Cornbread and Shiitake Mushroom Stuffing

Prep + cook time: 45 + 90 minutes

Serves: 10 people

Yeah, baby – who’s ready to throw down on some Thanksgiving stuffing? Or dressing, if you believe it’s only stuffing if it’s inside the bird.

Depending on where you grew up, this classic Thanksgiving side dish is called stuffing or dressing. I grew up in a household where the extra stuffing was baked in a casserole dish as dressing, but we still called it stuffing. Go figure.

Stuffing / dressing is also typically made with bread and sausage. Now, I’m ALWAYS stoked about bread and sausage stuffing, but I wanted to try something different. You guys, this scrumptious recipe is easy and will be your new go to. And it goes with more than just turkey!

Serve this alongside roasted turkey, chicken, or pork. Warm up the leftovers with fried eggs and greens or sausage. You could also bake it in a roasted acorn squash for a vegetarian meal (roast squash until tender, add stuffing and cook until top is browned and crispy).

You can certainly use your choice of mushrooms in this recipe, but we are partial to our scrumptious log grown shiitake mushrooms. They give this dish a meaty-without-the-meat quality that will be embraced by vegetarians and mushroom lovers sitting at your table.

Ingredients

1 recipe gluten-free cornbread – I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread Mix
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided (use more as needed)
1 pound cremini mushrooms wiped clean and sliced
1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed & sliced
4 tablespoons (half stick) unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 large shallot, diced
3 stalks of celery, sliced
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage or 1 tablespoon dried
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or ½ tablespoon dried
Coarse or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup dry white wine
2 cups low-sodium vegetable / chicken / turkey broth
¼ cup goats’ milk / cows’ milk / almond milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Process

Photo by Lynn D. Rosentrater / CC

Make the cornbread recipe and let it cool. (make this the day before)
Cut into 1 ½ – 2 inch cubes. Let them sit on a baking sheet for a few hours.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

In a 12” skillet over medium heat, cook the mushrooms in batches and sweat them to release their liquid. When they get squeaky and browned a bit, remove them from the skillet and set aside. Continue until all shrooms are cooked. Melt a couple tablespoons of unsalted butter and add the rest of mushrooms back to the skillet. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix and sauté a few more minutes. Scrape the mushrooms out of the skillet and set aside.

Melt a half stick of butter in the skillet. Add the onions, shallot, celery and lightly season with salt and pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are tender and lightly browned, about 5 -7 minutes. Add the garlic, sage and thyme. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the wine and scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Cook for another couple of minutes until wine is almost evaporated. Set aside.

Transfer the cubed cornbread to a large bowl. Add the mushrooms and vegetables. Add the broth, milk, egg, salt and pepper. Fold to combine (some of the cornbread may crumble a bit, and that’s okay).

Transfer the mixture into the prepared baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and increase temp to 400°. Bake for another 15-20 minutes longer until the top is golden brown and toasted. Serve warm.