Virtual Town founder, Scott Spivey, loves Thanksgiving. More specifically, he loves Thanksgiving dressing. Like with most things, Scott had more of a story to it, but he promised to share a very special recipe afterwards.
Here’s the backstory and his recipe in his own words.
I cook mama’s dressing and have for about 12 years now. I have always loved to cook but never thought I could cook dressing like mama did because hers was so so good.
I finally asked for the recipe which came in an email. It was one of those recipes you expect to get from a great cook: “a little of this, some of that, more or less this and cook everything about that long.”
Mama was a spectacular cook so it seemed odd to me when I found out where her recipe came from. Mama told me she got her recipe from her mama, my nana. Nana was a lot of things but a good cook was not one of them. However, daddy loved nana’s dressing and told everybody it was the best they would ever eat. He’s never said if mama matched nana’s prowess on dressing but as far as I’m concerned mama’s is the best anybody has ever made.
Mama’s dressing is made with sage which, I have found in my older years, is a thing of controversy. Some people swear by it and others swear you’re crazy if you use it. I’ve never known dressing any other way and can’t imagine not using it.
Here’s roughly what you’ll need.
Ingredients:
Cornbread
Old biscuits
Giblets and wings from Turkey
1 large onion
1 stalk of celery
Butter
3-6 eggs
1-2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup
Sage (crumbled if possible)
And finally the recipe.
1 recipe of cornbread – NOT JIFFY (1/2 recipe if not making a large pan)
Old biscuits and a couple slices of light bread (Mama always kept old bread in the freezer and that is what she used. If, by some odd chance, she didn’t have enough bread in the freezer she would cook biscuits and let them sit out to get stale.)
Boil giblets and wings from Turkey for juice.
Cut up 1 large onion, 1 stalk of celery and tender in a small amount of butter.
Crumble breads into a large mixing bowl.
Add 3-6 raw eggs, depending on how much dressing you’re making.
Add 1-2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup, onion, celery and enough juice to make it pretty moist but not runny.
Add enough sage to taste (if you can get crumbled sage rather than rubbed sage it is better). Enough sage to trace barriers for everybody but I’ve found you add more than you think you will need.
Taste for saltiness and add plenty of pepper.
Pour into a pan greased with butter, top with butter pats and bake in a hot 425 degree oven until brown. You want the outside to be brown and crusty and the inside to be moist.
Bonus:
To make giblet gravy melt some butter in a pan, about 4Tb. Add flour, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup, and stir until flour is mixed with butter. Slowly add juice, if any is left from cooking giblets, or chicken broth and a couple of chicken bullion cubes. Stir until it’s the consistency you want for gravy. Add boiled, chopped eggs and chopped giblets. Salt and pepper to taste.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!