2 tablespoon butter 1 ½ cup fine-ground cornmeal (or regular cornmeal) 1 teaspoon kosher salt ¾ teaspoon baking soda 2 cup buttermilk (1 1/2 cups buttermilk if using regular cornmeal) 2 lightly beaten eggs
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If you don’t have fine-ground cornmeal, use regular cornmeal and reduce the amount of buttermilk to 1 1/2 cups.
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If you don’t have time to let bread dry overnight, allow the freshly baked cornbread to cool completely. Break into 1 1 /2- to 2-inch pieces and arrange in a single layer in a 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Dry in a 200°F oven for 1 1/2 hours. Cool on wire rack.
Oven-Dried Sage:
Pick leaves from a bunch of fresh sage, taking care to remove any woody stems. Arrange leaves in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Dry leaves in a 200°F oven for 20 to 40 minutes, until leaves are thoroughly dried. Remove from oven and cool completely. If not using immediately, store whole dried leaves in an airtight jar away from heat and sunlight up to 1 month. To use leaves, layer waxed or parchment paper on the counter. Place a few dried leaves between palms of hands and, holding hands over the paper, rub vigorously to finely crumble dried leaves. Pick out and discard any bits of stem. Freshly dried and crumbled sage has a fresher and more vital flavor than sage from grocery store shelves.
