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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Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) My blog
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.
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.
Stir stir stir! Always around the edge of the pot, and folding from the bottom onto the top. It should also be MUCH thicker than grits. We traditionally use wooden platters to mound the polenta on when it is done, and it holds its form pretty well, not liquidy.
I never made polenta in the US before, and I know that most people say that cornmeal and polenta are interchangeable (probably are for those who aren't used to real polenta), but they are different varieties of corn. Polenta has a stronger flavor... when I first moved to Italy I made the mistake of trying to make corn based food (particularly mexican) that I was used to in the US, and polenta (as well as polenta flour) does NOT work. Texture- wise it is similar, but the taste was bizarre and pretty gross. I would get real Italian polenta from a speciality shop if I were you! I don't know if it is available in the US, but there is a whole grain polenta that we use here Valle d'Aosta a lot that also has chestnut and rye flours mixed in.
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.
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) My blog
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.
An Alaskan Cook's Exploration of Food and Technique
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.
kitchenella.wordpress.com
Stir stir stir! Always around the edge of the pot, and folding from the bottom onto the top. It should also be MUCH thicker than grits. We traditionally use wooden platters to mound the polenta on when it is done, and it holds its form pretty well, not liquidy.
I never made polenta in the US before, and I know that most people say that cornmeal and polenta are interchangeable (probably are for those who aren't used to real polenta), but they are different varieties of corn. Polenta has a stronger flavor... when I first moved to Italy I made the mistake of trying to make corn based food (particularly mexican) that I was used to in the US, and polenta (as well as polenta flour) does NOT work. Texture- wise it is similar, but the taste was bizarre and pretty gross. I would get real Italian polenta from a speciality shop if I were you! I don't know if it is available in the US, but there is a whole grain polenta that we use here Valle d'Aosta a lot that also has chestnut and rye flours mixed in.