cornmeal mush

[kimba]

Hey all, I want to make cornmeal mush. And bake it in the oven when it's all set up. Any idea how I can do that without any fat or very little of it? Ya know, slice it up and then bake it some how.

Thanks

[Keepyerplantieson]

This isn't exactly what you asked for, but I have a recipe to cook polenta in the oven, with no stove-top cooking. It's really easy. One cup polenta (cornmeal), 1 quart water. The original recipe also called for a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of butter, but I just leave those out. Mix together in a 2 quart baking dish, cook at 350 fahrenheit for about an hour till done.

[kimba]

Hmmm... sounds interesting. I'll have to give that a try.

thanks

[VeggieSue]

No recipe to offer, just a baking hint. Be sure to use either a non-stick pan, line the pan you have with parchment paper, or, Mary McDougall's favorite, get yourself a silicone loaf pan, other wise that cornmeal concoction is going to form a bond like cement to plain old stainless baking pans that even 3 days of soaking and a steel wool pad can't clean up. Take it from the voice of experience!

[MINNIE]

Another thought.

If you just want it to set and be solid enough to cut, you might not need to bake it.

I love polenta, but hate conventional cooking instructions. Since they all incorporate fat, there's lots of time-consuming stirring to get the fat/cheese or whatever absorbed.

But I just cook it in the microwave. It takes five minutes. No fat! just water and any seasoning ingredients you feel like adding -herbs, garlic powder, or just plain.

I use about 3cups water to 1 cup polenta meal, and cook on high for 5 minutes. (You can use a lid or not -it won't boil over like oatmeal does).

I use Bob's Red MIll polenta. You can probably use any brand of corn meal though, because that's all polenta really is .

What I do is just make in the microwave, pour it into a container and put it in the fridge. It solidifies when it cools. You can then slice or scoop it up, and heat with whatever sauce you want to use.

If you still want to bake it get a bit of crispness, you could slice it or scoop out the cold polenta and put it in the oven. I would use parchment paper, as I avoid non-stick cookware.

As mentioned above, baked-on polenta is a b**** to clean.

[Vanilla Orchid]

I make polenta on the stove. I don't measure. I just boil some water, add the cornmeal, lower the heat and stir until it's thickened. Then I pour it into a shallow cake or pie pan to cook and set. Then cut it and use it an whatever recipe I like. You could add some herbs or seasonings to it if you want, or even some nutritional yeast if you want a cheese-like taste.

[debknott]

When I was a child my mum used to slice cornmeal mush and fry it. Then we would pour maple syrup on it and eat it for breakfast. We all liked it.