Welcome to the Shrimp N’ Grits: A Southern Style Blog Hop!
Hey y’all! Now you might find it strange that I’m taking part in this given the fact that I live in Canada but what you may not know is that much of my family is from or has connections to the south. My dad and brother were born in Kentucky, I went to the University of Arkansas (go hogs, WPS!), my mom and my sister and her family live in Arkansas just to name a few. I was raised on good ole Southern cooking and traditions. So here’s one of my favorites to share with you and once you’ve checked it out, you should head on over to the rest of the hop and see what other fantastic offerings we have for you. Oh, and be sure to link up YOUR posts too!
Fried Cornmeal Mush
Whenever any of us head to a Bob Evans Restaurant, everyone knows that my mom, brother, daughter and I are going to be ordering fried mush – no question about it! We even snap pictures of it and send them to each other to gloat a little bit when the other ones can’t be there – that’s just how much we love it. Of course, Bob Evans is the only restaurant within 200 miles of us that serves it but my Mom makes a pretty mean plate of it herself. Here’s her recipe for it and a special trick my daughter discovered that makes it turn out perfect every time:
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cup of cornmeal, 3 1/2 cups of water (the trick is that 2 1/2 cups need to be boiling water but reserve 1 cup as cold), a little salt and a little butter to taste.
Instructions: Combine the cornmeal and 1 cup of cold water in a bowl. Once your other water has come to a boil, stir in the salt and butter to it and turn the heat down to low. Add the cornmeal mixture to the pan and cook until it thickens. That takes about 3-5 minutes. Now, butter a loaf pan (or spray with cooking spray but what’s some good ole Southern cooking without more butter?) and pour the mush into the pan. Put this in the refrigerator so it can set up into a loaf – it needs at least a good hour before it will be ready to use but my mom sometimes makes up a batch and puts it in the fridge so we can use off of that loaf for several days. When you’re ready to have some, remove the loaf of mush from the pan and slice it into pieces about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick (I prefer it a little on the thinner side but it really is a personal preference thing). Fry the slices of mush in (you guessed it!) more butter until golden brown – about 3 minutes on each side if using the thinner slices. Delicious just as is or some people like to pour a little maple syrup over it. Yum!
From June 17 – 30, bloggers are invited to link up their family-friendly posts about life in the South: recipes, crafts, kids’ activities, and more!
So grab a big bowl of shrimp n’ grits, a tall glass of iced tea, and sit back on your porch swing, because we are getting ready for some down home fun!
The Shrimp N’ Grits Blog Hop is brought to you by:
Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails
Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes
With our wonderful co-hosts:
Leanna @ Alldonemonkey says
Ooh, this looks so good! You are so right – Southern cooking needs a little extra butter, mmm! And I love Bob Evans restaurant, although we always order the biscuits and sausage gravy 🙂 Thank you so much for co-hosting the Shrimp N’ Grits Blog Hop! Don’t forget to link up your post as well!
Samara Bressette-Lay says
mmm this actually sounds delicious!
Laurie@Vin'yet Etc. says
Love cornmeal, will have to try this!
amber whitehead says
Yummy. I love shrimp and grits but this cornmeal mush sounds like it would be wonderfully delicious recipe. Thanks
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
Now that I live down here, I need to try this kind of thing!
Ashley S says
I’m allergic to corn and can’t have the fired mush but BOY does it look good! Before my allergy went ape I used to love cornbread muffins….and now you’ve got me drooling 🙂
Deanna T. (@MapleLeafMommy) says
Oh yum! I’ve eaten this while visiting relatives down south, but never tried cooking it myself. Totally going to be trying my hand at this. And you now have me craving Bob Evans. Mmmmmm…. sausage gravy.
Bonnie Way says
I’ve never had fried mush – sounds interesting!!! The farthest “south” I’ve been is here in Victoria, but someday I’d love to explore the southern States and try all that good food. 🙂
Crissy says
My husband made me try cornmeal mush recently, it’s SO GOOD!!
Greta says
I live in the South now, and it’s a whole different world! I’m going to have to visit everyone to see what delicacies I’ve been avoiding simply because I didn’t know what they were!
Michele Brosius says
What a great selection of recipes. I love blog hops and linkies for finding great new stuff!
Ellen Christian says
I have honestly never tried grits before. I am not even sure where in Vermont I’d buy them. It definitely looks good though!
Christine (@chancesmommy) says
This is sooooooo awesome!!! Good ‘ol Southern cookin’ is comforting! I’ve got cornmeal in the pantry, so I may make this!
Tasha says
Mmmm Fried Cornmeal! Looks delicious! Can’t beat Southern cooking. Looking forward to try out this recipe. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Margarita Ibbott ~ @DownshiftingPRO says
Great recipe.
Kelly @ A Swell Place to Dwell says
Fried mush…I have never heard of it. But I bet it’s good!
Karen@NourishWithKaren says
Mmmm…. I love cornmeal. Pretty sure I would love this!
Dani @ lifeovereasy says
This recipe reminds me of polenta, which my northern italian family makes. Usually we fry it up the next day, but with a tiny bit of olive oil. I’m sure all the butter really helps!
Cyn Gagen says
Yes very similar to polenta – in fact sometimes I just buy polenta in the store and fry it up in the same way. 🙂
Bewildered Bug says
I gotta say that Fried Cornmeal mush looks really, REALLY good!
Becca May says
I have a confession…I live in (and grew up in) the south and have never had shrimp and grits….THERE…I SAID IT!! lol Just the name of this link up makes me want to try it! lol Fried corn mush sounds strange, but it looks DELISH!!