Cornbread Stuffing With Sausage

To make the stuffing a day in advance, increase both the chicken broth and half-and-half by 1⁄4 cup each and refrigerate the unbaked stuffing 12 to 24 hours; before transferring it to the baking dish, let the stuffing stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes so that it loses its chill.

1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 250 degrees. Spread cornbread pieces in even layer on 2 rimmed baking sheets and dry in oven 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer dried cornbread to large bowl and increase oven temperature to 375 degrees.
2. Whisk broth, half-and-half, and eggs together in medium bowl. Add broth mixture to cornbread and toss very gently to coat so that bread does not break into smaller pieces. Set aside.
3. Cook sausage in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove sausage with slotted spoon and transfer to paper towel–lined plate. Add half of onions and celery to fat left in skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer onion mixture to bowl with sausage. Melt butter in now-empty skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining onions and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in thyme, sage, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add vegetable mixture and sausage mixture to bowl with cornbread and stir gently to combine (try not to break bread into smaller pieces). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate to blend flavors, at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
4. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 15 by 10-inch baking dish (or two 9-inch square or 11 by 7-inch baking dishes). Transfer stuffing to prepared baking dish; pour any liquid accumulated in bottom of bowl over stuffing and, if necessary, gently press stuffing with rubber spatula to fit into baking dish. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

SPICY CORNBREAD STUFFING WITH RED PEPPER, CHIPOTLE CHILES, AND ANDOUILLE SAUSAGE
Andouille is a spicy smoked Cajun sausage. If you cannot find any, chorizo can be substituted.
Omit sausage and increase butter to 4 tablespoons. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1⁄4-inch pieces, along with one-third of onions and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes; transfer to bowl. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in now-empty skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining onions and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in 4 tablespoons minced chipotle chile in adobo sauce along with thyme, sage, and garlic. Add bell pepper mixture, along with softened onion mixture and 1-1⁄2 pounds andouille sausage, cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces, to bowl with cornbread.