Little Panda on the Prairie

Little House on the Prairie! I loved these books as a kid and I still do. My Thursday theme is veganizing recipes from The Little House Cookbook published in 1979.

Fried cornmeal mush makes an appearance in many of the books and I remember it most from the second book in the series, Little House on the Prairie. According to the cookbook, fried cornmeal mush is "hasty pudding that has been chilled, sliced and fried in fat".

To prepare you will need:
1 t salt
1 c stoneground cornmeal
4 c water.

Bring water to a boil and add salt. Slowly which in the cornmeal while stirring constantly. If you let up on your stir you will end up with lumps. When all has been stirred in, reduce heat and simmer one hour until done, stirring occasionally. This makes the hasty pudding. For friedn cornmeal mush, prepare this at night and pour into a greased loaf pan or mold. In the morning you can slice pieces and heat in drippings until golden brown. I used shortening and a touch of liquid smoke for my drippings.

I didn't have a loaf pan, so mine ended up in a pie plate overnight. The picture is not so exciting, but I tossed a bit of cracked pepper on top and this was quite tasty for a fall morning. If you have some sorghum molasses you are in for a real treat topper.

Now you are ready to hitch up the horses and take the covered wagon back onto the prairie!