# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Cooking, Food Storage, & Preserving > Recipes Only >  Fried Cornmeal Mush - simple food

## pgvoutdoors

*Ingredients:*
2-qt. Water
1 1/2-tsp. Salt
2 2/3-cups Cornmeal

*For Cooking:*
Beacon Fat or cooking oil with a little bit of beacon fat

Bring water to a boil and add salt.  Slowly add the corn meal, constantly stirring with a spoon.  Turn down the heat to a simmer.  Stirring often, cook for a half hour.  Pour into a bread pan and smooth out top.  Place in a refrigerator or cooler to firm up overnight.  _Note:_ When backpacking I use a Ziploc bag to form it in.

The next day cut one inch slices and fry in beacon fat.  Serve buttered and salted or with syrup.  It can be used in many ways.

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## Pal334

Now that is a stick to the ribs meal  :Smile:

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## preachtheWORD

I have made this often.  But it never lasts long enough to cool down and form up, though!  

If you want to be fancy you can call it "polenta."  If you don't want to be fancy you can call it "mush."  If you are from the south you can call it "grits."  Whatever you call it, its good.

I imagine once it set us up and is cut into squares that it travels well.  It might make a decent trail food.

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## Old GI

Polenta is yummy!  Have it all the time at kid's NM farm.

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## Chris

I make this nice southwest creamy polenta.

Add some milk, add some cheese, add some chipotle, add some green onions. 

You can stuff it into zucchini blossoms (it sounds fancier than it is. Normally stuffed blossoms are a high end meal because zucchini blossoms are expensive and fragile, for me though it is just a way to eat more of the plant I'm growing anyways).

I also roll it into balls, toss in breadcrumbs or batter, and deep fry. Good stuff.

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## rwc1969

I've got to be honest. This ain't my favorite dish. I've ate it more times than I'd liked to have. But, it is a great easy recipe and sure beats starving.

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## crashdive123

Try it with bacon.  Bacon - the ultimate seasoning.

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## Rick

Just finished a bacon sandwich. Yes I did.

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## randyt

everything is better with bacon, heck even bacon is better with more bacon.

by the way i love fried cornmeal mush, good stuff

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## LowKey

The southern side of the family called them Hoe Cakes though they sorta baked it rather than skillet fried it.
Really good in Bacon grease.
The Eyetalian side called it Polenta.
Really good fried up plain but with some spagetti sauce over them when served.

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## Badawg

I like it with fresh made Pesto. In the pesto I crush garlic and saute with a some olive oil, add chopped green olives, Lot's of chopped fresh Basil and Pine nuts.

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## Pict

Here in Brazil it's called "angu" and it is eaten any of a dozen ways including with spaghetti sauce.  I like it with chicken and okra.  Nothing better.  Mac

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## your_comforting_company

I was gonna say "that's grits!" but PTW beat me to it. Northerners don't seem to know what it is, and my Grandma has to mail them to my aunt in AK once a month.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grits
We eat LOTS of them. I like mine with lots of birds-eye peppers or jalapeno's and cheese, and of course a gratuitous amount of BACON.. mmmmm... y'all are makin me hungry!
I've never tried it with chicken or okra, but I love both, so it's gotta be good. Maybe supper for tomorrow night to give it a try! Cool Mac!
Good thread PGV!

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## your_comforting_company

We take leftover grits and fry them in EVOO or bacon grease and I've even reheated them / fried on a hot rock when camping. Excellent trail food for a weekend trip. Good use for breakfast leftovers if there are any  :Big Grin:

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