Conference turris::cooks

    ASK FOR CORN MUSH....
    

    Try an Indian market.  I was able to find it in one in Reading several
    years ago when I was visiting and needing it to prepare a Mexican meal. 
    It is coarser than masa harina, but in my case it was sufficient to
    provide the flavor.

    I'm pretty sure that American Corn Meal is known as Semolina in
    England.  Semolina is quite coarse, you'd need finely ground.
    Trust this helps - Anna - Ex. Londoner, now making her home in
    Massachusetts.

RE: .3

No.  Semolina is made from ground semolina wheat, hence its name.  It is not
ground maize (American corn).

--PSW

    
    
    I did find some in an Indian corner shop....BUT the corn meal...exact
    name....was very corse...any idea how well that'll turn out making
    corn muffins...of a pan-corn cake ??  
    
    AND...it's been AGES since I've made them....aside of water...do
    I need anything else?

    We make corn muffin from corn meal, not corn flower!!!!
    

    .6: You missed the point.  In the UK, there is no product sold that is
    called "Corn Meal."  As with many products internationally, finding out
    what they are called and where they are located in "foreign" lands is,
    to say the least, a challenge.
    
    ed

    
    
    I'll say it's a challenge....I JUST found some Dill pickles for
    2 Quid a jar, and I'm in heaven...I'm not into Branston pickles..
    
    it's all in what you are brought up with....
    
    ...finding out the translation of products (if any) and finding
    the product is definately better than these treasure hunts!
    IT's a lot harder!!!

a coarse mealy time of grind is just fine for corn muffins and corn bread.

A quick, and easy to remember recipe is:

	grease a 9" by 13" baking pan or two regular sized muffin tins (24 
	muffins total).  Pre-heat oven to whatever the equivalent of 350 degrees
	farenheit is over there  8^}

	Mix together in a large bowl:

		2 cups corn meal 
		2 cups regular wheat flour (whole wheat is fine)
		1/2 cup to 1 cup sugar (strictly preference here)
		1 teaspoon salt
		3 level teaspoons baking powder

	Mix together in a smaller bowl:

		2 cups milk
		1/4 pound butter or margarine, melted and then cooled - 1
			stick of butter, 1/2 cup of butter...the equivalent
			to any of these measures is appropriate
		2 eggs (slightly beaten)


	Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden
	spoon just until all dry ingredients are moistened.  turn in the
	baking pan or muffing tins.  Bake in oven until the top is nicely
	browned and it springs back when pressed lightly.

			Bon Apetit!

Find an Italian market, and ask what they use in making "polenta", a corn meal 
mush.  I use the same stuff in making polenta and corn muffins, with a lot of 
success.

    RE .7
    
    I didn't miss the point, I just did a poor job of expressing myself. 
    The coarse corn meal found in the Indian grocery is fine for making
    corn muffins.  Usually corn muffins are made from a coarser meal rather
    than a finer flour.

    If you can only find meal that is very coarse, you can make it finer by
    grinding it in a food processor or blender.  I've ground whole brown
    rice and oatmeal in a blender, to make baby food.  Now I have a bunch
    left and will use it in bread dough in the fall.
    
    L

    I know this is a bit late but here you go:

    I buy corn meal (I'm American living in Britain) in the Asian Cash and
    Carry - my store carries course, medium and fine - they also carry
    white corn meal which is finer than "grits" but still makes a decent
    dish.

    ps.  I've not had much luck with using Polenta meal in corn muffins as
    it produces a very very heavy muffin.. yuck!

    gailann
                                                 

    I've looked high and low in the supermarket for Corn Meal...no luck.
    
    Do you have to go to a speciality store??
    
    Thanks!

    Quaker (the oats people) make it.  It's not a specialty item.  I've
    seen it in most grocery stores in the flour aisle.

    Goodness, that's not a very exotic ingredient, assuming you are in
    Massachusetts since you're on a node that I think is.  Look next to the
    flour, or ask a clerk in your grocery store.  You may also find fancy
    brands of cornmeal where fancy flour or muffin mixes are, but the usual
    yellow cardboard cylinders (like a small oatmeal box) ought to be in
    with the rest of the baking ingredients.  If your grocery store claims
    never to have heard of cornmeal, change stores!
    
    You may have more trouble finding it if you are not in the US, though.
    
    /Charlotte

    Yup, if outside the US (even in Canada) it is difficult
    to find. (got mine in California!) The other place I spotted it
    was in my local health-food / bin store.
    
    Monica
    

    If you can't find it near the baking section, try the cereal section,
    with the oatmeal.  
    Sarah

    I use cornmeal regularly, and a few of the grocery stores I shop
    at carry it irregularly (sometimes it's there, sometimes not).
    Seems like perhaps more people are using corn bread/muffin mixes
    rather than making it fromthe meal.

    I've usually found it in the breakfast cereal section, near where
    the store stocks oatmeal, instead of with the other flours. Are
    you looking there?
    
    --L