Corn flour is very popular in many countries around the world, especially in Italy. It is used to prepare not only cereals, but also bread, pancakes, meatballs and even some desserts. Scientists have established that the Aztecs were still preparing cornmeal dishes. Today this product is used to make tortillas, mdachi and, of course, the most famous dish – polenta.
Corn flour is a valuable dietary product from which the hostess can prepare tasty and healthy meals. Simple recipes do not include many ingredients and are suitable even for novice cooks. For example, delicate and delicate Mexican tortillas tortillas or cornmeal pancakes. For 8 people, you will need: – 3 cups of cornmeal; – 1 teaspoon of salt; – 1 tbsp. hot water; – vegetable oil; – 0,5 tsp each of salt, baking powder.
You can make cornmeal yourself. To do this, you need to grind corn grits in a coffee grinder to a powder.
To make the cakes homogeneous and without lumps, the dough should be properly prepared. To do this, mix flour, salt and baking powder in a deep bowl, then add vegetable oil and hot water, which should be poured in a thin stream. It is best to knead the dough with your hands. When the dough is smooth and elastic, form a ball and leave for 10 minutes in a deep dish, covered with a towel.
After the dough has stood, cut it into 8-12 pieces and roll each piece thinly. Fry the prepared thinly rolled tortillas in a pan without adding fat until crisp. Fried and cooled tortillas can be safely kept in the refrigerator and then reheated before serving.
It should be noted that corn tortillas are a good base for making burritos and a variety of rolls.
Polenta (the second name for cornmeal) can be used to make a delicate and aromatic bread that can be served well for breakfast in the form of toasted toast with cheese. Bread making time is about 3,5 hours. To bake corn bread you will need:
– wheat flour – 350 g; – corn flour – 150 g; – water – 210 ml; – milk – 90 ml; – any vegetable oil – 1,5 tablespoons;
– granulated sugar – 2 tsp; – salt – 1 tsp;
– cheese – 30 g; – yeast – 10 g.
Knead yeast dough from yeast, sugar, milk, butter, water and salt and set the finished dough to rise for 2-3 hours. Then wrap it up, form an oval bun and leave to come up a second time. Preheat the oven to 230 ° C and bake the bread at this temperature for 10 minutes. Then sprinkle it with grated cheese and put it back in the oven for 30 minutes, lowering the temperature to 180-200 ° C. Cool the finished cornmeal bread on a wire rack before serving.