To Make Polenta
A historical recipe from The Virginia Housewife, by Mary Randolph (1860).
A historical recipe
The Virginia Housewife; Or, Methodical Cook, by Mary Randolph (1860). Project Gutenberg eBook #12519.
From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.
United States
Known as an American recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.
Ingredients 1 ingredient
Cook safely
Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.
- Oven and hot trays. Use dry oven gloves for trays and dishes: a hot tray looks just like a cold one. Open the oven door away from your face and let the first rush of heat out.
- Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
- Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.
Method
Chef Wood
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- Put a large spoonful of butter in a quart of water, wet your corn meal with cold water in a bowl, add some salt, and make it quite smooth, then put it in the buttered water when it is hot, let it boil, stirring it continually till done;
- as soon as you can handle it, make it into a ball, and let it stand till quite cold--then cut it in thin slices, lay them in the bottom of a deep dish so as to cover it, put on it slices of cheese, and on that a few bits of butter;
- then mush, cheese and butter, until the dish is full;
- put on the top thin slices of cheese and butter, put the dish in a quick oven;
- twenty or thirty minutes will bake it.
Plating
Cookware for this recipe
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Saucepan
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Baking dish
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Mixing bowl
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Chef's knife
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Wooden spoon