Miriam's son David called from Houston just before Thanksgiving to inquire about procedure for turkey and dressing - which he calls "stuffing," but which we all know is "dressing." He ate with us some years back, and admired my turkey and dressing, which I have developed from trial and error over the past 20 or so years. I emailed David, and my brother Jerry, a copy of the recipe, which I share herewith, including a few clarifications which they didn't get. I hope their Thanksgiving did not suffer on account of it, but, try again Christmas and get it right, boys. This is mainly for guys, but if others wish to take a whack at it, why, jump right in.

For openers, I don't work from a recipe, but I'll give it my best shot. I assume no liability for anything, except of course, if it works, I'll share the credit.

Begin by making the cornbread. I usually do it the night before, and have it ready for an early start with the turkey.

Here's cornbread:
Mix these dry ingredients
3 cups plain (not self-rising) yellow corn meal.
If you can get home-ground corn meal like Loyd Vines sells at the Dodson Fish Market, that's even better. (I use an old kitchen cup that holds about 1 and 1/2 measuring cups, and my formula is two of these cups; so two of these equals three measuring cups. Generally, though, when I refer to a cup, I'm talking about that old blue kitchen cup.)
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder.

Stir these together, and add
3 good tablespoons olive oil (or regular vegetable oil)
1 egg
About one cup of buttermilk, more or less. (Unless you have home-churned, store brands vary. If the buttermilk is extra thick it takes a little more, for liquid; if it's thinner, a good generous cupful - your kitchen cup, which equals 1 and 1/2 real cups - will do.

Stir all this mixture until well mixed, and the consistency is not too dry (in which case add just a dash more of buttermilk), not too wet . . . but just right. You have to get used to the look and feel of it.
Pour this into a large (10- to 12-inch, if you have it) cast iron skillet or baking pan. Put about a tablespoon of the olive oil in the pan before you pour in the bread dough, so it covers the bottom of the pan, fill it with the oozy dough mixture and bake in the oven at about 400 degrees, for about 20 minutes, or until the top of the bread is golden brown and slightly hard. You can stick a fork in it to see if it's done all the way through, but after doing it a few times, you'll know from the golden brown top. (If the fork comes up with wet dough on it, it's not done yet.)

Put this aside until the next morning, or whenever you start to make the dressing (OK, the stuffing).
(Let's be honest: Sometimes I start the dressing at night, and let it set in the refrigerator until the next morning, and add the turkey stock while it's cooking; see below.

You will have thawed the turkey at least overnight, and better, for up to a whole day so it's not still frozen inside. Peel off the wrapping, wash the bird to clean off the blood and the crud. Get the neck and giblets out of the inside of the bird and lay them aside. Grease the turkey all over outside and inside with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, and whatever spices you care to use --oregano, dill weed, some garlic salt, and put the turkey in your favorite big covered roasting cooker. Pour enough white or blush wine into the bottom of the cooker to cover the bottom plus a little bit, drop in a couple cloves of garlic, a generous dab or two of butter, cover the cooker, and put it in the oven at around 325 degrees, and let it cook for about three hours. Once it's percolating pretty good, you can switch down the heat a bit and let it slow cook to take up all those good juices. Don't cook it too fast, so it does not dry out, and gets cooked all the way through. (After it's pretty much done, take the top off for 15 or 20 minutes to let the bird brown on top, and then leave him covered as you shut down the heat and let him "age". It's better eaten after it cools a bit, but not cold)

Now for the stuffing. Chop a couple stems of celery, about half of a medium sized onion, and half a good-sized green bell pepper. Put this in a saucepan with enough water to cover the veggies generously. Bring it to a good boil and let it cook for five minutes or so, until the veggies are done, but not mushy. Don't dump the liquid.
Take the giblets from the turkey --the neck, liver, heart, and all the crap that comes in the little paper package, wash it good, and dump it into a small saucepan with water to cover it, and boil it hard for around 20 minutes. Don't dump the liquid.

Take the cornbread, which you have already cooked, get yourself a large mixing bowl, a small dishpan, or a large kitchen pot --anything solid that will hold a gallon or better of stuff. Break the cornbread into small pieces and dump them into the container. Then dump in the boiled veggies and most of the liquid. Chop up about half the giblets into small pieces and dump that into the bread mixture, with some of the liquid.

Now stir the hell out of the cornbread mixture, and don't worry if it seems too wet. You want it almost soupy, but not quite. Now check on that bird in the oven, and there should by now be a good amount of liquid cooked out and bubbling along. Take the roasting pan out of the oven, and spoon a couple of cups full of that good turkey stock into the cornbread mixture. Stir it some more, and if it's not wet enough, get some more stock from the turkey. Keep cooking that turkey.

Now comes the creative part with the dressing (stuffing). I should have added this step earlier, but, here 'tis:
--Prepare in advance about four strips of good lean bacon, cooked very crisp, chopped and crushed into real bacon bits;
--A half to 3/4 cup of nuts --pecans, walnuts, mixed nuts, whatever you like, chopped up into coarse bits.

--Peel, chop up and boil until done a medium sized white potato. Put all this stuff into the mixing container, and keep stirring. If the mixture gets too heavy, add some more turkey stock to keep it good and wet.
--Throw in a handful of raisins, a handful of stuffed olives, sprinkle some oregano and herb spices into it, dump in a can of whole kernel corn, break some day-old white (or wheat) bread into small shreds and stir that in. Crush some potato chips and stir them in. And don't let the mixture get dry; add more turkey stock whenever you need to

You can taste this as you work with it and tell when it's getting right. Salt and pepper to your taste while you stir and add stuff. (Just about anything except something sweet will add to the final flavor; use your imagination.) While you are working with the stuffing, take that bird out of the oven, before he gets done, and stuff three or four large spoons of this dressing inside the carcass, and put him back to cook some more.

When you are satisfied with your creation, cover the mixing container and set the dressing to one side to let it "age" for an hour or so, until about a half-hour before serving.

Thirty to 45 minutes before you are going to eat, assuming the turkey tests done, set the roasting pan out, keep it covered, and let it age for awhile and absorb some of the liquid that has cooked out.

Take the stuffing, and fill an 8 to 10 inch, two or so inch deep baking dish, with the dressing mixture, and bake in a good hot oven, around 400 degrees, for 20 to 30 minutes. (You will have maybe as many as three baking dishes worth of dressing, which you can cook and serve now, or freeze for later.)

You can figure out the rest . . . unload that turkey, slice him up, use a plate, knife, fork, spoon, and serve with cranberry sauce, whatever vegetables you like, and a good snort of as good wine as you can afford.

Happy Thanksgiving.

If this works out for you, one day I'll give you my Baptist Biscuit formula.

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