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Polenta

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mclifford973
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Joined: 05/17/2009

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to Daring Kitchen. This is my first post, hope I'm in the right forum.

Polenta. I thought I recently read a recipe for polenta where you cook it starting with corn meal. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks!
Melissa

Audax Artifex
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Joined: 03/07/2009
mclifford973 wrote:

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to Daring Kitchen. This is my first post, hope I'm in the right forum.

Polenta. I thought I recently read a recipe for polenta where you cook it starting with corn meal. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks!
Melissa

It's exactly the same thing with one "but." Grind size varies greatly on corn meal, whereas polenta is a little more standard, usually medium to medium/coarse. You may want to sift the corn meal through a fine sieve so you get the best texture. Low and slow is the key - the cornmeal will stay gritty for a long time - but the result will be delicious. Cook it the same way, it's the same thing. Also some polenta such as Golden Pheasant brand is degerminated, where as water-ground (stone-ground) golden cornmeal isn't and has the germ of the corn kernel and thus a bolder *corny* flavour.

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climbhighak
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Joined: 05/14/2009

Audax nailed it. In my experience they are pretty much interchangeable. There is an excellent Polenta/cornbread recipe on the Golden Pheasant bag that is now my favorite for cornbread.

Kitchenella
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Joined: 01/12/2010

I've always found that using coarse cornmeal with a little fine cornmeal sprinkled in works the best - like 1/4 cup of fine to 2 cups of coarse.

If you use all coarse, it comes out more like grits. If you use all fine, it comes out like mush. If you combine them in the right ratio, you get a nice consistency - a nice "tooth", but still creamy.

Just my two cents.

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