Both sides of my family are very different in their backgrounds. My mother’s side consisted of poor European immigrants who moved to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They were the stereotypical Irish, Polish, and Italian immigrants with big families crammed into houses that were way too small. This posed a challenge to the few bread winners of the family who had to feed all thirteen people in the house. For my mom’s mother and her family, the answer was simple: potatoes.
Potatoes were a revered food item in Irish households. Many of my grandmother’s relatives died in the Potato Famine and no meal was ever served without having potatoes to honor those who died in the famine. My grandmother’s grandparents came to the United States from Ireland in the late 1800s and until my great-grandmother died, there was a pot of potatoes on the stove every single day. It didn’t matter if they were eating macaroni and cheese or spaghetti for dinner, they still had mashed potatoes.
Potatoes were a revered food item in Irish households. Many of my grandmother’s relatives died in the Potato Famine and no meal was ever served without having potatoes to honor those who died in the famine. My grandmother’s grandparents came to the United States from Ireland in the late 1800s and until my great-grandmother died, there was a pot of potatoes on the stove every single day. It didn’t matter if they were eating macaroni and cheese or spaghetti for dinner, they still had mashed potatoes.
Special occasion meals where the whole family came (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) had a huge pot of potatoes and it became hard to mash that many potatoes and do everything else for dinner. Hence, the 2000 Irish Mashed Potatoes were born. Mashed potatoes were made the night before and a special recipe was developed so they would be moist and yummy the next day. This was possible by adding lots of butter and cream cheese to the recipe so the kitchen could be cleaned up before starting the rest of dinner the next day. The Irish were also poor in my grandmother’s day and her mother saved all the leftover mashed potatoes in a dish every night and on Friday’s she would make patties out of them, dip them in flour, and fry them for dinner since Catholics didn’t eat meat on Fridays. She might also mix some cod in them to make cod fish cakes.
This affinity for mashed potatoes stuck with my family into my generation. My grandmother, while not as potato-crazy as her mother, made sure potatoes were a staple in her family’s diet. My mother recalls eating potatoes most nights in one form or another. While my generation does not eat potatoes at every meal like my grandmother once did, she still makes sure they make an appearance at every family gathering. Sometimes she would make mashed potatoes, sometimes it was potatoes au gratin, sometimes it was baked potatoes. However, it had been what had sustained her family both through the goods times and the bad.
This affinity for mashed potatoes stuck with my family into my generation. My grandmother, while not as potato-crazy as her mother, made sure potatoes were a staple in her family’s diet. My mother recalls eating potatoes most nights in one form or another. While my generation does not eat potatoes at every meal like my grandmother once did, she still makes sure they make an appearance at every family gathering. Sometimes she would make mashed potatoes, sometimes it was potatoes au gratin, sometimes it was baked potatoes. However, it had been what had sustained her family both through the goods times and the bad.
GILLOOLY
MODERN DAY IRISH MASHED POTATOES
5 Lbs of Idaho potatoes
8 ounces of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
2 sticks of butter
Milk to suit your preferred consistency
Salt and Pepper to taste
Large rectangular Pyrex Dish
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Boil potatoes until cooked enough to mash
Add cream cheese, 2 sticks of butter, milk to suit your preferred consistency
Spray Pam on bottom of Pyrex Dish
Spread mashed potato mixture in Pyrex dish
Cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a light brown crust forms on top.
It stays hot for a long time, so it can be cooked and left on counter while rolls and other foods that are not cooked for too long.
Refrigerate overnight
Take dish out of fridge to reach room temperature before putting in oven
MODERN DAY IRISH MASHED POTATOES
5 Lbs of Idaho potatoes
8 ounces of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
2 sticks of butter
Milk to suit your preferred consistency
Salt and Pepper to taste
Large rectangular Pyrex Dish
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Boil potatoes until cooked enough to mash
Add cream cheese, 2 sticks of butter, milk to suit your preferred consistency
Spray Pam on bottom of Pyrex Dish
Spread mashed potato mixture in Pyrex dish
Cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a light brown crust forms on top.
It stays hot for a long time, so it can be cooked and left on counter while rolls and other foods that are not cooked for too long.
Refrigerate overnight
Take dish out of fridge to reach room temperature before putting in oven
While my mother’s side of my family were typical European immigrants living on the East Coast, my father’s side were your stereotypical traditional Southern family. They had lived in Texas since before the Texas Revolution. They lived in small towns, talked with a distinct Southern twang, loved the outdoors, and enjoyed hunting and fishing. My grandmother’s father was always known for being an…” unique character.” He was an optometrist who was always known for being for quick-witted and being the life of the party.
So one Thanksgiving, he arrives at the doorstep of my grandmother’s house in Houston. In his arms, he is carrying a big glass baking dish of this dressing. *For those of y’all who are not aware, when I am talking about dressing, I am talking about Southern Cornbread Dressing.* My grandmother thinks nothing of it as it is probably just her mother’s dressing recipe. However, as they sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, everyone at the table, including my young father and uncle, begin to dig into the dressing. It is then that they realize that this is not the same recipe they had been eating all those years. Quickly, my grandmother asks where he had gotten the recipe. He explains to her that he had always loved the cornbread dressing that his mother had made, but that he had also very much loved the recipe that his wife—her mother—had always made as well. After his wife had died, he decided that the best way to honor both his late mother and late wife would be to combine their two recipes into a brand new one that took the best that both had to offer. He ended up naming the recipe, Bessie-Lou Cornbread Dressing, after his mother Bessie and his wife Lou. |
The recipe had originated as just a mix-up of a bunch of leftovers from a meal the night before. You would take leftover cornbread, biscuits, and sausage along with a few extra ingredients, put it in a pan, and bake it. It was born to be something simple and efficient. It took what little many poor Southern families had and made it stretch in a simple and delicious way. My great-grandfather simply took the classic recipes that his mother and wife had used and turned it into something extraordinary.
This recipe has since become a staple in my family. There is not a single Thanksgiving meal that has been shared by my family where there is not at least one batch of this recipe made, often it is two or three. As a kid, this was always what I looked forward to when we went over to my grandparent’s for holidays. For me, it was always a big plate of cornbread dressing with just a few other small items to accompany it. The cranberry dressing, the turkey, the pie, it was all for naught. It was only there to switch things up so that when I took another bite of dressing, it would make me appreciate it even more.
This recipe has since become a staple in my family. There is not a single Thanksgiving meal that has been shared by my family where there is not at least one batch of this recipe made, often it is two or three. As a kid, this was always what I looked forward to when we went over to my grandparent’s for holidays. For me, it was always a big plate of cornbread dressing with just a few other small items to accompany it. The cranberry dressing, the turkey, the pie, it was all for naught. It was only there to switch things up so that when I took another bite of dressing, it would make me appreciate it even more.
BESSIE – LOU CORNBREAD DRESSING
2 batches of cornbread (2 packets of Corn-Kits or other cornbread mixes)
4 or 5 biscuits
2 cups of diced celery
2 cups of diced onions
1 teaspoon of poultry seasoning
½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Season Salt
4 rounded teaspoons of dried sage
2 cups hot water seasoned with 3 teaspoons of Spice Island Chicken Stock Base
4 beaten eggs or 2 beaten eggs and ¼ cup of Egg Beaters
1 pound of Jimmie Dean Hot Sausage, browned, crumbled and drained (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°. Sautée celery and onion in 2 tablespoons of bacon fat or butter. Combine cornbread, biscuits, celery and onion mixture, seasonings, eggs and sausage (if using) and mix thoroughly. Gradually stir in chicken stock until dressing is moist but not soupy. Taste and correct the seasoning, if needed. Transfer mixture to a greased casserole or baking dish. Dot the top of the mixture with small pats of butter and bake, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes until top is brown and crusty.
2 batches of cornbread (2 packets of Corn-Kits or other cornbread mixes)
4 or 5 biscuits
2 cups of diced celery
2 cups of diced onions
1 teaspoon of poultry seasoning
½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Season Salt
4 rounded teaspoons of dried sage
2 cups hot water seasoned with 3 teaspoons of Spice Island Chicken Stock Base
4 beaten eggs or 2 beaten eggs and ¼ cup of Egg Beaters
1 pound of Jimmie Dean Hot Sausage, browned, crumbled and drained (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°. Sautée celery and onion in 2 tablespoons of bacon fat or butter. Combine cornbread, biscuits, celery and onion mixture, seasonings, eggs and sausage (if using) and mix thoroughly. Gradually stir in chicken stock until dressing is moist but not soupy. Taste and correct the seasoning, if needed. Transfer mixture to a greased casserole or baking dish. Dot the top of the mixture with small pats of butter and bake, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes until top is brown and crusty.