My daughter is obsessed with the Little House on the Prairie books and dvd’s. So naturally for Christmas she got the cookbook (and the craft book) to go along with her Little House books. She wanted to make hasty pudding just like Laura’s grandma did in Little House in the Big Woods. This is basically cornmeal added to boiling water gradually and cooked forever…
Here is a modification of the recipe I found in the Little House cookbook and ones I found on the internet…the cooking time has been cut way back from the hour it took Laura’s grandma!
Basically all you need is cornmeal, liquid (water and/or milk) and a little salt.
I use a ratio of 4 to 1 liquid to cornmeal
Bring 2 cups water and 1 cup milk and salt to taste to a boil in a saucepan
Just before it boils whisk 1 cup cold milk into 1 cup of rough ground cornmeal.
When the liquid in the saucepan boils pour the cold milk/cornmeal into the boiling liquid (this prevents those irritating lumps you get sometimes if you add the cornmeal dry to boiling water)
Bring back to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Cook gently stirring until it is nicely thickened (10 minutes or so)
We eat ours with maple syrup and berries…or molasses and milk. You can also serve it savory with something like cheese and green onions.
With any leftover you can put it into a small loaf pan to mold it, refrigerate and then later slice and fry the polenta.
Try it with a little cinnamon and sugar…oh my!
This is a super easy and very inexpensive breakfast idea…or any time you want something filling, warm, and simple!
So do you do mush?
Kim can also be found at the inadvertent farmer where she raises organic fruits, veggies, critters, kids and…a camel.
I love cornmeal mush, never made it myself, but I do love love love it. Smothered in maple syrup!
Can’t wait to try this!
One of my favorite dishes is from an Italian Vegetarian cookbook by Jack Bishop (my favorite and most used cookbook of all time): Polenta with Garlicky Greens. Cook polenta as described here. Saute garlic and thinly sliced red onion in olive oil, then add torn and washed Red Swiss Chard and Spinach, and cook down until softened and blended. Serve atop the polenta. This is so good and so filling!
I just bought the Little House cookbook the other day. I haven’t tried anything from it yet, though. Thanks for posting this. It looks yummy!
We ate a lot of Mush growing up. I just made some a few weeks ago….it’s so easy!
Growing up in SW MI, my Nanny would make ‘grits’. Her version, the one I grew up with, was grits, potatoes cubed small and boiled, ground sausage browned. She’d mix it all up together and spread it in a cake pan. Put it in the fridge to cool and harden. Then she’s slice it up, fry it in butter and we’d eat it with maple syrup. YUM!!!
Now that I’m in the sunny South, I mostly eat it just made regular in a pan with butter, salt & pepper, like the southerners do. Sometimes I DO put syrup on it. ;o)
I like to make ‘our’ grits sometimes, but usually only in the winter.
Oh, and growing up we’d also eat Cream of Wheat, or Farina. My other Grandma made that for us. Butter, sugar and cinnamon on top. Yum to that one too!
Growing up my papaw (great-grandpa) would make the BIGGEST pot of cornmeal mush! I vaguely remember him stirring, and stirring, and stirring for what seemed like forever 🙂