Is cornbread meant to have a 'gritty' texture??

consumermonkey

Yep Swan it is the same brand. I have been making cornbread for years, since I first spotted a recipe for it in one of nigellas books. As I have the same trouble as the rest of you in sourcing the cornmeal, I buy whenever I see it, and currently have a bit of a glut. I have not opened the bag of tesco, but I would take a guess it will be the same.

Swan_2

oh well, the only thing to do now is give the cornbread a try usinig it & see how it turns out. I had some while on holiday, so have an idea how it should be. I'll make some to go with the chilli I have in the freezer & will report back later in the week

if it doesn't work, we'll be looking for a source of superfine cornmeal :rolleyes:

pavlovs_dog

well i finally found some in asdas thanks to OH's eagle eyes

huuuuge bag of natco fine grade in the ethnic food section as you all said it would be :A

texture was lovely (although i think i should let it cool a little next time, stop it crumbling so much ) although the taste was more bland than cornbread ive had in the past.

i thought about adding a drop of vanilla essence, but worry this might make it a little too cake-like. ( i used greentomato's super duper recipe :beer: )

any thoughts?

Katgoddess

They sell fine grain polenta in Morrisons, in the international section. The brand is Dunn River and its in a red bag. I brought a bag ages ago and still haven't made any.

BrandNewDay

Well, I made some cornbread last night. I used an organic coarse polenta that I got at a little food shop, mixed with plain flour. I didn't follow any particular one recipe, but read about a dozen different ones to figure out what they had in common. I ended up with something that was generally cake-like, but had a mildly gritty texture, too. I would have been VERY pleased, except it was somewhat flavorless. I don't know how to explain it - but anyone who has had it in the US will know what I mean: there's supposed to be a savory buttery corniness to it.

I will say this, however: if you EVER run across a recipe that calls for yeast, that ain't corn bread. I don't know what that is, but it ain't corn bread. Every other recipe I read called for mixing plain flour with polenta (50/50) and adding about 1tbs of baking powder and an egg. Then, there was some oil and some sugar or honey.

I'm going to submit the recipe I used to some Americans I know and ask them how to get it a bit tastier.

Penny_Watcher

Cornbread *drools*

We never had it before this summers hols. As a starter were served a very nice warm salad, with a basket full of what looked like (and actually tased quite like) slices of sponge cake.

Kids were most impressed - cake to take away the taste of the salad :T

Doh - only in America :rotfl: :rotfl:

Lyndsay_21

in my ainsley harriet cookbook theres a delish recipe for chilli topped with cornbread then cooked in the oven it is soooo yummy..

BrandNewDay

BrandNewDay wrote:

Well, I made some cornbread last night. I used an organic coarse polenta that I got at a little food shop, mixed with plain flour. I didn't follow any particular one recipe, but read about a dozen different ones to figure out what they had in common. I ended up with something that was generally cake-like, but had a mildly gritty texture, too. I would have been VERY pleased, except it was somewhat flavorless. I don't know how to explain it - but anyone who has had it in the US will know what I mean: there's supposed to be a savory buttery corniness to it.

I will say this, however: if you EVER run across a recipe that calls for yeast, that ain't corn bread. I don't know what that is, but it ain't corn bread. Every other recipe I read called for mixing plain flour with polenta (50/50) and adding about 1tbs of baking powder and an egg. Then, there was some oil and some sugar or honey.

I'm going to submit the recipe I used to some Americans I know and ask them how to get it a bit tastier.

OK... I figured out what the problem was... I forgot to put in the salt! D'oh!

Wickedkitten

BrandNewDay wrote:

We'd just call it corn meal in the states, rather than polenta.

Polenta and grits are different - grits are white, just the um, gritty part. The hominy. You cook them like oats and can eat them as a hot cereal. Or, let them congeal in the fridge, and then slice and fry it, rather like polenta.

I'd never heard of polenta, BTW, until I ate at a fancy restaurant. I tasted it and said, "Hey! This is Corn Mush!" "Polenta"= fancy side dish for latin recipes. "Corn Mush"= poor people's food.

Aye, I think the same stuff you use to make grits is Semolina.

Swan_2

Wickedkitten wrote:

Aye, I think the same stuff you use to make grits is Semolina.

although there are similarities (& some grey-ish areas according to the links below)

grits are made from corn, info HERE & semolina's usually made from wheat, info HERE

HTH