Hominy people, it's time to grow up: Meet polenta.

[snoozy]

OK, I didn't want to be rude, I didn't want to say it, but I don't like hominy. At all. And once you've known polenta -- how can you go back to hominy? (the lutefisk of cornmeals...)

But then, I'm a Yankee, through n through, it's true.

You don't need to stir and stir till your arm is breaking. Polenta -- PERFECT polenta -- is so easy, it is ridic!

1 cup polenta, 4 cups water, 1 T olive oil, 1 tsp salt. Throw this into a deep dish glass or ceramic pie pan and stir it about. It will all separate out, but don't worry about it. Put it in a 350F oven for 1 hour 20 minutes. Stir it with a fork, and close the oven door for another 10 minutes. Take it out, add 2/3 cup of cheese (I've used pepper jack combined with parmesan, or myzithra or cheddar -- whatever sharp cheese you have on hand). I also add 1/4tsp truffle oil, but it is optional. Voila: It's DONE.

Especially great served with leftover stew or roast whatever. Today, we had it with leftover black beans and salad.

Need more? Double the recipe.

Grits? Gaggh. Give me a break.

Polenta!! YES!!

[Deleted]

Nope....James

[wally]

Never tried polenta, we enjoy hominy , DW  eats grits , me however cant stand them.

[oldmania]

I'm with James.

[Deleted]

Mmh, Polenta is delicious! I'm with you there.

But I have never had hominy, though. Sure would like to try it, always up for new things. 

[freelove]

We love polenta and have it instead of pasta sometimes on Sunday, especially in the winter. I usually make it on the stove top - a flame tamer makes it easier - but I also make it in the crock pot. Super easy, just stir once in a while and add cheese at the end.

I really like it with greens cooked nice and juicy with garlic, oil and mushrooms.

[Cabin Fever]

Isn't hominy the entire corn kernal and polenta is ground corn? Seems almost like apples and oranges to me. But what do I know, I'm a yankee.

[spacecase0]

hominy has available niacin, polenta does not

I make polenta in a pot on an induction range, set it for high power,
just keep stirring it quickly with a whisk while cooking, takes about 5 min.

[TommyIce]

I enjoy both--but mom's a northerner and dad's a southerner. lOL

[Deleted]

Corn on the cob, cut off, heated through and frozen, lots of cornbread, zuchinni fritters, trout egg wash and rolled in it, hominy and a little cornmeal in chili, about it for us....James

[midtnmama]

Thanks for this JWAL10. I bought some in a tube last week and used it in vegetable lasagna. It was terrific. I'd like to serve rattatouille (sp) over it. Like the idea of black beans. I have some of those to eat up right now!

[Deleted]

May 3, 2015 3:27:03 GMT snoozy said:

OK, I didn't want to be rude, I didn't want to say it, but I don't like hominy. At all. And once you've known polenta -- how can you go back to hominy? (the lutefisk of cornmeals...)

But then, I'm a Yankee, through n through, it's true.

You don't need to stir and stir till your arm is breaking. Polenta -- PERFECT polenta -- is so easy, it is ridic!

1 cup polenta, 4 cups water, 1 T olive oil, 1 tsp salt. Throw this into a deep dish glass or ceramic pie pan and stir it about. It will all separate out, but don't worry about it. Put it in a 350F oven for 1 hour 20 minutes. Stir it with a fork, and close the oven door for another 10 minutes. Take it out, add 2/3 cup of cheese (I've used pepper jack combined with parmesan, or myzithra or cheddar -- whatever sharp cheese you have on hand). I also add 1/4tsp truffle oil, but it is optional. Voila: It's DONE.

Especially great served with leftover stew or roast whatever. Today, we had it with leftover black beans and salad.

Need more? Double the recipe.

Grits? Gaggh. Give me a break.

Polenta!! YES!!

Isn't polenta just corn mush? I know people cook it, chill it and then fry it. Would be okay I guess, but honestly, you don't like grits? With shrimp and cheese and bacon?

[aftermidnite]

Ohhhhhh Shrimp and grits!!!

I am open to trying polenta ....

And will try your way since it seems easy enough for me ..

Thank You !!!!

[snoozy]

In a sense it is just cornmeal mush, but don't make it with ordinary cornmeal. I think that is not as coarsely ground as polenta. People do press cooked leftover polenta into a log (or you can buy cello-wrapped logs of it precooked) & then slice it & pan fry it, but I have never had that be very successful. Perhaps mine is too cheesy. But fresh and hot out of the oven -- Mama mia!

[Deleted]

Why do we need to have this ugly corn discrimination? It's all good! Hominy has more nutrition available because of the treatment that takes it from a hard kernel of corn to become hominy. Grits are coarsely ground, dried hominy. Masa is finely ground dried hominy. Polenta is coarser grind of cornmeal, hopefully whole grain and not degerminated. Then there is regular cornmeal, again try to find whole grain. All of them have their place. I wouldn't want to eat any of them every day, or give up any of them forever, either.

[vickilynn]

Polenta is so good, especially make with homegrown corn ground into meal, especially Floriani: www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/food-policy/floriani-red-flint-corn-staple-crop-zmaz10djzraw.aspx

[Deleted]

Snoozy, you had the grit to say what I was thinking about hominy. All this talk about tradition and then out comes a can of - well, it's not natural. What I've been served as grits has a kind of glueyness that isn't what you go for in good polenta. I don't care for cheese mixed in though, and I use it for "pies" with sauted onion/sweet potato/bacon/greens/sundried tomatoes, etc. between two layers of polenta. That gets sliced and crisped up in butter to good effect.

Vickilyn, you're right on, the better the corn and grind, the tastier and more nutritious. I could live on tamale pie made with polenta.

And I know the polenta lover's ultimate technique - it's unmolded after a few minutes out of the oven and servings cut with a thread.

[willowgirl]

And here I thought "polenta" was just the snooty foodie word for cornbread! lol

[Raeven]

May 6, 2015 19:10:41 GMT willowgirl said:

And here I thought "polenta" was just the snooty foodie word for cornbread! lol

No, it's the snooty foodie word for cornmeal mush.  But there are some particular ways it is prepared to qualify it as polenta and not cornmeal mush.  Polenta is traditionally stirred continuously for nearly an hour to achieve a creamy texture, and it is always enriched with cheese, traditionally Parmesan.  I love it.  My favorite preparation is to pour it into a  9 x 13" casserole dish to solidify, then cut it into pieces and broil it to reheat.  Serve it with two poached eggs on top and a sprinkle of good bacon and fresh chopped parsley.  Oh, my!  Best breakfast evvvaaahhhh!!!

[Deleted]

Isn't it more the size of the corn grains that make it polenta? Almost like cracked instead of ground, you can't make polenta from regular cornmeal. And if you try to make cornbread from polenta it's pretty flat and gritty. I've tried those tubes (pricey!) and it's more like cornmeal mush, too broken down. Poor flavor too. I think that Pheasant brand is good if you get it by the bag.


I really don't know the origin of the baking of the polenta in a mold that's turned out and cut. It does have to spend time stovetop getting stirred continuously until it comes to a mass that doesn't separate. It's supposed to have a lighter texture where the grains are more distinct, the thread keeps it from getting mashed and also shows if you've done a good job getting it to just the right firmness. It was a must have with pot roast, so some of the cooking time is shared.

I wouldn't fire up the oven just for polenta, the stir-up is faster especially if you remember to soak it overnight.  And I like it served soft with fish, more firm with meat but still spooned on the plate. It's always been an opportunity to use hard rinds and other bits of cheese, but I save good parm to grate over the top. Some stir cream in at the end, and some eat it with just butter.

Not very nutritious in itself, but it's a great carrier. I copied my pies from the health food deli, if you want to talk snooty foodie. It seems everyone who's tried polenta likes it - the quicker to the plate the better the polenta!

[snoozy]

Yes, polenta is a coarser grind than American cornmeal. It doesn't have a lot of floury stuff to make it sticky like cornmeal. And generally instructions say it should be stirred by an Italian grandmother for 3 hours, otherwisa it'sa no good. But the baking method I describe above comes out perfectly.

[freelove]

We use organic corn grits.

Polenta is really good poured into a baking dish and topped with sauce and mozzarella and baked until it is all bubbly and melty.

[hermitjohn]

It gets complicated with all ways cornmeal is commercially processed. Polenta is thick cooked coarse cornmeal (hand ground, not factory processed) that congeals on its own into a "log".

Hominy is whole kernel corn processed in lye. Whole 'nother critter!

Grits is course cornmeal, usually with nutritious part of the corn removed at the factory. Though you can cook coarse hand ground corn meal.... just lot longer cooking time.

Grits as most southerners prepare them remind me whole lot of Cream of Wheat or Farina that used to be popular in north. Though grits are little bit coarser grind. All of which had nutritious part of wheat or corn removed at factory to extend shelf life and increase profits.

[Awnry Abe]

I do polenta in a saucepan. Takes about 15-20 minutes, I add a dollop of goat cheese at the end. Super good stuff.

And I am with mocows on this one. Why force a choice? They are all good.