family secret #1

First, the best cornbread dressin’ you've ever had, with faux-giblet gravy, straight from my Nanny’s mouth.

Dressin’:

3 cups white corn meal
3/4 cup tablespoons flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 cups celery

1 1/2 cups onion

4 chicken breasts

8 boiled eggs

Stir together first five ingredients. Cut up about 1-1/2 cups of celery and 1-1 1/2 cups of onion. Add to the cornbread mixture. (from Nanny, “This is my idea---I do not know anyone that cooks their celery and onion in the cornbread for dressing but it is fully cooked this way.”) Heat an iron skillet on top of stove with a little oil -- sprinkle a small amount of cornmeal in skillet, pour in cornbread mixture and cook in oven about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Turn bread out of pan and let cool. Can be cooked the day before.

Crumble cornbread.....add 3-4 crumbled bread heels OR slices as well. Cook chicken in water to make broth, remove the chicken, then pour in just enough broth to moisten the cornbread mixture. Add 3 torn-up chicken breasts to the cornbread mix. Cut up and add eggs.

**NEVER pack dressing into pan to cook, and don’t stir too much!

"Giblet" Gravy

Use the rest of the chicken broth for the gravy. Don’t use giblets -- instead use the remaining chicken breast. Also, use broth from a box to have enough. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, stir the broth with 2-3 chopped, boiled eggs and the torn-up chicken breast. Get broth to boiling. Meanwhile, put 2-3 tablespoons of flour in a glass, and add hot or warm water to make a thin paste. As the broth boils, add the flour mixture to thicken it. Season with salt and pepper, heat thoroughly, and the “giblet” gravy is done!