Cornbread is a traditional accompaniment at many Cajun meals—much more so than white bread. Often the leftover cornbread from the noon or evening meal would reappear at the breakfast table to be crumbled and eaten in milk or topped with thick, dark Steen’s Cane Syrup. Yum!
Crusty, Cajun cornbread is not a sweet, cake-like bread and because of this it lends itself wonderfully to savory dressings like Mom used to make!
Mom’s Cornbread Dressing Recipe – Cajun Style
(La Farce au Pain de Mais)
Ingredients
- 1 large chicken, including neck and giblets
- Prepared chicken stock, or water and 2 chicken bouillon cubes
- 1 pound fresh Cajun pork sausage with green onions
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 green bell peppers, chopped
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 3 celery ribs, chopped
- 5 eggs, beaten
- 2 teaspoons black pepper, coarsely ground
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sage
- 6 slices white bread, cubed
- 1 crusty cornbread, cooled and crumbled (see recipe below)
Instructions
Place chicken in a large pot, cover with stock (or water and bouillon) and simmer until tender.
Reserving the stock, remove the chicken from the pot. Allow chicken to cool enough to handle, and debone and dice the meat.
Remove sausage from casing and sauté in a large frying pan until done. Set sausage aside.
In the same skillet, add oil and sauté bell pepper, onion and celery until tender.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the chicken, sausage, and sautéed seasoning vegetables along with the eggs, dry seasonings, white bread cubes and cornbread.
Stir to combine while adding ladles of the chicken stock until the mixture stirs easily—like a thick batter.
Pour into a well-greased casserole or Dutch oven and bake uncovered at 300° F for approximately 1 ½ hours or until the center of the dressing is firm (but not dry!).
Easy Recipe for Cornbread Cajun Style
(Pain de Mais)
Ingredients
- 4 cups self-rising cornmeal
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons cooking oil
- 3 cups milk
Instructions
Combine all ingredients until just moistened.
Pour into a hot greased cast iron skillet.
Bake at 350° F for about 45 minutes or until brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
This cornbread dressing recipe makes 12 to 14 servings. It freezes well and makes wonderful use of leftover cornbread and stale white bread (pain perdu – literally “lost bread”), too!
For other detectible Cajun dining experiences, try making an authentic Cajun Boudin Blanc, Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya, or learn the tricks to making an easy Roux!
