Stone-ground cornmeal and generous portions of egg and sausage make this America’s Test Kitchen classic a favorite among their tens of thousands of recipe testers. The recipe, featured in the new cookbook, “The Side Dish Bible: 1001 Perfect Recipes for Every Vegetable, Rice, Grain and Bean Dish You’ll Ever Need” (America’s Test Kitchen; $35), comes with a mouth-watering variation: The addition of red peppers and chipotle chiles — and andouille instead of plain pork sausage — for a spicy, unexpected flavor profile holiday guests will be talking about all year.
America’s Test Kitchen’s Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing
Serves 10 to 12
Cornbread:
2 2/3 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
Stuffing:
1 1/2 pounds bulk pork sausage
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 onions, chopped fine
3 celery ribs, chopped fine
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions:
For the cornbread: Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a 13 by 9‑inch baking pan. In a bowl, whisk milk, oil and eggs together; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the milk mixture and whisk until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake on lower rack until cornbread is golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let bread cool in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours. (Cooled cornbread can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.) Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees.
Cut cornbread into 1‑inch squares. Divide cornbread between 2 rimmed baking sheets and bake until dry, 50 minutes to 1 hour, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cornbread cool completely on sheets, about 30 minutes.
For the stuffing: Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees. Grease a 13 by 9‑inch baking dish. Cook the sausage in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a paper towel–lined plate and pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from pan. Add 2 tablespoons butter, onions and celery to the fat in pan and cook until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, sage and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in broth, remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
Whisk half-and-half, eggs, salt and cayenne together in large bowl. Slowly whisk in broth mixture until incorporated. Fold in dried cornbread and sausage and let sit, tossing occasionally, until saturated, about 20 minutes.
Transfer cornbread mixture to prepared dish. Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter and drizzle evenly over top. Bake on upper rack until golden brown and crisp, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes. Serve.
Variation: Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing with Red Pepper, Chipotle Chiles, and Andouille
Omit the sausage and increase the butter to 8 tablespoons.
In step 3 — for the stuffing — melt 2 tablespoons of that butter in a 12‑inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 red bell peppers that have been stemmed, seeded and cut into 1/4‑inch pieces, along with a third of the onions and celery called for in the recipe, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes; transfer to a bowl.
Melt another 2 tablespoons butter in now-empty skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining onions and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup minced chipotle chile in adobo sauce along with the thyme, sage and garlic. Stir in broth, remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
Whisk half-and-half, eggs, salt and cayenne together in a large bowl as directed above. Whisk in the broth mixture until incorporated, then fold in the red pepper mixture, the dried cornbread and 1 1/2 pounds andouille sausage, cut into 1/2‑inch pieces. Let sit, tossing occasionally, until saturated, about 20 minutes. Proceed with final step of recipe instructions.
“The Side Dish Bible: 1001 Perfect Recipes for Every Vegetable, Rice, Grain, and Bean Dish You’ll Ever Need” (America’s Test Kitchen; $35)
