NASA's Recipe for Space Cornbread Dressing

by NASA

Date: 27 November 2008 Time: 12:15 AM ET

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A Thanksgiving day meal fit for an astronaut: NASA-packaged smoked turkey, cornbread dressing, strawberries, tea w/sugar and as-flown cranberry sauce spread.
CREDIT: collectSPACE.com".

Even in space, cornbread dressing is a dependable favorite to dress up any astronaut meal, especially around the holidays. Here is NASA's proven method for space cornbread dressing as tested by the agency's spaceflight food experts:

Cornbread Dressing

Ingredient	%	Amount (g)
Cornbread, prepared, crumbled	39.50	869.00	12 cups
Chicken broth	40.90	899.80	3 3/4 cups
Onions, chopped	10.47	230.34	2 1/2 cups
Celery, chopped	6.15	135.30	1 1/2 cups
Butter, unsalted	2.52	55.44	1/4 cup
Salt	0.20	4.40	3/4 tsp.
Poultry seasoning	0.11	2.42	1 1/4 tsp.
Black pepper	0.07	1.54	1/2 tsp.
Parsley flakes, dried	0.04	0.88	2 tsp.
Sage, rubbed	0.04	0.88	1 tsp.
Total	100.00	2200.00

NOTE: Measurements in cups and teaspoons are approximate values.

Directions:

Preheat convection oven to 325? F. Conventional oven should be heated to 350? F.
Grease 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
Peel onions and puree in food processor. Place in bowl. Set aside.
Finely chop celery in food processor. Add to onion puree. Set aside.
Heat saut? pan over medium heat. Melt butter and saut? onion and celery mixture until soft (about 5 minutes).
Add to crumbled, prepared cornbread. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine salt, poultry seasoning, black pepper, parsley and sage.
Add to cornbread-saut?ed vegetable mixture.
Add chicken broth. Mix well. Spoon dressing into prepared baking pan.
Bake for approximately 35 minutes at 325? F or 350? F, depending on oven.

For space flight preparation: Baked dressing is transferred to metal tray and freeze-dried accordingly. One serving of cornbread dressing shall weigh approximately 145 g prior to freeze-drying and 50 g after freeze-drying.

Please note: This recipe is based on the "formulations" for actual space flight missions. Actual measurements are estimates.

It should also be noted, "space flight food" recipes are designed with significant flavoring to compensate for the freeze-drying process.

*Space Flight Food recipes are created using "formulations" instead of traditional recipes. This is because formulations are more "reproducible" than traditional recipes. Formulations use percentages and weights, which are exact measurements, as opposed to typical U.S. recipes that are more subjective and more susceptible to user errors.

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Click here for more on NASA's original recipe.