HOLIDAY CORNBREAD PECAN STUFFING

Stuffing...so many varieties, there could be a section of a bookstore devoted to the many many

stuffing/dressing recipes. I actually add some cooked wild rice to this recipe, which I love but some people may think the wild rice has too much flavor and takes away a bit from the cornbread taste.

You can make this the day ahead and refrigerate until you are ready to stuff the turkey. You can make homemade cornbread, or from a box. I actually use cornbread stuffing croutons.

Ingredients:

1 pkg cornbread stuffing

1 stick unsalted butter

5-6 slices of good bacon

1-1/2 cups chopped onion

1-1/2 cups chopped celery

2 large shallots chopped

2 tsp dried thyme

1 tbl dried sage

3 cups toasted pecans, chopped

3 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth

salt

fresh ground pepper

In a large saute pan, add 4 tbl butter and add bacon and brown slowly until it is crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside. Leaving the fat in the pan, add the onion, celery, shallots, thyme and sage. Stir often until soft about 10 minutes. Toss the vegetable and pecans with the cornbread stuffing. Season with salt and pepper. Add the eggs stirring just until it holds together. If you need more liquid, melt a little butter and add it to the mixture.

Let it cool completely before filling the turkey. Bake any extra in a greased dish for about 45 minutes basting it occassionally.

If you want to add wild rice, cook it according to package directions and add to the stuffing with the vegetables. You may want to cut back a bit on the cornbread and taste after incorporated and add more cornbread stuffing as you like.

A nice change of pace!

ENJOY!