Carla Hall’s Spoonbread Dressing: Recipe from the God’s Love Holiday Catalog

Carla Hall’s Spoonbread Dressing

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 onion, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup fine yellow stoneground cornmeal
1 cup fresh corn kernels
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 large egg

Serves 8 to 12

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Use 1 tablespoon butter to generously grease a shallow 3-quart casserole, Dutch oven, baking dish or 4 (6?) ramekins.
2. Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat in a large pot. Add the onion, celery, and 1½ teaspoons salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until translucent and just tender, about 4 minutes. Add the poultry seasoning and stir for 1 minute.
3. Add the milk, sugar, and 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Continuously whisk the mixture while you pour in the cornmeal in a slow, steady stream. Keep whisking while the mixture bubbles rapidly until the cornmeal has absorbed all the liquid and is thick and smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the corn and baking powder.
4. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until pale yellow and very foamy with no liquid remaining. Add one-third of the beaten eggs to the cornmeal mixture and stir to loosen the cornmeal mixture. Add half of the remaining eggs and fold gently until incorporated, then repeat with the remaining eggs. Spread evenly in the prepared dish.
5. Bake until golden brown and set without any jiggling, about 25 minutes.
6. Serve hot or warm