Note: Given to us by Justin Walker, a coworker of Brian's. Justin mentioned this dressing to Brian before Thanksgiving one year. Skeptical of the Tex-Mex twist on a Thanksgiving staple, Brian told him to bring in a sample to work after Thanksgiving so he could taste. Justin did that and Brian came home to tell me how good this dish was. Justin was gracious to share the recipe. We made the recipe the following year. (A tough exchange for me that year because I love my mom's dressing so much.) I can attest to the incredible flavor of this dish. Likely, I won't make this for future Thanksgiving because I am such a sucker for traditional foods, but I will gladly make it for other meals during the year. By the way, made according to the following directions, this recipe feeds an army.
Bread first:
6 pkg cornkits mix, three to a pan
2 cans small biscuits
Cook bread 2 days early and store in a paper sack to dehydrate.
Dressing:
Use a huge mixing bowl! We usually mix it in one of those grocery store throw-away roasting pans with the handles. When you cook this, PUT THE PAN ON A COOKIE SHEET. Pull biscuits into 3-4 pieces, crumble cornbread (not too fine).
Add:
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans cream of celery soup
6 raw eggs
salt and pepper (cover the top of the mix twice with each)
cumin (cover top one and a half times)
onion/celery mix (2 sticks of butter, 2 cups chopped onion, 4 cups chopped celery. Heat until transparent.)
2 big gans of Gebhardt (no substitutes) tamales (Unwrap, break up, put in, pour in juice from can. Remove fat from the top of the can first.)
5 cans chicken broth heated to near boil and 1-2 sticks of real butter melted in (Add this last.)
Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 375 on turkey day for three hours, stirring halfway and adding water if dry. (Ours never is. Sometimes its too runny. It usually looks drier than it tastes.) Remove foil for last 30 minutes for browning, or earlier if its too runny.
