POLENTA

Years ago, I was making an Italian dish which used polenta as its base.

As I assembled the mix, I let out a shriek, "This is just MUSH!"

My brother, ever the wit, said, "Ah, but you must admit that polenta sounds much more appetizing than saying MUSH!"

I laughed and sang out, "Peas polenta hot, peas polenta cold, peas polenta in the pot, nine days old!"

He asked, "Hunh?"  I said, "PORRIDGE is just HOT MUSH!"


RECIPE FOR POLENTA:

1 cup medium or fine corn meal
4-5 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

For soft polenta, use 4 cups water;  for hard polenta, use 5 cups water.  In a saucepan, bring water to a boil.  Add 1 teaspoon salt.  Pour corn meal slowly into boiling water and stir until thickened; turn heat on low, cook at least 45", stirring every 10 minutes.

RECIPE FOR CORN MEAL MUSH:

4 cups water
1 cup Quaker Corn Meal
1 teaspoon salt

Bring 3 cups water to a boil;  combine remaining 1 cup water, corn meal, and salt and mix thoroughly;  slowly pour mixture into the boiling water, stirring constantly.  Cook until thickened, stirring frequently.  Cover; continue cooking over low heat for 5 minutes;  stir.  Serve hot with butter, milk, sugar, syrup, salt, and pepper, or whatever you like.

For FRIED MUSH, pour completed mush into a buttered dish, refrigerate until solid, slice and fry.

The recipe above, which I have used all of my cooking life, is from the back of the box of Quaker Corn Meal, and I'm certain that my mother used the same recipe before me, and it was probably also used by my grandmothers.

I have often wondered why the company still markets the product in the round box;  surely a square box would be easier to produce and stock on shelves, but I never hesitate to grab the round box, rather than other brands, although other corn meal is usually cheaper.

Oh, by the way, the recipe for MUSH is much easier than the recipe for POLENTA because of less cooking time, and mixing the corn meal with water prior to adding it to the boiling water reduces the problem with lumps!

I can't imagine putting PEAS in my mush/porridge or eating it after nine days!

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