Cornbread, Pecan & Prosciutto Stuffing
Ingredients
Bread
- ½ loaf brioche, toasted and cut into cubes
- 1 loaf cornbread, toasted and cut into cubes
Aromatics
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 10 shallots, sliced
- 1 red jalapeno, sliced
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup parsnips, diced
- 1 head fennel, sliced
- 3 ribs celery, diced
Salt & Seasonings
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 10 sprigs oregano, leaves removed and chopped
- salt to taste
Other Ingredients
- 10 chicken livers
- milk to soak the chicken livers
- 1 lb assorted mushrooms, sliced
- ¼ lb toasted pecans, broken up into pieces
- ¼ lb prosciutto ham, diced
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ½ lb unsalted butter
Special Equipment
- 9" x 13" baking pan
How-to
Prepare the Brioche & Cornbread
- The day before you prepare the stuffing, cube and lightly toast brioche and cornbread
Prepare 3 Saute Pans
- Have 3 saute pans warming on your stove
Prepare the Chicken Livers
- Melt ½ stick of butter in a saute pan, then add the rinsed & dried chicken livers
- Add 5 shallots, sliced
- Add salt to taste
- Add 2 whole sprigs of fresh thyme
- Let simmer and cut into little bits with a spoon or a whisk while they cook. (You can cut them ahead of time with a knife before adding to the pan)
- Add 1 cup of dry white wine as chicken livers begin to change color
Prepare the Aromatics (Vegetables)
- In the second pan, melt 1 stick of butter
- Add 4 cloves of sliced garlic, 5 sliced shallots, 1 sliced red jalapeno
- Add 1 cup each of diced carrots and parsnips
- Add 1 head of diced fennel and 3 ribs of diced celery
- Season with salt to taste
Prepare the Mushrooms
- In a third pan, add 1lb of assorted sliced mushrooms
- Season with salt to taste
Once all three pans are going, cook the chicken livers, aromatics and mushrooms an additional 5 minutes to (1) soften the vegetables,( 2) cook the mushrooms and (3) reduce the white wine
Assemble & Bake the Stuffing
- Preheat oven to 400°
- Once vegetables are tender, mushrooms are cooked but still firm and chicken livers have cooked and the wine has reduced, you can begin to assemble the stuffing
- In a 9" x 13" baking pan containing the cubed and toasted bread, pour in the mushrooms, aromatics and chicken livers (remove the sprig of thyme)
- Add 2½ sticks of butter, sliced and distributed over the top of the ingredients
- Add ¼ lb each of toasted pecans and prosciutto ham
- Add 10 sprigs of fresh oregano, leaves stripped & chopped
- Add ½ gal chicken stock reduction. (You can also use chicken soup or chicken bouillon)
- Mix ingredients well with a spoon. There will still be some liquid in the bottom of the pan but this will be absorbed as the stuffing bakes
- Bake at 400° for 30 minutes until golden brown
- Let sit for 1/2 hour to rest and let flavors come together