Iris Ellis' Cornbread Dressing

First of all, many of my recipes are written and remembered by the person who gave them to me. None of you were probably privileged enough to know the kind, gentle lady for whom this recipe is named and sadly, she left this earth several years ago, followed within a few short years by her daughter who was one of my best friends.



During college, we couldn't wait for Thanksgiving and for Loraine to go home and bring back some of Iris' dressing. Here in the south, we don't stuff turkeys; that's for Northerners and those not lucky enough to be born here. We make our dressing in a separate pan and it always starts with day-old cornbread. Many of my friends' mothers made dressing, but none as well as Iris. She would always make an extra pan for Loraine and we would freeze it and take it out in the summer as a celebratory meal.



When Loraine died, I no longer had her at my disposal to remember Iris' recipe for me. Her daddy came to my rescue the first Thanksgiving after her death. I frantically emailed him for the secret recipe and he gladly shared. I will post EXACTLY as it was given to me (with accurate measurements in parentheses). Every Thanksgiving, I have a couple of friends who still call me for this recipe and I gladly share, remembering with much love the two women who made this recipe possible.

Iris Ellis' Cornbread Dressing

Day old cornbread
(1 pan - I use an old cast-iron skillet and make homemade cornbread. Whatever you do, DO NOT use Jiffy cornbread mix as it is too sweet)
3 or 4 biscuits (again, I make my own but it acceptable to use biscuits from Bojangles or the like)
A couple of pieces of toast

Crumble all these together (I will sometimes put them in the food processor for a finer crumb)

Saute and onion and some celery in butter (chop one onion finely and a stalk of celery)
Beat 2 eggs with a little bit of milk (I use a couple of tablespoons)
Add above to bread mixture

Add sage, salt and pepper to taste (I use a good amount of sage - 1 t. and 1 t. of salt)

Add two cans of chicken broth

Dot with butter and bake at 350 til done (this takes about 30 minutes)