Cornbread Dressing with Sage

"You can keep your stuffing. My favorite Thanksgiving side is just that—on the side—and we call it dressing."
- Rick Bragg

Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner is not complete without a pan of cornbread dressing.  Don't ever call it stuffing, and please, I beg of you, do NOT buy that nasty boxed stuff that uses bread crumbs.  Ick.  'Nuff said.  Now, let's get down to business...  Dressing is delicious.  Full of celery, onion, cornbread, and sage, this is what dreams are made of.  I could sit down and eat nothing but the dressing and be completely satisfied, until the sage gave me raging heartburn.  When we make a batch, the pan weighs at least 5 pounds.  We also typically make enough cornbread and chop enough celery and onions to freeze some for a second batch - this comes in particularly handy when you've got Thanksgiving followed by two Christmas dinners where at least one pan of dressing is required at each.  For this purpose we always make the cornbread in well-seasoned cast iron skillets that have been oiled and preheated in the oven before the batter is divided.  That is what gives it that crackly fried crust that is so delicious.  If you don't have a cast iron skillet, just use whatever you've got.  That's enough talk.

Cornbread Dressing with Sage

2 batches White Lily Cornbread
2 cups celery, chopped fine
1 cups onion, chopped fine
5 Tb rubbed sage
2-14oz cans low-sodium chicken broth

1a.  Bake cornbread in well-seasoned, oiled, preheated cast iron skillets until golden brown.  Turn out into a very large bowl (think dishpan size), crumble cornbread once it is cool enough to handle.

1b.  Chop vegetables.  Quite a few of the following pictures are of the steps I take to prep and chop the celery.  What can I say?  I'm particular about the methodology of chopping celery :)

Wash celery thoroughly

Dry celery

Trim white root end and top leafy end

Use a vegetable peeler to remove any "bad" spots

Slice each stalk lengthwise into 4 strips

Finely chop, but do not pulverize celery, ~1/8" dice

2.  Sprinkle sage on top of crumbled cornbread and stir well.

3.  Add celery and onion and stir.

4.  Add broth and mix well.  It has enough broth when you can press on it with a spoon and it holds together.

5.  Line 9" x 13" cake pan with foil and coat. with nonstick cooking spray.  Spoon dressing into pan and gently press down to compact mixture.

6.  Bake at 350º F for 30-45 minutes, depending on how thick it is and how crisp you like the top, until the top is browned.