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Each family has their own take on this Thanksgiving and Christmas classic, and Nana wanted to share her most current recipe in case you are up to amending your family’s traditions.  If not, we appreciate you checking ours out.  Over the years, Nana’s recipe has become a family treasure and shows how much Nana loves to cook, especially for the holidays. She has mixed bits of her mom’s recipe with her changes throughout the years to make it her own traditional recipe.

If part of your family tradition involves harvesting your own meat, you might want to consider brining.  It is a process Nana has begun to use when needing to tenderize meat from our older domestic animals as well as wild game.  She’s posted a pork chop brine recipe, but the process is similar with any meat that is traditionally tougher than you want to eat.

Need a dessert idea for the holidays?  You may want to try Nana’s pecan pie.

 

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 3-4 pounds chicken
  • enough water to cover chicken
  • 2 tablespoon chicken bouillon
  • 1 tablespoon onion granules
  • 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
  • 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • salt to taste

 

Dressing

  • 4 cups stale cornbread
  • 2 cups stale hot rolls
  • ½ pound cooked breakfast sausage
  • meat from deboned chicken
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 ½ cups reserved chicken broth
  • 1 cup chopped green onion
  • ½ cup chopped celery
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme OR ½ tablespoon dried thyme
  • 1 tablespoon fresh sage OR ½ tablespoon dried sage
  • 1 tablespoon rosemary
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • salt to taste
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

 

Giblet Gravy without the Giblets

  • 4 cups reserved chicken broth
  • 1 cup of uncooked dressing
  • 4 sliced boiled eggs
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

 

Instructions

Cook the Chicken

  • Place chicken into a large pot and cover with water; add next six ingredients.
  • Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is cooked through: 30-40 minutes. (Nana uses an electric pressure cooker and puts it on the poultry setting for 15 minutes, then slow releases the pressure.)
  • Once chicken is cooked, remove chicken to a pan. Let cool, then remove chicken from the bone.
  • Strain broth and use it to make dressing and gravy. Now you are ready to make dressing.

 

Dressing

  • Crumble cornbread and rolls in a large bowl.
  • Add next 12 ingredients and toss together.
  • Place in a greased 9X13 dish. Cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit covered for 45 minutes.
  • Remove foil, and cook another 30 minutes or until brown and set in the middle.

 

Giblet Gravy Without the Giblets

  • Add 4 cups reserved chicken broth to a pot, then add uncooked dressing and boiled eggs. Bring to a boil.
  • Make a mixture with water and cornstarch, then add to boiling broth. Cook until thickened.
  • Eat over dressing.

“O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” 
Psalm 34:8