Betty's Holiday Dressing Balls--Beginning of Thanksgiving Menu!

Betty demonstrates how to make Holiday Dressing Balls. These are great on a Thanksgiving or Christmas table. They are traditionally served with a Southern holiday meal of turkey, gravy, and all of the trimmings. Making dressing into balls allows you to estimate how many servings you have.
Holiday Dressing Balls
(Makes 36 balls.)
3 cups self-rising cornmeal mix
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3 cups buttermilk (I combined 3 tablespoons lemon juice and 3 cups skim milk as a substitute for 3 cups buttermilk.)
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup finely-chopped celery
¾ cup finely-chopped onion
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 ¾ cups herb-seasoned stuffing mix
1 tablespoon rubbed sage
10 ¾-oz. can cream of chicken soup
(2) 14-oz. cans chicken broth (Use more, if needed.)
cooking oil spray for baking pans
In a large bowl, combine 3 cups cornmeal mix, ¼ cup flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon baking soda, stirring lightly. Add 3 cups buttermilk (or the substitute given above) and 2 well-beaten eggs, mixing well. Stir in 1 cup chopped celery and ¾ cup chopped onion. Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in a sizable cast iron skillet until very hot. (I used a 10 ½-inch skillet, but it was a little small, and I used 2 small greased skillets to hold the remaining batter.) Add batter to hot skillet(s) and bake at 450 degrees (F) anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes until cornbread is lightly browned and firm in the middle. Turn cooked bread out into a very large casserole dish and break apart to let it cool a bit. Crumble into a very large mixing bowl, add 1 ¾ cup herb-seasoned stuffing mix and 1 tablespoon rubbed sage. Mix together and set aside. Place 1 can of cream of chicken soup in a medium saucepan. Gradually stir in 1 can chicken broth. Stir continually over medium heat until the soup and broth are well combined. Remove from heat and add an additional can of chicken broth. Pour over bread crumb mixture. Stir well. Check to see if the mixture is wet enough for a ball to hold together. If not, add as much extra chicken broth as needed. Now, use your hands to form balls that are about 2 inches across. (A lot of people like to use an ice cream scoop to form the balls, but I like the hand-formed look.) Place them on a shallow baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil spray. You may need two or three pans, because you will probably get about 36 balls from this recipe. At this point, you may cover the pans with aluminum foil and freeze them, to be thawed and baked later. Bake at 375 degrees (F) until golden brown, about 20 minutes. I turned my oven to broil for the last 2 minutes to ensure a nice, golden color. Note: If you would like dressing baked in a large baking casserole, without forming balls, please see Cornbread-Sage Dressing in Betty's Kitchen. I hope you enjoy these Holiday Dressing Balls or the Cornbread-Sage Dressing on your Thanksgiving or Christmas table! --Betty ♥♥♥♥♥
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