Cornbread Dressing

Make cornbread the day before to save time. If you like your dressing a little more firm, reduce the amount of broth by 1/2 cup.

Yield: Makes 10 servings

Ingredients

• 2  cups  yellow cornmeal
• 2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 2  tablespoons  sugar
• 2  tablespoons  baking powder
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 2  cups  milk
• 2  large eggs
• 1/2  cup  vegetable oil
• 4  pounds  hot breakfast sausage
• 1  large onion, chopped
• 1  green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground red pepper
• 6  (14-ounce) cans chicken broth

Preparation

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in milk, eggs, and oil. Pour batter into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan and bake at 425° for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Let cool in pan; finely crumble into a very large bowl.

Brown sausage in a large skillet, in batches if necessary, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain, reserving 3 tablespoons drippings. Return reserved drippings and sausage to skillet, and stir in onion and next 2 ingredients. Cook over medium heat 7 minutes or until tender, stirring often. Add sausage and vegetables to cornbread in bowl, and stir well. Pour chicken broth over cornbread mixture; stir well. (Mixture will be wet.)

Spoon dressing into a lightly greased roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 1 hour or until set and browned.