September 25, 2013:
We are excited to introduce our new fall cooking series: Holiday Favorites from BlueStar All Star Chefs. Twice a month, we will be sharing exclusive holiday recipes that our All Star Chefs love to cook at home for their families during the holidays. Our goal is to create a virtual cookbook to make your holiday cooking season even more delicious. Look for new recipes twice monthly here.
First up: Cornbread Dressing from Chef Slade Rushing of MiLa restaurant in New Orleans
The Details:
Chef: Slade Rushing
Restaurant: MiLa Restaurant – New Orleans, LA
Favorite Holiday Recipe: Cornbread Dressing
Why This a Holiday Favorite: “The Holidays would be nothing without a good dressing. This dressing is perfect for a turkey and can easily become vegetarian with the use of mushroom broth instead of chicken broth. The toasted cornbread adds a nuttiness which keeps people digging for more while the shiitake mushrooms will make your guest swear there is meat in there.”
How your BlueStar range / oven helps make it perfect: “The precise even heat of the BlueStar gas burners ensures perfect results every time. Because of the large capacity of the oven, it’s easy to make a double batch of this stuffing.”
Recipe: MiLa’s Cornbread Dressing
Serves 8
For the cornbread:
- 3/4 T – Sea salt
- 1/4 cup – Sugar
- 2 cups – All purpose flour
- 2 cups – Cornmeal
- 4 Whole eggs
- 2 cups – Whole milk
- 1/2 lb – Unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup – Minced shallots
For the dressing:
- 4 T – Blended oil
- 1 cup – Diced shallots
- 1 cup – Diced celery
- 2 T – Chopped fresh garlic
- 2 cups – Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 qt – Swanson’s chicken broth
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 lb – Unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 T – Fresh thyme leaves (removed from the stem)
- 1 tsp – Fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 tsp – Fresh sage, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. For the cornbread, mix all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk. Separately, mix all wet ingredients together except for the butter. Make a well in your dry ingredients and pour the wet inside the well. Gradually mix the two together with a whisk until smooth. Add your melted butter and whisk until smooth. Last, add the shallots to the batter and mix until well incorporated. Pour onto a 13″ x 18″ sheet pan lined with oiled parchment paper. Smooth the batter until it is nice and even in the pan. Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool and then dice in 1″ dice.
- Put your diced cornbread back on the sheet pan and cook in the oven until the edges are crispy and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- To make the dressing, heat a large saute pan over medium high heat until almost smoking. Add 2 T oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Then add your shallots, celery and garlic to the pan and saute until nice and soft. Remove the vegetables from the pan and let cool. Return to same saute pan to the heat and let it reach the smoking point. Then add 2 T oil and your shiitake mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms until they are golden brown. Remove them from the pan and let them cool.
- Whisk your eggs into the Swanson’s chicken broth. Add the cooled melted butter to the mixture and blend well.
- In a large bowl, combine toasted cornbread, fresh thyme leaves, fresh sage, and fresh rosemary. Also mix in your cooled shallots, celery, and shiitake mushrooms. Season the dressing well with salt and pepper. Add your liquid ingredients and mix well again. Place the dressing in a large casserole dish and bake in the oven until the top is brown and crisp.
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