Catfish cornbread dressing prepared as a Thanksgiving side dish

Catfish Cornbread Dressing

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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 8 -10 Servings
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

**For the homemade cornbread:
  • Cooking spray
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 ¼ cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
For the dressing:
  • 7 cups crumbled cornbread
  • 1 yellow onion chopped
  • 2 stalks celery chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper chopped
  • 2 large eggs beaten
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
  • 1 lb. lump crab meat
  • 1 lb. Heartland catfish nuggets

Method
 

  1. **make at least one day ahead of time
  2. PREHEAT the oven to 400 F.
  3. GREASE the bottom and sides of an 8×8 pan with cooking spray. 
  4. HEAT the butter in a 1-quart saucepan over low heat until melted. In a large bowl, beat the melted butter, milk and egg with a whisk until well combined.
  5. ADD  the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir until the flour is just combined but still lumpy. 
  6. POUR  the batter into the greased pan, using a spatula to scrape batter from the bowl. Spread the batter evenly in the pan and smooth the top of the batter.
  7. BAKE  for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 
For the dressing:
  1. PREHEAT  the oven to 300 F.
  2. GREASE a baking dish with cooking spray and place all the cornbread evenly inside. Place the cornbread in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
  3. REMOVE  the cornbread from the oven when the 30 minutes are up and place the baking dish on the stovetop to cool. 
  4. TURN  the heat up to 350 F. Once the cornbread has cooled, toss it into a large mixing bowl.
  5. PLACE  a large pan on the stovetop and turn the heat to medium. Add 2 tbsp of butter to the pan and once it has melted, toss in the chopped vegetables.
  6. COOK until the vegetables are translucent, then add them to the mixing bowl with the cornbread. Mix gently until the cornbread and vegetables are evenly incorporated.
  7. RETURN the pan to medium heat and add 1 tbsp of butter to the pan.
  8. ADD the catfish nuggets to the pan and cook until fully cooked through, flipping after 5 minutes. When the catfish is cooked through, shred it in the pan with the spatula.
  9. ADD the catfish to the mixing bowl along with the crab meat. Add the garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, salt and Old Bay seasoning. Fold all ingredients together.
  10. POUR in the vegetable broth and beaten eggs and mix until well combined.
  11. BUTTER a 9×13 casserole dish and pour all of the dressing inside. Smooth the top of the stuffing to create an even layer and cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
  12. BAKE for 40 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

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