Fried Cornmeal Mush/Polenta

Want to have something a little different for breakfast or brunch? Try this naughty dish when you want something corny and crispy and oh so Divaliscious!

Also known as Fried Polenta - Are Your Ready for Brunch? This is theee recipe my grandma has always used, and I do now of course. Want something different instead of pancakes or waffles, then this is it...Serve warm with butter and syrup - add flavored butter for an utterly amazing experience like strawberry-butter, orange-butter or honey-butter. ...

• This dish is made the night before and allowed to "set up" before frying it up in the morning. It keeps very well in the fridge if wrapped up correctly. You can certainly halve this recipe as this is a double recipe.


• ***OK Here we go...


• 2 Cups Cornmeal/Polenta


• 6 cups Boiling Water


• 2 teaspoons Salt


• ***When ready to fry


• flour for dredging


• Crisco shortening (the white stuff is what we usually used) or


• You can use bacon drippings or butter (for an "Oh My factor"!)


• ***Equipment Needed:


• Sauce Pot with lid, whisk, loaf pan, plastic wrap, ice cubes and cold water

1. Boil water.


2. While waiting for water to boil, add ice cubes and water to loaf pan and set aside so that the loaf pan will get very cold.


3. Add salt to now boiling water.


4. Slowly add two cups of corn meal and whisk all the while to prevent any lumps in your "corn meal mush".


5. Once mixture starts to boil (big bubbles will pop up out of the mixture), turn down heat to a simmer and put lid on top of sauce pan.


6. Continue to cook for 15 minutes.


7. Pour out ice cold water and ice cubes from loaf pan.


8. Add cooked cornmeal mixture to loaf pan let cool for five minutes before wrapping and covering loaf pan with plastic wrap.


9. Place load pan into fridge with the cooked corn meal in fridge overnight to set.


10. ****Wake up time - and time to fry....


11. In large skillet or cast iron skillet, let skillet get hot with preferred shortening of our choice.


12. Take out loaf pan, remove plastic and cut 1/2" slices of the corn meal mush.


13. In flat bowl or plate, add 1/2 cup of flour, dredge corn meal mush slices on both sides with flour and shake off any excess and carefully place into hot skillet.


14. You might have to do this in batches if making it for a crowd.


15. So heat up the oven to 275 degrees and have a cookie sheet with some paper towels placed on top and into the oven to transfer any cooked corn meal mush until ready to serve.


16. I have done this so many times for crowds and having the oven on a "keep food warm" heat really helps - the cookie sheet helps keep the slices crisp.


17. The corn meal mush will take about 7minutes per side.


18. Be careful that your skillet is not too hot, you don't want a smoky kitchen, but rather you want the corn meal mush to slowly fry.


19. Using spatula, carefully flip over when one side is done.


20. This is literally one of my favorite (only a couple times of year) naughty breakfast dishes - the slices are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside - serve with warmed up syrup and your favorite butter along with sausages or bacon makes for an amazing and naughty breakfast!


21. See comments for alterations for making an interesting savory appetizers that can be reheated for your parties!


22. Photo shown has corn meal mush fried then cut into half which I do not do. I will place a photo of my own soon. Happy corn meal mushing!




If you want to try these as an appetizer, simply add diced scallions and minced rosemary (1/4 cup each) to corn meal after its cooked. Then on the next day, fry it up then simply reheat in the oven for 5 minutes for your guests to try something entirely different!

Fried Cornmeal Mush @ Group Recipes