How to Make Cereals From Fresh Mummy
Real grits are usually made from dried chopped corn – corn that has been soaked in an alkaline solution to make it more nutritious and tasty. It’s harder to find in the Pacific Northwest than you might think. While there is practically a Southern food fetish in Portland, much of the “cereal” that can be found in local grocery stores is sold as “cereal, also known as polenta,” which is not what I’m looking for. Not at all.
This extra steeping step makes the cereal look like cereal. Without calcium hydroxide (or other similar corrosive substance), your ground corn porridge will be bland and dull. The nyxtamalization, which you can learn about here, is the key to giving it the toasty, sweet, aromatic notes that make this particular bowl of breakfast gruel better than others.
However, there are not so many recipes for turning fresh nixtamlized corn into cereal. There are several that show you how to dry and grind corn and then turn it into cereal, but I just don’t want to do all of that. Luckily, if you know how to make risotto (and have a food processor), you can make fresh hominy grits. I only managed to find one recipe for this (on Anson Mill’s website), so I used that as a template and – since I can’t help myself – made a few corrections.
But before we get to that, you should familiarize yourself with the process of turning corn into mummy, so do it if you haven’t already. Once you’ve prepared at least a cup of this ingredient, all you need is water, salt, and some oil for flavor. You don’t need cream or milk. The creaminess of the cereal comes from its own, natural starch, not dairy products, so please save milk for the cereal and cream for the coffee.
Grits made with freshly ground corn — depending on how well you grind them — are slightly tastier than those you buy pre-ground. They retain some of the chewy consistency of hominis, which I love, but the more precisely you cook them with a food processor, the closer they are to “regular” grits.
After you’ve turned your mom into cereals, it’s almost like making risottos, with the only difference that you don’t fatten them before adding the liquid, as this will coat the little pieces of corn and prevent them from emerging. from water absorption. Fry them in a dry skillet until they are hot and fragrant and stick to the end of the wooden spoon, then gradually add the salted water, stirring with each addition, until they soften, swell and release the starch. Then – and only then – add the oil to taste.
Fresh hominy groats
Ingredients:
- At least 1 cup freshly prepared hominy (not dried or canned)
- At least 2 glasses of water per glass of filly.
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons butter per cup hominis, divided
Add the hominy to a food processor and beat until it breaks into small, grit-sized pieces. The smaller your chunks, the quicker the grits cook and the more creamy they will be (although these little chunks can be fun). Add the cereals to a dry stainless steel saucepan and cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until hot, aromatic and steamed. While the cereal is heating, lightly salt the water and bring to a boil in a separate saucepan (or kettle).
When the cereal is hot and starts to stick to the end of the wooden spoon, start adding the water, about 1/3 cup at a time, stirring with each addition until it is absorbed. At first glance, the groats will be quite dense and firm; just keep adding water and stirring until they are soft and swollen. Eventually, they will relax and release the starch, which will make them creamy.
Taste as you go. Your cereal may look good before it’s cooked enough, so keep cooking until it’s soft on your teeth, adding more water as needed to keep it from drying out. Once they look and taste right, add one tablespoon of butter (per cup of gominy you started with), stir, taste, and add more butter or salt as needed. Serve with hot sauce, cheese, shrimp and / or butter.