Cornbread Stuffing with Leeks and Mushrooms

As soon as I flip my calendar from September to October, I start to get excited about my favorite day of the year. This is the greatest holiday that was ever invented. I love love love Thanksgiving. It is like the Super Bowl, World Series, and the Kentucky Derby of food all rolled into one. I start my preparations early by testing recipes that I want to make. Mark has vociferously denounced all cornbread stuffing and disgusting and this was my last ditch effort to convince him otherwise. This is certainly not a traditional stuffing, but it is a delicious one. This is a nice side dish for any fall table and I made it as our late night dinner on a weeknight since it comes together pretty fast. Honestly, I'm almost embarrassed to tell you this, but I made this dish mostly because we had some store-bought cornbread (I made Turkey-White Bean Chili while Mark was at class and I didn't have the energy to make cornbread too so he bought some on his way home). I couldn't waste it so here you go.

Cornbread Stuffing with Leeks and Mushrooms
Ingredients:
1 leek
12 mushrooms
1/2 cup white wine
Cornbread (about 2 cups of 1 inch cubes)
1 egg
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Leeks grow in sandy soil, so you need to slice them open and rinse them thoroughly to make sure that you don't have any sand in your leeks. Slice then in half lengthwise and run them under cold water. Then slice them into thin half moons. I use the whites and just a bit of the light green. The dark green parts go in my freezer bag for Vegetable Stock. Of course, you can use an onion if you prefer.
2. Wipe off the mushrooms with a damp paper towel and slice them into thin slices.
3. Saute leeks and mushrooms on medium high heat in some olive oil. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
4. Allow them to cook for 4-5 minutes and then add white wine. Allow this to cook for another 3-4 minutes.
5. Cut the cornbread into 1 inch cubes and put into a large bowl.
6. Add the leek, mushroom, wine into the bowl with the cornbread and use a spatula to gently combine.
7. Crack in the egg and combine that as well for moisture. I also sprinkled in a handful of cheese.
8. Spray a small baking dish (I used my 1.25 qt. oval baking dish) with non-stick spray and load the stuffing into the dish. Sprinkle the top with cheese (if you want) and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is melted and the stuffing is crispy on the edges.
Serve up and enjoy!
We ate it alone, as our whole dinner but that is because it makes about enough for 2 large servings or 4 side-dish portions. Double or triple the recipe if you are serving it for a crowd.