Best Cornbread Dressing with Apples & Chorizo
Cornbread Dressing with Apples & Chorizo
There are a few ingredients in this world that I just can’t live without…. green chiles, chipotle and goat cheese. If you’ve been reading this blog, you may have noticed I try and sneak at least one of these into a recipe. I couldn’t resist using those ingredients again in this Thanksgiving recipe. In fact, this may be the best cornbread dressing recipe I’ve made.
I’m still playing with this recipe for cornbread dressing. I say “dressing” because I never stuff a turkey. It’s my belief that it negatively affects the cooking time and temperature of the bird. This could put the turkey at risk of drying out … or put my guests at risk if the cooking temperature of the “stuffing’ doesn’t get high enough to kill bacteria. So, I only make dressing at Thanksgiving. But I digress…
I am still playing with this recipe as there are so many variations to try. This year I’ll be making the first version with apples, chorizo and a touch of goat cheese… but I encourage you to try using the green chiles and chipotle if that floats your boat. Or you could split the recipe and make both!
Whatever you end up doing, I would appreciate it if you left your own version in the comments section as I’m always looking for ideas!
Happy Thanksgiving!
INGREDIENTS
2 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced
6 oz dried cranberries
1 large sweet yellow onion, diced
3 TBSP garlic, minced
2 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 TBSP fresh thyme, chopped
4-5 TBSP organic unsalted butter
Sea salt, fresh cracked pepper – to taste
6 oz of Goat Cheese (*optional)
1 1/2 – cups organic chicken broth (or homemade stock)
1/2 lb chorizo, diced (or more if desired)
2 qt cornbread, day old – cubed (see prep note below)
DIRECTIONS
Day Before: Make cornbread, cut into 1 inch cubes and allow to sit uncovered at room temperature for a day.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place cubed cornbread on a baking sheet and lightly toast in oven until just crisp, about 10-12 minutes, set aside.
Melt the butter in a large sauteed pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and apples and cook until tender but not browned, about 5 minutes. In the last minute add the garlic so cooks until just fragrant.
In a separate saute pan, brown the chorizo sausage over medium heat until the chorizo gets crispy and most of the fat is rendered. Drain.
Combine chorizo, goat cheese, parsley, thyme and chicken stock in a large mixing bowl with the apples and veggies. Mix well. Then gently add and mix in cornbread cubes. If it seems dry, add a little more chicken stock until it’s wet, but not too wet. Season with salt and pepper.
Add this mixture into buttered baking dish and bake uncovered until golden brown and heated through, about 35-40 minutes. Watch closely so it doesn’t burn.
Variation: Replace apples with 3/4 cup of roasted, diced green chiles and add 2 TBSP chipotle adobe sauce to chorizo when browning.
