I have been holding onto this recipe, pretty much since Rachael Ray Magazine started. It was in her first Thanksgiving edition, so that was about 4-5 years ago. But I never had to actually prepare anything until this year, so what better year to break it out!
There is quite a bit going on here, but I divided it up into 2 days worth of work.
The day before Thanksgiving, I prepared the corn muffins, and chestnuts.
The recipe calls for 2 8 oz packages of corn muffin mix, so I just bought the cheapest one, as they are going to be mixed with other things. So just prepare the muffins according to the back of the package
I just added milk, oil, and eggs, according to Marie Callender,
Filled up a greased muffin tray 2/3 of the way full, and baked about 13 minutes (I don't remember what the oven was set on, but every muffin package will be different)
Then I just put them in a tupperware to save until the next day (one less thing I have to do on Turkey Day)
Now on to the chestnuts (Which were rather difficult to find) (three stores later)
All I could find were raw chestnuts, so I had to roast them myself. Which was much easier than I was expecting it to be.
First just wipe them off with a damp paper towl
Next cut an 'X' in the top of it (It's easiest when you lay it on the flat side) (also, the shell isn't too hard, so with a regular steak knife, I was able to do it easily)
Like So
Once all of them had been scored, I placed them in a pan, and roasted them for about 25 minutes at 425 Degrees.
This is what they will look like coming out of the oven. Wait about 10 minutes for them to cool (just enough for you to touch them) and peel the shells off (It's best and easiest to do that while they're still warm)
This is what they are supposed to look like. (I had about 3-5 rotten ones in a 1 lb bag, they are brown throughout)
Then I just popped them into the fridge to await the rest of the preparation on Turkey day!
Thanksgiving rolled around, and the rest of the prep-work began!
I crumbled up the muffins, and placed them on an un-greased baking sheet and popped them into the oven for about 10 minutes to toast.
While they are in the oven, whisk together the chicken broth, half and half, and the eggs.
Fold in the toasted cornbread with the milk/egg/broth mix, until it is all soaked up.
Meanwhile, I cooked the bacon (in a skillet) until the edges were just starting to get crispy, drained most of the grease off of the pan, and added the butter and about 1/2 chopped onion. (You can also add celery at this point, but I don't care for it, so I left it out.)
and cooked them until the onion was starting to get tender. Then add the chestnuts, thyme and sage, then stir in the cranberries, parsley and muffin mix.
At this point, my mom came over, and I promptly neglected to take anymore pics. Oops. I'm still pretty bad about that, but I acknowledge this short-coming and will do my best to remedy it.
At this point, let this mixture stand for about 30 minutes, while the oven pre-heats.
Add stuffing mix to a greased casserole dish (9x9) and cover and bake for 40 min. Uncover and bake until golden for another 15 minutes.
I just have to say that this stuffing was DELICIOUS!!!!! Even Matt liked it...I think. He had a small bite, which I learned was a HUGE step! Apparantly he isn't a fan of stuffing. Huh...I thought EVERYONE loved stuffing!
It was the right mix of sweet and savory. The cranberries really added a pop to it, and almost made it like a dessert. If I make it again, I would go low-fat, and it was VERY rich.
But all in all, I think it was a HUGE success. Even though, only my mom and I ate it. Who cares! More left overs for us!!
For a printable version of this recipe click
here!!
Original Recipe can be found
here
