Does polenta substitute for cornmeal?

notbob said:

Arri London said:

The polenta may be a little more coarsely-ground than
some American cornmeal is. So if you don't like the
texture of the recipe, try to get a finer polenta.

Actually, it works very well. Whole Foods (the chain) uses
polenta-grind corn meal for their deli corn bread. I
prefer a grind a little larger than the most common corn
meal grind, but a tad smaller than the polenta grind.

The polenta we buy from Wild Oats is quite coarse and
doesn't work in the cornbread recipes I have (not that
that's many, mind you). The bread just falls apart. I
didn't like the texture anyway. We use the finer cornmeal
also sold there.

Quoted message said:

The real trick to corn meal is getting it fresh. Corn
meal has a high oil content making it prone to rancidity.
The best I found was from a health food store (which I
usually avoid like the plague) which had 4 grinds and
kept it in a refrigerator. It made very moist cornbread
that never crumbled (which can also be acheived by adding
an extra egg).

nb

LOL that's one of the reasons we shop a lot a Wild Oats
and Whole Foods. The bulk goods are a lot fresher than
most places.

Arri London <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The polenta we buy from Wild Oats is quite coarse and
doesn't work in the cornbread recipes I have (not that
that's many, mind you). The bread just falls apart. I
didn't like the texture anyway. We use the finer cornmeal
also sold there.

I'm not sure how coarse that is, but I have stone-ground
white cornmeal shipped from TN. It's rather coaarse, but the
cornbread never falls apart. I usually order 25 pounds at a
time and store in the freezer. It never goes bad.

Southern cornbread often contains no flour and I prefer it
that way. The recipe my grandmother made and the that I
also make...

Southern Cornbread
------------------
2 cups stone-ground white cornmeal 1 teaspoon salt 1
teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon graunlated sugar
(optional, and I don't use it) 2 eggs 1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup shortening or bacon drippings

Add shortening or drippings to a 9 or 10-inch cast iron
skillet and heat in a 450°F. oven until smoking hot.

Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a mixing
bowl and stir briskly with a fork to combine, but do
not overbeat.

Slowly pour hot fat into batter while continuing to stir
until well- combined. Pour batter into skillet and bake for
30-35 minutes, or until firm to touch. Invert in skillet and
continue baking an additional 5 minutes. Turn out onto
platter, cut in wedges, and serve.

NOTE: You'll know if the skillet is hot enough if it
sizzles when you pour the batter into it.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

Wayne said:

shipped from TN. It's rather coaarse, but the cornbread
never falls apart.....

Quoted message said:

2 eggs

Quoted message said:

1/3 cup shortening or bacon drippings

Interesting approach. No flour, but there's the 2 eggs, and
considerably more fat. Looks good. I'll try it. Thnx.

nb

Wayne said:

Arri London <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The polenta we buy from Wild Oats is quite coarse and
doesn't work in the cornbread recipes I have (not that
that's many, mind you). The bread just falls apart. I
didn't like the texture anyway. We use the finer
cornmeal also sold there.

I'm not sure how coarse that is, but I have stone-ground
white cornmeal shipped from TN. It's rather coaarse, but
the cornbread never falls apart. I usually order 25 pounds
at a time and store in the freezer. It never goes bad.

Southern cornbread often contains no flour and I prefer it
that way. The recipe my grandmother made and the that I
also make...

Southern Cornbread
------------------
2 cups stone-ground white cornmeal 1 teaspoon salt 1
teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon graunlated sugar
(optional, and I don't use it) 2 eggs 1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup shortening or bacon drippings

Add shortening or drippings to a 9 or 10-inch cast iron
skillet and heat in a 450°F. oven until smoking hot.

Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl
and stir briskly with a fork to combine, but do not
overbeat.

Slowly pour hot fat into batter while continuing to stir
until well- combined. Pour batter into skillet and bake
for 30-35 minutes, or until firm to touch. Invert in
skillet and continue baking an additional 5 minutes. Turn
out onto platter, cut in wedges, and serve.

NOTE: You'll know if the skillet is hot enough if it
sizzles when you pour the batter into it.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

Sounds good. Will try it with the coarse cornmeal and see
how it goes. LOL I don't have a mesh size for the cornmeal,
but the grains are about the size of the sesame seeds we
usually buy.

notbob <[email hidden]> wrote in news:oaKFc.20933$XM6.6366@attbi_s53:

Quoted message said:

Wayne said:

shipped from TN. It's rather coaarse, but the cornbread
never falls apart.....

Quoted message said:

2 eggs

Quoted message said:

1/3 cup shortening or bacon drippings

Interesting approach. No flour, but there's the 2 eggs,
and considerably more fat. Looks good. I'll try it. Thnx.

nb

Thanks. Hope you like it.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

Arri London <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Wayne said:

Arri London <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The polenta we buy from Wild Oats is quite coarse and
doesn't work in the cornbread recipes I have (not that
that's many, mind you). The bread just falls apart. I
didn't like the texture anyway. We use the finer
cornmeal also sold there.

I'm not sure how coarse that is, but I have stone-
ground white cornmeal shipped from TN. It's rather
coaarse, but the cornbread never falls apart. I usually
order 25 pounds at a time and store in the freezer. It
never goes bad.

Southern cornbread often contains no flour and I prefer
it that way. The recipe my grandmother made and the that
I also make...

Southern Cornbread
------------------
2 cups stone-ground white cornmeal 1 teaspoon salt 1
teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon graunlated sugar
(optional, and I don't use it) 2 eggs 1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup shortening or bacon drippings

Add shortening or drippings to a 9 or 10-inch cast iron
skillet and heat in a 450°F. oven until smoking hot.

Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl
and stir briskly with a fork to combine, but do not
overbeat.

Slowly pour hot fat into batter while continuing to stir
until well- combined. Pour batter into skillet and bake
for 30-35 minutes, or until firm to touch. Invert in
skillet and continue baking an additional 5 minutes. Turn
out onto platter, cut in wedges, and serve.

NOTE: You'll know if the skillet is hot enough if it
sizzles when you pour the batter into it.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

Sounds good. Will try it with the coarse cornmeal and see
how it goes. LOL I don't have a mesh size for the
cornmeal, but the grains are about the size of the sesame
seeds we usually buy.

Oh, that's much coarser than the stone-ground meal which
actually has varying size particles, but none so large as
that. However, it's not at all as fine the powdery stuff
that most supermarkets sell. I think you'll like the
recipe, but you might try whirling your cornmeal in the
food processor a bit to reduce the size. That is most
likely the problem.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.