings, with bits (you are making a turkey aren’t you?- or use skin of 2-3 chicken parts and fry in a pan to produce fl)
  • 6 eggs , beaten until frothy (I use pasturized eggs so I can taste the mix before I put it in the oven)

    • May need the following

  • 5 slices of stale whole wheat bread (not moldy)

DIRECTIONS

  1. First, prepare your cornbread which is the base of this dish:.
  2. Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease 9-inch cast iron skillet or 9-inch square pan; put it in the oven to heat. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into greased pan, scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
  3. Set prepared cornbread aside to cool. When cool, remove from pan and in a large 4 qt mixing bowl, cube into 1 inch cubes or you can just crumble it with your hand (which is what Nana would do).
  4. Prepare the chicken and stock (instructions for doing this three different ways to follow:.
  5. Method #1: In a large soup pot with a lid, place cut chicken parts (skin and all except any skin used to produce pan drippings). Cover with 12 cups of water.Make a Bouquet Garni by wrapping the parsley, thyme and bay leaf in a double thickness of cheesecloth and tie neatly in a bundle with kitchen twine. Add the Bouquet Garni to the pot and slowly bring to a boil over medium heat. We are not concerned with cloudy stock so don’t worry about the boiling. We’re just trying to get from point a to point b as quickly as possible. Cover and maintain a high simmer for at least an hour.Keep removing any foam with a wide strainer, but try to keep any liquid in the pot.
  6. Method #2: You could use your pressure cooker with the recommended cook time for 3 lbs of chicken.Add the Bouquet Garni.I always cover the release valve with a damp paper towel to catch the inevitable gross stuff that flys out of it before it gets on my wall.I also use the quick release method to cut down on the flying foam.
  7. Method #3 and my favorite when I am cooking a large holiday feast is to use my crockpot to cook the chicken overnight on low.Don’t cook the chicken for more than 8 hours or it’ll be hard to remove the bones later.You just want to make sure you end up with 10 cups of stock the next day.The crockpot way is the best because the flavor of the stock is far superior.
  8. After cooking your chicken and making your stock you’ll want to further prep both the broth and the chicken.
  9. First, get your chicken ready to cool by seperating it from the broth.I find the best way to do this is to use a big strainer lined with 2 paper towels sitting over a big pot or bowl large enough to catch the broth but with a small enough brim to elevate the strainer. Set drained chicken aside to cool in the soup pot. Prepare your broth (see next step).
  10. To prepare and season the broth:.
  11. Again, line strainer with 2 paper towels and strain the broth into another large bowl. Discard used paper towels, line strainer again with 2 more and strain one more time.This will get alot of those pesky little bones. Finally after straining twice, in the large bowl combine the still hot broth and bouillon, sage, poultry seasoning, black and white pepper.Reserve 4 TB of the broth for the next step. Let the bulk sit on counter to cool a little then refridgerate the broth just enough to skim off the hard fat — set aside. If your broth jels, don’t worry just bring to room temp or nuke a few seconds until liquid again right before using in dressing. You want to end up with about 10 cups of broth (You will use 6 (if everything goes just right-8 cups(if your mix is dry for some reason) for this recipe and 2-4 cups leftover for the giblet gravy). If you don’t have enough stock for the giblet gravy, you can add some water to the whole batch before using in the cornbread dressing to make up for the amount you need.The flavor will still be there. If you are not going to make the giblet gravy, you can just use the condensed broth for the dressing.
  12. While chicken and/or broth is cooking or cooling, finely chop celery and small chunk the onion.In a heavy bottom skillet, combine drippings or chicken skin and 4 TB of broth that you reserved. Cook on medium-high for 5-7minutes minutes, scraping bottom of pan often until chicken skin starts to get crisp.Break any bits off that you can and discard any skin that is still not crispy. Add onions and saute on medium heat, stirring and scraping bottom of pan often until onions are beginning to become clear but not yet limp (about 3-4 minutes). Add more broth at any time you feel you need it- to prevent burning.Add celery and cook about 3 minutes longer until celery is crisp tender and onion is clear and limp and perhaps beginning to caramelize. The chicken skin and drippings should provide enough fat to accomplish your goal. Remove from heat, skim off excess liquid fat and set mixture aside for now.
  13. After chicken has cooled enough to handle, pick through very thoroughly removing Bouquet Garni, bones, cartilage, grissle, any obvious skin or ligaments. You don’t want to bite into little bones later. Shred leftover chicken or cut into small chunks 1 inch or smaller.You want to end up with about 3 cups of chicken.
  14. Grease (or spray with nonstick) your disposable pans.You can use glass and line with foil too.Set aside.
  15. Combine the cubed or crumbled cornbread and cut/shredded chicken in the same big 4 qt or larger bowl. Add reserved celery and onion mixture.
  16. In a small bowl, beat the 6 eggs until frothy.Then, add to cornbread, shredded chicken,and cooked celery mixture. Rake through or stir very minimally.Add 6-8 cups of your (skimmed) and liquid broth (if your broth has jelled then nuke for a moment until it is liquid again) 1 cup at a time until the texture is still bready yet pourable. Take your time because the cornbread will absorb liquid over the course of a few minutes.If you overdo the liquid, add some of your torn whole wheat bread.Nana says: "You want it more moist than dry, ok?" Don’t mix until you’ve let it sit for a few minutes.
  17. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  18. After allowing the cornbread to set for 2 minutes, mix to combine, but don’t overhandle.
  19. Pour (if you can’t pour you need more liquid)into your greased and disposable or foil lined glass dishes and bake for 45 minutes or until set and browned on top.If edges are done to a couple of inches in, then the center is probably done enough too.