Freezing cornmeal mush
 

I like cornmeal mush for breakfast now and then but rarely make it.
When I do I make a little extra and chill the leftover mush overnight
in a plastic container and then slice and fry it the next morning.

Occasionally I experiment with polenta made with the leftover mush.

I'd like to make a somewhat larger amount and freeze the unflavored
mush so I can fry some for breakfast or try some new polenta idea
whenever the mood strikes me, but I haven't been able to find any
information about freezing mush.

This isn't brain surgery and I'm willing to just take a stab at it by
freezing some mush in freezer-safe plastic bag or container, but I
thought someone else may have done this and has some caveats or
suggestions.

Any comment will be appreciated.

-Len

Mold them into shape with a cookie or biscuit cutter, or a cleaned tuna
can with top and bottm cut out. Set them in the freezer on a flat
sheet to harden, then wrap tightly in plastic. and return to freezer.
It looks like freezing individual hamburger patties.

I use the same method for freezing salmon or liver pate, to pull out
individual servings, although the seafood suffers a bit in the freezer.


Some day I need to look up what polenta is. It seems to be this week's
comparison topic.

LenS wrote:

> I like cornmeal mush for breakfast now and then but rarely make it.
> When I do I make a little extra and chill the leftover mush overnight
> in a plastic container and then slice and fry it the next morning.
>
> Occasionally I experiment with polenta made with the leftover mush.

Polenta isn't grits. And vice versa.

The standard corn for grits is ground white hominy.
Polenta is traditionally ground yellow corn.

Hominy used to be made by soaking the kernels in lye, and some is still
made that way. The lye removes the hull. There are other methods that
accomplish the same thing and the finished corn is also sometimes called
hominy. <http://www.quakergrits.com/QG_Products/oldfashioned.htm>

Polenta is just ground yellow corn, no lye, not extra treatments.
<http://www.ansonmills.com/products.html>

> I'd like to make a somewhat larger amount and freeze the unflavored
> mush so I can fry some for breakfast or try some new polenta idea
> whenever the mood strikes me, but I haven't been able to find any
> information about freezing mush.

Grits can be frozen, but you'll get some weeping as the starches permit
moisture purging.

Same for polenta.

Pastorio

>LenS wrote:
>
>> I like cornmeal mush for breakfast now and then but rarely make it.
>> When I do I make a little extra and chill the leftover mush overnight
>> in a plastic container and then slice and fry it the next morning.
>>
>> Occasionally I experiment with polenta made with the leftover mush.

On Wed, 04 May 2005 23:38:35 -0400, "Bob (this one)" >
wrote:
>Polenta isn't grits. And vice versa.

I know. I was speaking about cornmeal mush, not grits. One of these
days I'll give grits a shot, but meanwhile it's mush and polenta for
me.
>
>Polenta is just ground yellow corn, no lye, not extra treatments.
><http://www.ansonmills.com/products.html>

Yes, exactly.
>

It looks as though we're speaking of different products, but I do
appreciate the comments.

Thanks,

-Len

On 4 May 2005 17:51:04 -0700, " >
wrote:

>Mold them into shape with a cookie or biscuit cutter, or a cleaned tuna
>can with top and bottm cut out. Set them in the freezer on a flat
>sheet to harden, then wrap tightly in plastic. and return to freezer.
>It looks like freezing individual hamburger patties.
>
>I use the same method for freezing salmon or liver pate, to pull out
>individual servings, although the seafood suffers a bit in the freezer.
>
>
>Some day I need to look up what polenta is. It seems to be this week's
>comparison topic.

Thanks for the freezing tips.

Polenta is a European dish made from boiled yellow cornmeal, popular
in Italy, I believe, made somewhat like good old cornmeal mush.

While I'm no expert (I'm just learning my way around polenta) it is
made from yellow cornmeal and served with lunch or dinner as a sort of
vegetable, having been flavored with various ingredients including
onion, garlic, other vegetables or sometimes meat products. It's also
served simply with butter.

Thanks,

-Len

LenS wrote:

> Polenta is a European dish made from boiled yellow cornmeal, popular
> in Italy, I believe, made somewhat like good old cornmeal mush.

Northern Italy, up near the alps.

> While I'm no expert (I'm just learning my way around polenta) it is
> made from yellow cornmeal and served with lunch or dinner as a sort of
> vegetable, having been flavored with various ingredients including
> onion, garlic, other vegetables or sometimes meat products. It's also
> served simply with butter.

Not quite. Not served as a vegetable.

Northern Italians most often serve it plain as a base for other dishes.
It's not a side dish, it's a bed for other foods as noodles and rice
sometimes are.

My grandparents made polenta to go under stews or braised dishes. It's
how I saw it served in northern Italy. Some people add things, but
generally, it's very scantily seasoned or augmented.

Pastorio

On Fri, 06 May 2005 23:08:14 -0400, "Bob (this one)" >
wrote:

>LenS wrote:
>
>> Polenta is a European dish made from boiled yellow cornmeal, popular
>> in Italy, I believe, made somewhat like good old cornmeal mush.
>
>Northern Italy, up near the alps.
>
>> While I'm no expert (I'm just learning my way around polenta) it is
>> made from yellow cornmeal and served with lunch or dinner as a sort of
>> vegetable, having been flavored with various ingredients including
>> onion, garlic, other vegetables or sometimes meat products. It's also
>> served simply with butter.
>
>Not quite. Not served as a vegetable.
>
>Northern Italians most often serve it plain as a base for other dishes.
>It's not a side dish, it's a bed for other foods as noodles and rice
>sometimes are.
>
>My grandparents made polenta to go under stews or braised dishes. It's
>how I saw it served in northern Italy. Some people add things, but
>generally, it's very scantily seasoned or augmented.
>
>Pastorio

OK, thanks for the information about polenta. As I said, I'm just
learning my way around this lovely dish.

I don't see it served very often, at least not in the restaurants
where my wife and I hang out in Chicago's northwestern suburbs. I have
seen it served in a little mound with no sauce along with a steak.

No matter. I can see it's time for me to do some reading and
experimenting.

Again, thanks,

-Len