Thanksgiving is just around the corner, although I have to admit, I haven’t thought of it all that much.
My mind is pretty much focused on 2 dates: This Friday when we move out of our apartment, and Dec. 6th when we move back to the U.S.
Usually, I cook up a big (well, big for two people) Thanksgiving dinner for Hisa and myself, as we’re always unable to visit my family in the U.S. during Thanksgiving, but this year we’ll be in the middle of traveling around western Japan (instead of traveling to Thailand), so we won’t really have the chance to celebrate it. I’m not complaining though. I’m looking forward to traveling with my husband, and also looking forward to seeing my family in December.
For those of you who will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner, I wanted to share with you my all time favorite Thanksgiving dressing recipe. This is my mom’s recipe, and she’s made it every Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember. When I moved to Japan, I made sure I got her recipe, so I could make it on Thanksgiving as well.
Normally, you would serve this in the pan you baked it in, so the top is crunchy and wonderful, and the inside is soft and delicious, but I needed the pan to bake something else. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner in a Japanese kitchen with only a microwave sized oven and two pans is hard. I’m just sayin’.
Here’s a slightly better picture. Normally, you would also want to bake this in a 9 x 13″ baking dish, but I only have a square baking dish…so I crammed it really full. One must improvise in times of need and tiny kitchens. Check out that pea salad and maple roasted sweet potatoes with walnuts, mmmmm.
If you want to make this really good, and save time on Thanksgiving day, I recommend getting everything mixed together (except the chicken broth), cover it, and refrigerate it overnight. This will allow the flavors to really incorporate into the bread, and it’ll taste that much more delicious when it’s done. This will save you time on Thanksgiving day, because all you’ll need to do is pour it in the baking dish, pour on some chicken broth, and bake it. Easy-peasy.
One last thing, thanks Mom!
Biscuit and Cornbread Dressing
(serves 4 – 6)
- 1 batch of biscuits (10 – 12 biscuits. It doesn’t have to be exact)
- 1 pan cornbread (baked in a 9×9″ baking dish)
- 1/2 c. diced onion
- 1/2 c. chopped celery
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- 3 tsp. sage powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 c. chicken broth (approximately)
- Crumble cornbread and biscuits into a large bowl.
- Add onion, celery, eggs, sage, salt, and pepper, and mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate for an hour or overnight (optional).
- Pre-heat oven to 350° F (175° C).
- Slowly drizzle chicken broth over dressing and mix until dressing is wet, but not soggy.
- Pour into a 9 x 13″ baking dish and bake, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Serve immediately.
Commercial announcer voice: “This dressing is part of a complete Thanksgiving feast.”
And no, that’s not a turkey. That’s a chicken. You think I can find turkey in Japan, much less bake one in my microwave? I didn’t think so.
Enjoy!
