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Use Firenza’s Traditional Sweet Cornbread mix as a basis for your Thanksgiving stuffing. Dee-lish! Also makes a great side dish for ANY time of year.

You Will Need:

1 box Firenza Traditional Sweet Corn Bread mix
4 stalks of celery chopped or cut into very small pieces
4 cloves of crushed garlic
3 Tbsp olive oil (you can substitute melted butter)
(Optional) 1 chopped onion
(Optional) 1 lb of browned ground sausage (pre-cooked before adding to recipe)
1 Tbsp fresh (or dried) chopped sage
2 tsp fresh (or dried) chopped rosemary
2 tsp fresh (or dried) chopped tarragon
1 Tbsp fresh (or dried) thyme
3/4 tsp salt or your favorite seasoning salt (use slightly less if you use the sausage option)
2/3 cup dried chopped dates
1 cup of chicken broth
(Optional) 1 cup chopped pecans

1. Make the corn bread according to box.

2. (Optional) Brown the sausage and drain all fat. Set aside.

3. Once the baked corn bread has cooled, remove it from the pan.

4. Cut the bread into 1” cubes.

5. Place the corn bread cubes on a baking sheet or cookie pan.

6. Bake the bread cubes in a 350˚ oven for 20 minutes or until the bread pieces become more firm and dry. Remove from the oven and set aside.

7. In a large skillet, sauté the celery, (optional onion) and the garlic together using the olive oil or butter.

8. Add the sage, tarragon, rosemary, thyme and salt to the celery mixture. Mix together thoroughly.

9. Add the dates to the celery mixture.

10. (Optional) Add the nuts to the celery mixture.

11. (Optional) Add the cooked ground sausage.

12. Turn the heat to low for 5 minutes.

13. Remove from the heat.

14. Place 1/2 of the corn bread cubes into a large bowl.

15. Add 1/2 of the herbed celery mixture to the bread cubes and mix together.

16. Add 1/2 C of chicken broth and mix.

17. Add the remaining cubes and the remaining herb mixture. Add 1/2 C more of broth so that the mixture is an even consistency. If the mixture seems too dry, add more broth.

18. Stuff the turkey. Depending upon the size of your turkey, you may have stuffing left over. Place extra stuffing into a casserole dish with a little more broth and bake covered for 30 minutes at 325˚. Serve when hot!

[Techtags: stuffing, dressing, cornbread stuffing, corn bread, recipe]

A simple modification to our cornbread recipe should solve any problems you may have when cooking at a high altititude. The secret? When blending your ingredients just add 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour.

Cornbread is a great addition to most any meal.  Here is a variation we like to use - making cornbread muffins.  An easy way to separate your cornbread into easy to handle individual portions.

You Will Need:

1 box of our Traditional Sweet Cornbread Mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil or melted butter

1. Heat oven to 375°. While oven is pre-heating, grease 8″x8″x2″ baking pan.

2. Blend milk, eggs, oil and mix together in a large bowl. Stir until moistened, about 30 seconds.

3. Spoon batter into 12 standard muffin cups, about 2/3 full.

4. Bake at 375° for 17-22 minutes.

5. Remove from oven. Let bread cool before serving.

Technorati Tags: cornbread, muffins, thanksgiving, recipe, corn bread