Recipe - Fried Cornmeal Mush

1 Batch "Hasty Pudding" (see
recipe)
Oil; butter or bacon fat or
a mixture of some for
frying

I remember my father making this dish when I was a boy. He had eaten it
often as a child, and I could not understand why he would be cooking
something that marked difficult times in his youth. I asked him why and he
replied, "Because I can." There is something very important about choosing
to eat foods from times in which you had few or no choices at all. Dad's
younger brother, Dale, told me that he remembers Thanksgiving dinners at
which fried cornmeal mush was served . . . and nothing else.

I enjoy the dish very much. Make it for your kids now and then. I think
they will get a kick out of history on the table for breakfast.

Make a batch of Hasty Pudding (see recipe) and add 4 tablespoons of flour
to the mixture. Whip it in, in a hurry. Pour the mush into an oiled loaf
pan and chill overnight. In the morning slice the cold mush One fourth inch thick
and fry in oil, butter, bacon fat, or a mixture of same. Fry it slowly
until it takes on a golden and crunchy crust. This will take some time,
about 15 minutes on each side. No, this is not an instant breakfast!

My friend Beatrice, in St. Paul, tells me that I should always flour the
slices before frying. She's right. They brown evenly and taste wonderful.

Serve with butter and maple syrup.

TIME INCLUDES OVERNIGHT CHILLING

From The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American. Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe
Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.