2 tablespoons bacon fat (if no bacon fat, use vegetable shortening but bacon fat is better)
1 3/4cupsflour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4cupgranulated sugar
1/4cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter, melted
For the Stuffing
Corn bread from above (or 10 cups of your own corn bread) cubed
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2cups diced onion
1 1/2cups diced celery plus the leaves from the stalks
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1pound Italian mild or sweet sausage removed from casings
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons fresh sage chopped fine
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary chopped fine
1quart chicken, turkey or vegetable stock, divided
3/4cupswalnuts roughly cut up
1 peeled, cored and diced Granny Smith apple
1/2cup dried cranberries
2 eggs beaten
Instructions
To make our corn bread, soak the corn meal in the buttermilk overnight covered and left at room temperature.
The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Once the oven is up to temp, place two tablespoons of bacon fat in a nine inch square pan (or similar volume) and place in the oven while you work on the corn bread batter.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add granulated and brown sugar, stir and set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs.
In a small bowl, mix melted butter with honey. Then add the butter and honey to the eggs and stir. Then add the egg mixture to the soaked corn meal and stir. Finally add the wet to the dry and stir.
Remove the hot pan from the oven with oven mitts and swirl the hot bacon fat around the pan. Pour the batter into the hot pan and place back in oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the center springs back when touched.
Reduce oven to 275 degrees.
Cool the corn bread slightly then cut into two inch cubes, lay out on a sheet pan and place in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove, flip cubes and bake for 20 more minutes. Pour into a large bowl.
To make the stuffing, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large sauté pan, heat oil and butter over medium high heat and add onion, celery and salt. Sauté for 2 minutes then lower heat to medium and add sausage, garlic, sage and rosemary and sauté until sausage is cooked through.
Add half of the stock and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan then remove from the heat.
In the large bowl that has the toasted corn bread, add walnuts, apple and cranberries. Then add all of mixture from the sauté pan.
Using a wooden spoon, stir the meat mixture into corn bread mixture. Add the second half of the stock along with the beaten eggs and mix to combine.
Spray a 9X13 baking dish with pan spay and pour in the stuffing. Cover with parchment and foil.
Bake for 55-60 minutes until cooked through and hot in the center. If you would like the top to be browned, remove the foil for the last 15 minutes of cooking.
Serve hot with roasted turkey, chicken or pork.
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Notes
If you are using our corn bread recipe to make this stuffing, please note the corn meal needs to soak overnight in the buttermilk so be sure to leave yourself enough time. Baking time listed in this recipe includes time to bake our cornbread recipe.