A few weeks ago, I read Gina’s post about freezer meals and I thought her “Chicken and Dressing” sounded amazing, but I didn’t have any canned soup or sage, so I reinvented it and made my own version of a cornbread casserole, inspired by Gina. And I made fresh cranberry sauce to go with it. (Fresh cranberry sauce is seriously delish and it’s the easiest thing on earth to make.)
Eddie and I thought the casserole turned out pretty good, but the kids went INSANE over this. Nicholas had five (yes five) helpings before I cut him off so he wouldn’t get sick and Penny stayed at the table eating for over 30 minutes. Nick declared it his new favorite food. So, I’m putting it on my short list of our family favorites.
It’s a very rich and hearty meal and great for colder days. It would also be a good way to use up Thanksgiving left-overs. You could easily substitute with turkey. It reheated well. (I took this picture when I had left-overs for lunch the next day.)
Cornbread Casserole
Ingredients:
1 Box of cornbread muffin mix & ingredients to prepare
2 cups of cooked, shredded chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper)
1 stalk of celery
1 tbs diced onion (I used the dried Tastefully Simple Onion Onion)
chicken stock (about 1.5 cups)
2 eggs
1 tbs milk
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
Recipe:
1. Bake 1 box of cornbread mix in an 8×8 pan and allow to cool. (We removed 1 row for the kids’ after school snack)
2. Crumble cornbread in pan
3. In a small pan, saute onions and celery in butter until soft.
4.. Add cooked, shredded chicken, onions, and celery to 8 x 8 dish with the crumbled cornbread.
5. Add chicken stock until all ingredients are slightly moistened.
6. Beat 2 eggs very well with 1 tbs of milk and stir into pan to incorporate with other ingredients.
7. Top with shredded cheese, if desired
8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20-30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
Serve with gravy and cranberry jelly. This recipe works well for any vegans or vegetarians who might be attending your holiday, because, unlike the canned versions, it doesn’t contain any gelatin.
Easy Homemade Cranberry Jelly
(I think I first saw this method of making easy fruit jelly on an episode of Rachael Ray.)
1 bag of fresh cranberries
1-2 cups of sugar (add one cup first, then add the second slowly, to taste and to reach desired consistency)
1/2 cup orange juice
Combine all ingredients in a medium pot and stir constantly on high heat until cranberries start to pop open and the sauce thickens to jelly. About 10 minutes. (Be very careful it will splash and can burn you!)
Chill before serving
*I make a very easy gravy by combining 1 tbs of flour with 1 tbs of butter in a small pan and cooking it for about 3 minutes. Whisk in chicken stock, salt and pepper. Whisk constantly until it thickens.
Linking to:
Leave a Reply