Growing up stuffing (what we always called it regardless of whether or not it was stuffed into the turkey).  I know that some call it “dressing” and I believe that is a southern term, but also refers to the dish that is not stuffed into the turkey.  Who knows – whatever – it ROCKS!  😉  My first year of gluten-free eating was 2006 (January 12th, to be exact).  We used a gluten-free bread, not cornbread, and it was not good.  I think it was Ener-G, but I am not positive.  I just know that it didn’t turn out well at all.  I was so disappointed.  The following year I thought about using cornbread instead.  The cornbread I had made gluten-free was darn near the same as the cornbread I had made before.  It had to be better in the stuffing.  It was!  This is what we have now used for the past few years for stuffing/dressing.  We do not stuff the turkey with it, but that has nothing to do with the gluten-free status, but more of my OCD fears of it not getting cooked enough.  I prefer it crisped up on top anyway. 

Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage – ingredients

2 batches of cornbread

1 roll of sausage (check to make sure it is GF)

2 sticks of butter

Chopped celery

Chopped onion (I omit b/c I can’t eat onions)

Salt

Pepper

Poultry Seasoning

Broth – turkey or chicken

I am going to go through the entire method below.  From baking the cornbread to making the sausage and combining it all together.  Also, I make the cornbread a few days in advance.  You can leave it partially uncovered to help dry it out.

Cornbread

**From the back of the Quaker Yellow Corn Meal Box

***Double this for the stuffing

1 ¼ cups Pamela’s Baking Mix

¾ cup cornmeal (Used Bob’s Red Mill Stone Ground Cornmeal)

¼ cup sugar (1/8 cup for stuffing cornbread)

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt (I omitted this b/c there is salt in Pamela’s baking mix)

1 cup buttermilk (the box says to use skim, I like buttermilk in my cornbread)

¼ cup vegetable oil (I use canola)

2 egg whites or 1 egg beaten (I used the beaten egg.

Heat oven to 400. Pam 8 or 9 inch baking pan. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. (I did 20 minutes).

The day of preparation.

Crumble the cornbread onto cookie sheets in a single layer & place in oven at 250 – 300 degrees and check frequently until it gets dried out, but not burnt.  While you are doing this, you can prepare the sausage (I used Tennesee Pride Mild). 

Melt butter in large frying pan.  Add chopped celery & onion & cook until translucent.  Add seasonings – salt, pepper & poultry seasoning to taste.  My Mom is the pro at this.  You can always add more, so taste as y0u go. 

Mix bread, sausage and butter/celery/onion mixture together in a large bowl. 

You will need to add broth to moisten the stuffing before placing in the oven.  How much depends on your preference.  The more, the moister.  Cover & bake at 350 – 375 for 30-40 minutes.  Take cover off for the last 10 minutes or so to crisp up the top if you like.

Notice the different dish?  I had so much stuffing I had 2 dishes full and forgot which one I had been taking pictures of!