Christmas Classic: Chicken and Dressing

Holiday Dinners

I would be willing to wager that you would find very few Southern Christmas dinners that didn’t have chicken and dressing on the table…..at least once during the holidays)) It’s a standard dish at Thanksgiving and Christmas in our family.

The Notebook

My parents and inlaws have all passed away and my husband and I are the oldest now in each of our families. It seems strange that we don’t have someone to “check on” anymore. Now, we are the ones who will require checking on! We’re not quite there yet, but it is still strange to be at that stage in your life.

For the holidays, I try to prepare some of the family recipes each year or use some of their serving dishes, etc. Carrie likes my mother’s frozen caramel pie and everyone loves her party potatoes. My husband’s grandmother’s heavenly hash is a favorite too.

This year I was browsing through Mother’s old notebook with handwritten recipes to see what I might prepare. It’s so strange, the things we sometimes run across that we never noticed before. Mother has been gone 20+ years and I’ve looked at this old notebook hundreds of times, but this time I found something new)))

Right in the front of the book was a folded newspaper clipping with a recipe for Caramel Banana Pie and Chicken and Dressing. Now, we have her handwritten recipe for chicken and dressing and it’s a good one. This one was a little bit different, though not a lot.

I turned the clipping over and noticed the dates of an ad on the back. The date was just a couple of weeks before she passed away. She died rather suddenly and I imagine this was the last time she probably used her notebook.

Most likely, she was going to try the pie or chicken and dressing recipe or both for Christmas 2001. I never noticed that clipping before. It somehow gave me a feeling of her presence. So I decided to make the chicken and dressing. I’ll try the pie too in the next few days))

What I Did Differently

Cornbread

Make the cornbread a day or two ahead of time. The recipe called for a “pan” of cornbread so I baked mine in a 12″ skillet. We typically like our cornbread thin, but I made a thick pan for the chicken and dressing. Just store it in the refrigerator for a day or two. If it seems you don’t have enough cornbread when you start mixing things, you can always add leftover biscuits (I never have) or stale loaf bread. Crumble the cornbread up with your hands.

Making chicken and dressing is not an exact science! Old recipes especially leave a lot left unmentioned or unmeasured. This is one of those recipes……use your best judgment.

Chicken Breasts

Since chicken breasts nowadays can be so HUGE and thick, I used chicken tenders. They cook quicker and are usually much more tender. Wouldn’t you hate to run into those live chickens…good grief.

I probably had about 2-3 cups of chopped chicken to add to the chicken and dressing.

Boiled Eggs

Eight Boiled Eggs, I just couldn’t do it. It just seemed like way too many boiled eggs, so I opted for four chopped boiled eggs and four raw eggs.

Onion

Instead of chopping a whole onion, I used a bunch of little green onions, tops and all. I figured the green tops would add a little color too))

Broth

The recipe didn’t say how much or what kind of broth. Now. you do have some liquid where the chicken was cooked, but it’s not the same kind of broth you used to get from cooking chicken “in the old days.”

Cooking with boneless, skinless chicken does not result in the best broth. You need the skin and bones of a chicken to get really good rich broth.

You can supplement the broth by adding some chicken bouillon cubes (I didn’t have any), or buying chicken broth which is what I did. A 32 oz box and I used it all. I used both cans of soup just like the recipe called for.

Once everything is mixed up, you want the chicken and dressing to be “soupy.” There again, it’s one of those things you learn by experience. Not enough broth, the dressing will be dry; if too much broth the dressing will be wet after it is baked. If you overshot on the liquid, add more bread of some kind. You should be able to press your spoon into the dressing and see the liquid before you bake.

Seasonings

It’s a guess as to how much poultry seasoning to use. It has sage in it and it can go a long way. You could do the taste test were it not for the raw eggs. If you go with 8 boiled eggs, try tasting it. I just sprinkled and smelled. Sometimes you just have to guestimate))) Salt and pepper the same way, but remember purchased broth does have some salt in it. You can always add extra salt and pepper at the table.

Butter

Butter was not in the recipe, but I’ve never heard of chicken and dressing without it! So I added two sticks of melted butter not counting the butter to prepare the skillet.

Bake

The recipe called for baking at 350° until brown on top which is essentially what I did. One way to test for doneness is to shake the pan. If it’s still jiggling in the center it needs to bake a little longer. I wish I had noticed the time, but it was at least 30 minutes or so. Plus, it filled up my 12″ cast iron skillet and the remainder went into a foil pan for later.

Apologies!

I’m sorry that this recipe does not give exact measurements or instructions. I started to not even write about it all, since the point of the post for me was running across the recipe like I did. It’s always nice to get unexpected gifts at Christmas and this was mine for the year. It was almost like Mother tapping me on the shoulder saying, look at this recipe, I think we’d like it)))

Next on the agenda, try the Caramel Banana Pie!