Coarse ground cornmeal

[torakris]

I bought 4 packages of this stuff for making polenta, but it turns out that my family doesn't like polenta.

The stuff is actually called "Corn Grits also known as Polenta" from Bob's Red Mill, I have never eaten grits in my life and am not sure how to prepare them or what to serve them with.

Besides grits and polenta is there anything else to do with this stuff?

[trillium]

Grits would be the same as polenta in this case...

You can use the coarse ground corn flour in a lot of recipes that call for cornmeal. I've used it to make cornbread, a pot pie pastry that called for cornmeal, etc. Here's a bunch of recipes that Bob's Red Mill has online calling for coarse ground corn meal (they're right down the road from me!).

regards,

trillium

[KateW]

You can make polenta on the stove with it and use it as a breakfasty thing with honey, milk, fruit, or whatever.

[hwilson41]

It also makes wonderful hush puppies. Malawry posted a superb recipe a while back, after Varmint's pig pickin' I think. You might want to run that down.

Or if you or a friend of yours bakes a lot of bread, many bakers use coarse corn meal to dust sheet pans, etc., to keep the dough from sticking.

THW

[josephreese]

Or if you or a friend of yours bakes a lot of bread, many bakers use coarse corn meal to dust sheet pans, etc., to keep the dough from sticking.

It works great for dusting under homemade pizza dough.

[FistFullaRoux]

You could try the Cajun delicacy know as coushe coushe (not to be confused with cous cous) - It's named after the sound your spoon makes when preparing to eat it... It's for breakfast, but you could do it anytime. It is similar to polenta, but the baking powder and the technique come up with a different texture that may work. It's sort of like crumbled up cornbread.

cooking oil

2 cups cornmeal

1 tsp salt and sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups milk

1 tbls melted butter

Cover the bottom of a heavy saucepan with cooking oil and allow to heat. Add the cornmeal and saute for 30 seconds to 1 min, or to taste. Mix the remaining ingredients together, and add to pan. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cover tightly. Stir frequently, paying attention to the corners. Simmer for 20 minutes.

This gets you a toasted cornmeal mush (for lack of a better term) that can be used for sweet or savory applications. Treat it like cereal and add milk and sugar or fruit preserves for breakfast. Add less milk and bacon and chives (check for seasoning) for a savory side dish.

[iguana]

The nubbly texture of coarse cornmeal works particularly well in spoon bread.

Edited January 29, 2004 by iguana (log)

[Mistinguett]

You can make polenta on the stove with it and use it as a breakfasty thing with honey, milk, fruit, or whatever.

My grandmother used to make this sweet polenta for breakfast, more like a runny polenta. She would just add sugar to the water - I remember enjoying that as a child (and I didn't like polenta).

Also, you can use the cornmeal as coating for fried fish.

[Toliver]

tokaris,

Did you serve soft polenta or hard polenta to your family? If you served the soft polenta, you might want to try making hard polenta. You start with soft polenta, pour it into a loaf pan or small cake pan. Refrigerate it until firm. Then take it out and slice it. For dinner, pan fry the slices and then serve them topped with a nice red sauce. Or you can top them with maple syrup for breakfast.

But then I'm a big fan of polenta, masa, tamales, etc.