Every Recipe Has a Story
This Week’s Featured Neighbor
Sharing Grandmama’s Chicken & Dressing (according to my Aunt Pat Hand)
Some recipes feed a family…Others feed generations.
For our family, Ruby Smith’s (grandmama’s) chicken and dressing has never been just another meal. It’s a reminder of Sunday afternoons spent around grandmama’s kitchen table, where everyone knew there would always be enough for one more plate. It’s a reminder of holidays with LOTS of kids running through the house and LOTS of love in the air!
I’ll never understand how Grandmama made it to Sunday School and Church, and still had a huge meal ready for our small army…every Sunday!
Grandmama always made this recipe and she always made two pans of it, one with onions and one without onions. Why? Because some of us didn’t like onions. Friends, neighbors, and family members all found their way to her table. Still today, this recipe is a favorite for our family!
In Loving Memory
Ruby Johnson Smith
“A loving mother, grandmother, neighbor, and friend whose kitchen was always open and whose table always had room for one more.”
Grandmama’s Chicken and Dressing
(According to Aunt Pat, much like Mama’s.)
Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 hen or fat broiler
- 2 pieces celery
- 1 onion, cut into quarters
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Enough water to cover ingredients
Directions
Cut up hen and boil all of the above together until the hen is tender. Remove the hen and debone. Remove the onion and celery. Save the broth for the dressing.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the egg bread.
Egg Bread
Prepare according to the directions on the self-rising cornmeal package.
Add a couple of extra eggs.
Dressing
Ingredients
- 4½ cups crumbled egg bread
- 3½ slices toasted loaf bread
- 1–2 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed
- 1 sleeve saltines, crushed
- 2 or 3 cans Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup
- Chicken broth from the hen or turkey
- Onion, chopped (to taste)
- 2 boiled eggs
- 3 beaten eggs
Directions
Sauté the chopped onion in one stick of butter or margarine.
Mix together:
- Chicken broth
- Egg bread
- Toasted bread
- Ritz crackers
- Saltines
- Cream of Chicken Soup
- Boiled eggs
- Beaten eggs
- Sautéed onions
Mix thoroughly—Pat recommends using your well-washed hands!
If desired, layer the bottom of a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray with the deboned chicken.
The dressing should be fairly soupy before baking. If it isn’t, add more broth or soup.
Bake at 350° until done.
Giblet Gravy
Ingredients
- ½ cup melted butter
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups hot chicken broth
- Giblets (or small pieces of chicken or turkey)
- 1 hard-boiled egg
Directions
Over low heat, combine the butter, flour, and salt until smooth.
Slowly whisk in the hot broth (Swanson’s may be used if additional broth is needed).
Add the chopped giblets and chopped hard-boiled egg.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the gravy reaches your desired consistency.
Serve over dressing.
Share Your Table
Every family has a recipe with a story.
Whether it’s your grandmother’s biscuits, your father’s barbecue sauce, or the peach cobbler everyone asks you to bring to family reunions, we’d love to feature you in From Our Family Table.
You can also honor someone who is no longer with us by sharing the recipe that keeps their memory alive.
Email: donna@hazlehurstnow.com
Include:
- Your recipe
- A photo of yourself (or the loved one you’re honoring)
- The story behind the recipe
- Why it’s special to your family
Next Friday on From Our Family Table…
Who will be sitting at our table next?
Maybe…it’s you.
