| Time: About 10 minutes
We know folks up North who put sugar on their grits, but grits are one of the few things Southerners never sweeten. When it comes to mush, however—made just like grits, but with their finer counterpart, cornmeal—it’s another story. Mush can be cooked up and fried, but our recipe makes a soft breakfast porridge that has the creamy, beaded texture of cream of wheat and the bright, thrilling taste of heirloom corn. If you like grits with sugar—even if you don’t—you will love this buttery mush with maple syrup and hot milk.
Now it’s a fact that maple syrup doesn’t come from the same neck of the woods as our John Haulk corn, and though Southerners could claim mush cries out for sorghum, maple syrup and corn seem to bring out the best in each other. (Good luck trying to find any sorghum.) Chewy dried blueberries make it a party.
Equipment Mise en Place
For this recipe you will need a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan and a whisk.
Ingredients
1 cup (5 ounces) Anson Mills Antebellum Coarse White or Yellow Cornmeal
2 cups spring or filtered water
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
1 cup milk or more, heated and frothed, or cool
Real maple syrup, as much as you like
Dried blueberries for garnish
Directions
Place the cornmeal and water in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly, about 5 minutes. Continue to whisk as the mush simmers and thickens, 2 minutes more. The mush should have the consistency of a hot porridge—thick enough to drop heavily from a spoon, but still fluid and by no means sludgy. Whisk in the salt. Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the butter while the mush is still very hot. Serve immediately with maple syrup, brown sugar, or sorghum and milk, plain or frothy. Don’t forget the dried blueberries.
Serves 4
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