Crawfish Dressing

 

For Thanksgiving, chicken and dressing is a must.  There's no other choice but for me to bake chicken and dressing for our table.  But this year, I thought I'd shake up the routine a bit and add a second dressing to the Thanksgiving menu.  Now I'll be perfectly honest with you here.  The general consensus of my diners was this:  "You can never NOT make chicken and dressing, but this crawfish dressing is delicious!"

Make sure you purchase wild caught crawfish from the Gulf Coast if possible.  We really can't be sure about foreign farm raised crawfish.  Pay the extra cost for wild caught, please.

1 T. extra-virgin olive oil

8 oz. Conecuh sausage (sliced lengthwise and then into 1/4" rounds)

4 T. unsalted butter, divided

1 large yellow onion, copped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 ribs celery. chopped

3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound frozen crawfish tails, thawed

4 t. Cajun seasoning

2 skillet of homemade buttermilk cornbread**

4-5 cups of low-sodium chicken broth 

2 green onions, chopped

1 - 2 t. poultry seasoning

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

freshly chopped parsley for garnish, if desired

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside.

In a 10-inch nonstick or cast iron skillet, brown the smoked sausage in 1 T. of olive oil over medium heat.

Add 2 T. butter, onions, bell pepper, and celery to the same skillet and cook for 2 - 3 minutes until softened.  Add the crawfish, garlic and 2 t. of Cajun seasoning and cook for 2 - 3 minutes until crawfish are heated.

Transfer the cornbread to a large mixing bowl.

**Here's the link to my Buttermilk Cornbread recipe!

Add in the crawfish, sausage, vegetable mixture along with the remaining Cajun seasoning, green onions, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper and 3 cups of chicken broth to the cornbread.

Stir in the beaten eggs and then gently mix and add more broth until desired texture is reached.  The dressing should have the texture of thick oatmeal; wet, but not soupy.

Transfer the dressing to the prepared baking dish, smooth into an even layer and top with the remaining 2 T. of butter, sliced into thin slivers.

Bake the dressing, covered with foil, for 35 minutes.  Bake an additional 15 - 20 minutes uncovered until the center is no longer jiggly and edges are browned,  Garnish with fresh chopped parsley if desired.

Adapted from Pink Owl Kitchen