Cornmeal Mush Recipes

Also known as cornmeal coosh, cornmeal mush (or simply mush) is a type of porridge or pudding recipe made of cornmeal. The most common way of preparing this dish is to boil the cornmeal in either milk or water and season it with salt or sugar in accordance with individual taste preferences. Another variation is to fry the cornmeal pudding after cutting it into flat quadrangles.

The following recipe discloses the most basic ingredients and preparation method of the most conventional variant of cornmeal mush. Given the nutritional value of corn and the fact that this recipe is a real time saver, a cornmeal mush can be a real life saver on hectic mornings!

Ingredients

1. Water - 4-4½ cups
2. Cornmeal - 1 cup
3. Salt - 1 teaspoon

Preparation Method

1. Boil around 3-3½ cups of water.
2. Add salt to the boiling water when the air bubbles begin escaping.
3. Add the cornmeal to the remaining cold water and mix well into a smooth batter so as to avoid lumps and trapped air.

• Add this batter to the boiling water and stir it in.
• Continue stirring for about five minutes on full flame.
• Lower the flame after five minutes and cook on low flame for another twelve to fourteen minutes.

• Turn off the flame when the porridge begins to pull away from the sides of the cooking utensil.
• If you wish, you can add a little butter and milk to the hot cornmeal mush when serving.

You can either serve the mush hot for breakfast or you can freeze it and serve it as a cold pudding by pouring it into a mold and refrigerating it.

This is a sweet variant of the previous recipe.

Ingredients

• Salt - 1 teaspoon
• Water - 4-4½ cups
• Cornmeal - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1-2 teaspoons (or as per taste)

Preparation Method

• Add the cornmeal to the remaining cold water and mix well into a smooth batter so as to avoid lumps and trapped air.
• Boil around 3-3½ cup of water.
• Add the salt and the sugar to the boiling water when the air bubbles begin escaping.
• The rest of the procedure is the same as the above recipe.

This dish, if served hot, is best served by adding a little milk and syrup. Frozen cornmeal pudding can be garnished with colorful jelly crystals and fruit crushes (say, strawberry crush or black currant crush).

This variant includes making the basic cornmeal mush, either the sweet or the salty variant, freezing it in a mold, and cutting the cornmeal pudding into flat quadrangular pieces. For this purpose, a shallow, wide mold is preferable rather than a deep bowl.

Once all the ingredients and utensils are in place, follow the steps mentioned below:

• Heat a little bacon dripping in a frying pan. You won't be deep frying the pudding pieces, so do not use too much of the grease.
• When the dripping is ready, fry both sides of each pudding piece. Make sure each side turns sufficiently brown without getting burnt.

• You can serve these fried pieces with butter, scrambled eggs, and bacon.

Whether or not you include sugar in preparing fried cornmeal mush is completely up to you! You can also top these fried pudding pieces with grated cheese or baked beans! Besides being a tasty snack, fried cornmeal mushes can double up as a healthy breakfast option, given the beneficial nutritional corn facts.

Those were some easy and quick recipes. As far as serving and garnishing is concerned, you can use your imagination to conjure up innovative toppings and a wide variety of accompaniments.