Polenta

[BillinOregon]

Wife usually buys/commandeers this stuff for a spinach and cheese baked thingy, but I bought some on the strength of a discussion here or somewheres that it was similar to grits. Well, it is a corn product, but it sure ain't made from my beloved hominy. That said, sliced and fried in olive oil with some sausage and eggs, it makes a mighty nice alernative to home-fried taters on the breakfast plate.

 

[gearheart]

It can be made from hominy as well. Adding crumbled bacon does it no harm either. A local butcher would render the lard from pork fat and sell the cracklings. Add some of that to the polenta for a treat. MMM

 

[Alden]

Oh no, I'm pretty sure it is indeed a variation of hominy (base-treated) grits and I SEE what you're trying to do Bill. Well, it's not gonna work!

Sure, Polenta has more junk in it than even grits typically gets by far, but it's still horrid. If you took all the stuff a Polenta dish is made with and left OUT the grits it'd be that much better.

Now, no more trying to sneak grits into the house!

 

[Black Hand]

Polenta (or the more vulgar American term - cornmeal mush), in its purest form, is composed of water, salt and cornmeal.

When in the woods, we often have it for breakfast, and also includes bacon and/or sausage (the smoked moose loin we used one time was fantastic), dried vegetables and "portable soup" (modern soup base in cube form, since the actual portable soup is extremely time-consuming to make). It makes a hearty breakfast, lunch or dinner that sticks with you for some time.

 

[satx78247]

Polenta is a cousin of grits.- Most Americans call it: MUSH.

It is NOT made of hominy; instead it's made of (usually) white cornmeal, water and salt and flavored with any number of things in Italy/Sicily/Malta, including lamb, mutton, goat, spices and pork. = When I was stationed in USAREUR, we ate lots of it when messing with the Italian forces.

yours, satx

 

[Claude Mathis]

Polenta is a cousin of grits.- Most Americans call it: MUSH.

It is NOT made of hominy; instead it's made of (usually) white cornmeal, water and salt ...

Exactly. :thumbsup:

 

[crockett]

I think those rolls of polenta in the store cost $6 plus. You can get more cornmeal for about $1.50 and just cook it yourself. Too bad corn meal mush is called mush. Who wants to eat something called mush? I've always been straight grits until a week or two ago when folks on this forum convinced me to give it a try. The easiest way is plains old cornmeal and water and slow boil 8-10 minutes. That's it. It can form lumps so I first add a little water to the cornmeal and then put that mixture into the boiling water. A lump of butter and just as good as the polenta. I hate to admit but as good as grits.

 

[Black Hand]

To avoid lumps, remove the (boiling) water from the heat before SLOWLY incorporating the cornmeal using a whisk or spoon (do not dump it in). Then cook over moderate heat with frequent stirring/whisking until done.

Personally, I prefer coarse-ground yellow cornmeal over fine-ground yellow cornmeal, as the texture of the final product is creamier...

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yes I like coarse ground corn meal to the modern stuff, for hasty pudding, mush, cornbread, corn fritters, johnny cakes, corn dodgers, and ash cakes.

Grits are good as a wet cereal, fried, as scrapple, and ground into Masa flour and made into tortillas or pupusas!

LD

 

[satx78247]

A SERIOUS WARNING: IF you have never cooked mush/polenta before, it POPS out of the pan and will seriously BURN you, if it lands on you. Polenta boiling boils WAY above "water temperature". = We're talking about PAINFUL 2nd & sometimes 3rd degree burns here.

yours, satx

 

[Black Hand]

I call it "culinary lava"...

 

[satx78247]

NO argument from me. I have the old scars on my arms/hands to prove it, too.

yours, satx

 

[tenngun]

Ah 'hasty pudding' guys.

 

[Billnpatti]

The solution is to use a spoon to stir or eat the stuff and quit putting your hands into it until it cools. :haha: :haha:

 

[satx78247]

Have YOU ever cooked mush/polenta?

yours, satx

 

[Billnpatti]

Have I EVER cooked it? Ever? Really? :shocked2: I have cooked by choice all of my life just because I enjoy doing it. :thumbsup: Even as a kid, I enjoyed cooking and continued to help in the kitchen after my marriage. Since my wife's stroke several years ago, I have become the only cook in the kitchen. I love fried mush, it is one of my favorite breakfast foods. I cook it one day, put it in a pan to cool and set up and then fry it the next morning. When cooking it, it does begin to bubble like lava but the secret is to turn the fire down a bit lower so it doesn't boil sufficiently violently that it throws up and out little bits of the boiling mush, polenta, Cream of Wheat, oat meal or whatever viscous cereal you are cooking. Be patient & gentle, don't rush it and it won't bite you. Remember, it is more afraid of you than you are of it because today it is a delicious meal but tomorrow.............just poop. :hatsoff:

 

[satx78247]

When you're cooking in a pot over a campfire, the fire is difficult to "turn down", though that technique certainly works on a modern range.
(At home, I cook mush/polenta/etc in a double boiler and don't have a "popping problem". =[ I treat those dishes like cooking rice.)

yours, satx

 

[Black Hand]

When you're cooking in a pot over a campfire, the fire is difficult to "turn down"...

Not really. One just needs to have better fire-management when cooking over a campfire. Flames for boiling, coals for frying, moving the pot closer to or away from the flames, a little more wood, a little less flame, size of the wood used, etc..

 

[Billnpatti]

When properly cooking over a camp fire, you should be using coals under your pot, not just flames from a pile of wood. The way to turn down your heat is to remove a few of the coals from under your pot. By using coals rather than direct flames, you can control your heat very well just by adding or removing coals from under your pot. Give it a try. What have you got to loose? :hatsoff:

 

[Claude Mathis]

When properly cooking over a camp fire, you should be using coals under your pot, not just flames from a pile of wood. The way to turn down your heat is to remove a few of the coals from under your pot. By using coals rather than direct flames, you can control your heat very well just by adding or removing coals from under your pot. Give it a try. What have you got to loose? :hatsoff:

Both you and Black Hand are correct about heat control.

You can even control the temperature of baking in a Dutch Oven by the amount of coals on the lid.

There's more skill involved in campfire cooking than just building a fire. :wink: