Mountain Mondays and Cornmeal Mush

Saturday was beautiful in the mountains, but then Sunday came and the sky looked as though snow could come at any moment.  Of course, it did not snow.  It wasn’t quite cold enough.  This morning, however, we had a storm and a hard rain that washed away most of the beautiful Fall colors.  I hope you enjoy these pictures as next week’s series of photographs will capture the transition between the seasons as we approach Winter.

Ravenel Lake

The bear came to visit behind our house.

I know that most of you come to my Mountain Mondays post for a little bit of serenity before your week kicks into gear.  I usually do not include recipes or chatter write very much.  However, this Monday I felt like doing a quick recipe because it’s my website and I can if I want to! this particular breakfast dish seemed so appropriate for the cold, rainy day.  I really was craving some old-fashioned, mountain style comfort food to perk me up!

Fried Cornmeal Mush is something that my grandmother used to prepare for me when I was a little girl.  The recipe is also found in many Appalachian cookbooks.  Cornmeal was one of the few options for breakfast foods many years ago and it was prepared as a hot cereal as well as my favorite version, which is fried in butter and served with warm maple syrup.

Just like my grandmomma used to make!

Enjoy your week!

Print Recipe

Cornmeal Mush

Adapted from More Than Moonshine
Sidney Saylor Farr, Author

Ingredients:

5 cups of water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup stone ground cornmeal (I used Organic Hodgson Mills Cornmeal)
Generous pinch of sugar

Butter - for frying cornmeal mush

Directions:

Bring water and salt to a boil in a medium pan. Slowly add cornmeal in a steady stream, stirring constantly with a whisk, to avoid lumps. Cook, over a low flame, for fifteen to twenty minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened. * If you are going to make fried cornmeal mush, be sure to cook it for twenty minutes so that the mixture is thicker than the cereal version.

Serve as a hot cereal with with butter, sugar or honey.

You can also pour the hot mixture into a greased loaf pan. Let it cool. Place in the refrigerator overnight. Slice into approximately one-quarter inch slices. Fry slices in hot butter over medium-low heat until lightly browned and crispy. Do not keep the heat too high or you will burn the butter. * Be sure to slice off the first piece and discard as it will be quite moist and will not brown properly.

Serve with additional butter (optional) and a good maple syrup that has been warmed.