need help with spoonbread

[Guest guest]

Today I tried for the second time to make spoonbread with raw milk- I know, a waste of good raw milk to heat it up to boiling, but on the other hand it's rGBH free and $2 a gallon, so I'm NOT buying pasteurized gunk ever ever again!

The problem with the spoonbread is, it has water in the bottom when it's done cooking- and the texture is more like corn mush than pudding. For those of you who aren't familiar with spoonbread- it is a traditional Southern dish, kind of like a baked pudding or custard. It's made from a cornmeal mush cooked in milk with eggs beaten in after the mush is cool- kind of like a cornmeal soufflé.

I soaked 1 cup of freshly ground organic cornmeal in 1 qt of milk at room temp. overnight. Then brought the milk and cornmeal to a boil, stirring constantly to keep it from sticking until it was good and thick. Stirred in 2 T. of organic butter. Poured it into another container and let cool for 20 min. or so in the fridge. Stirred in 1 1/2 tsp. celtic sea salt, and whisked in three free-range eggs. Put in a buttered 2 qt casserole and baked at 400 degrees for 35 minutes- until puffy and golden brown at the edges.

This recipe (from Laurel's Kitchen) has always worked fine for me- although I've always used pasteurized milk and never soaked the cornmeal before now. Now it is a totally different texture, even though it is obviously done cooking- and there is standing water (maybe as much as a 1/4 inch) on the bottom of the casserole.

Any ideas?

TIA

Alison

Memphis TN

[Guest guest]

Alison,

My first guess is that having soaked the cornmeal the spoonbread

is cooking faster than it did before. The reason I surmise this

is that if scrambled eggs are cooked too long they become

watery. Another thought is that because of the change in water

absorption of the cornmeal, also because it is presoaked, the

cornmeal isn't absorbing as much of the liquids from cooking.

BTW, The Tennesse Corn Pone, also from Laurel's Kitchen, came out

much better when soaked first.

Ruth