Thanksgiving is just days away and I am excited and a little stressed out a the same time. I am always in my kitchen cooking, but I have some serious "marathon" cooking to do in the next few days.
Thanksgiving is at my sister's house this year and we usually have a huge houseful of family to feed. My contributions to the Thanksgiving table are the stuffing (everyone's favorite dish... no pressure there!), cranberry pineapple chutney, cornbread jalapeno pudding, spicy mashed sweet potatoes and at least two desserts.
My kids are so excited to eat the traditional Sausage and Bread stuffing we eat every Thanksgiving, but after seeing some Mexican chorizo at the grocery store I decided I wanted to pair it with cornbread and try out cornbread dressing. So that's just what I did yesterday for Sunday dinner. I made my Chorizo and Cornbread Dressing with my Smothered Pork Chops and it was a real hit.
My son loved it so much he asked if he could take a thermos full of the cornbread dressing for lunch. I guess he really liked it! One stuffing/dressing done... one huge tray of stuffing to make for the big turkey day feast. Gobble Gobble! :)
Chorizo and Cornbread Dressing (Stuffing)
Recipe by Ramona from Kitchen Simmer
Ingredients:
Cornbread:
3 boxes Jiffy corn muffins prepared according to package instructions. Make the cornbread the day before so you have plenty of time to get the cornbread dried out and firm enough for the dressing the next day.
Chorizo and Herb Mixture:
1lb Mexican style Chorizo sausage
2 cups diced celery
2 cups diced onions
1 cup diced red bell pepper
2-3 jalapeno peppers finely diced
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp poultry seasoning
salt and black pepper to taste
red chili flakes - to taste
1 Tbs finely minced fresh sage
2 tsp finely minced fresh rosemary
2 tsp finely minced fresh thyme
1 tsp chicken bullion powder (I used Knorr brand chicken bullion powder)
1 cup chicken stock (or more as needed)
Directions:
Step 1:
Make cornbread per package instructions. Bake on a parchment lined
baking pan at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until done. Turn oven
off. Then cut cornbread into small cubes. Tip: I used a pizza cutter to cut it directly on the baking pan. Break apart and put it back into the warm oven (that is off) overnight to dry out and become hard. 
Step 2:
Heat a large pot on medium high heat and brown chorizo sausage. Then add the onion,
celery, bell pepper and jalapeno peppers. Cook for several minutes
until vegetables become soft. 
Step 3:
Lower to medium heat and add fresh herbs, red chili flakes, garlic powder, poultry seasoning,
chicken bouillon powder and black pepper. Then add chicken stock. Cook
for 5 minutes. Finally add the day old cubed cornbread and toss with
chorizo/veggie mixture. If you need, add a little more chicken stock to
get the desired texture. You can serve it directly from the stove at
this point. Otherwise, place into a buttered baking dish and bake in a
350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Serve hot. Enjoy. 
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