Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I know you’ve been thinking about that big pan of savory, mouth-watering dressing that will be on your holiday table. Most of us will prepare a dressing that involves cornbread (even if we’ve also got a self-respecting rice dressing on the menu, too). Cornbread and its mother ingredient, cornmeal, are absolutely emblematic of Southern eating, and a huge part of our fall menu.
So this month, it’s time to celebrate cornmeal, and find new ways of enjoying it. Here are a few suggestions.
Buy local
Instead of making cornbread from a commercial mix, pick up boutique, small-batch cornmeal and other products from Bonnecaze Farms. Founded by the late “Papa Tom” Bonnecaze, and now run by his children, the Baton Rouge company sells polenta, cornmeal, yellow grits and corn flour—all stone ground. Find them at the Red Stick Farmers Market on Thursdays and Saturdays.
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Serve baked grits at dinner
There’s more to grits than grillades or shrimp. Baked grits are a timeless, underrated side dish for beef, chicken, pork or seafood, and a refreshing substitute for potatoes or pasta.
Revive coush-coush
You know the chant … Hot boudin, cold coush-coush, come on Tigers, push, push, push! But do you know the dish? Coush-coush is Cajun corn “mush.” Cornmeal batter is poured into a hot, cast-iron skillet, and stirred only after a crust is allowed to form. That process is repeated so there are crunchy bits in the creamy cooked batter. It’s served with cane syrup.
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Read all about it
Fellow food nerds, this one’s for you. New York Times bestselling cookbook, Deep Run Roots, by A Chef’s Life co-creator Vivian Howard includes a chapter on ground corn, complete with recipes, facts and tips. Another great read is Southern food historian Bill Neal’s classic Biscuits, Spoonbread & Sweet Potato Pie, which features more than 30 pages on corn breads, dumplings, pancakes and fritters.
It’s polenta
Polenta, the Italian cornmeal dish, is traditionally plated in a puddle or in firm wedges. It’s fantastic with short ribs, or with a fresh mushroom sauce. Use local mushrooms grown in St. Francisville from Mushroom Maggie’s (read our story about the farm here) to create a savory sauté of wild mushrooms, shallots, garlic and fresh herbs. Spoon it on top of polenta for an incredible vegetarian entree.
Maggie Heyn Richardson is a regular 225 contributor. Reach her at hungryforlouisiana.com.