New England hasty pudding
Instructions:
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Hasty pudding of the New England variety is a cornmeal mush. It was often made, chilled, sliced, and fried. It was sometimes shaped in glasses or empty baking-powder tins to make round slices. The slices were floured and fried in butter. An old-time sauce for the pudding was New Orleans molasses. Butter and maple syrup is another favorite topping. Hasty pudding was a favorite supper dish on New England farms, where it was sometimes called "stir-about pudding."
It was cooked in a big iron kettle, and as the children waited for the fresh warm milk that was to be poured over it, they would watch it pop and sputter. Sometimes it was poured into a big yellow bowl and served for dessert. Leftover pudding was turned into a loaf pan, then sliced and fried for breakfast.
- 6 cups water;
- 1 teaspoon salt;
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal.
- In a 2-quart saucepan, bring the water and salt to a rapid boil.
- Slowly add the cornmeal, stirring with a whisk to keep the mixture free from lumps. Boil 1 minute. Place over a pan of boiling water and cover. Steam 30 minutes, until the pudding has thickened. Serve hot with molasses, maple syrup, or brown sugar; milk, cream, or butter; and nutmeg or cinnamon.
- NOTE: If you have any left over, pour into a buttered loaf pan. Cover and refrigerate. Unmold and cut chilled pudding into slices. Heat about 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy skillet and add the slices; brown on both sides until heated through. Serve with molasses, maple syrup, or brown sugar and more butter.