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Emergency Recipe Substitutions
Suddenly discovering you don't
have an important
ingredient is no fun
when you are in the middle of cooking your
favorite recipe. Knowing
an ingredients' equivalent or substitution can save the day.
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NEW
- Don't Call Me Corny:
Cooking Tips and Substitutions for
Corn Flour, Corn Meal, Cornstarch and
About That Johnny Cake
Several different types of cooking ingredients come from corn.
Corn bread, stews and even fried catfish recipes call for some form of
corn. If you are missing an ingredient knowing its equivalent or
substitution can save grandma's recipe from oblivion. If you know
the use of an ingredient, it is easier to come up with a
substitution. Today Mom explains corn starch, corn flour,
cornmeal and that Johnny Cake.
Corn Starch: Made from the endosperm of the
corn kernel. Cornstarch is used to thicken sauces, soups and
stews. Substitutions for cornstarch are as follows: 1
tablespoon cornstarch = 2/3 tablespoon arrowroot OR 2 tablespoons all
purpose flour OR 1 tablespoon potato starch OR 2 tablespoons
quick-cooking (instant) tapioca.
Corn Flour: Made by grinding whole corn
kernels into a fine powder. It is used in combination with other
flours to make breads, or for breading items for frying. Corn
flour contains less gluten than wheat flour. When baking,
substituting corn flour instead of wheat flour will result in a heavier
bread. If you just need corn flour for breading, you can use
regular flour instead.
Corn flour can also be used to thicken sauces. If you don't have
corn flour, substitute with corn meal ground to a powder in a food
processor. You can also thicken sauces by substituting regular
wheat flours in the same measurements.
Sauce Cooking Tip: Before adding any powdered
thickener to a sauce it is a good idea to dissolve it first. Use
a little liquid from your sauce, or some broth, juice or water (about
1/2 cup or less). When your thickener is dissolved in liquid,
carefully stir it into your sauce with a fork or whisk. This
helps cook up a smooth sauce with no lumps.
Cornmeal: Made from ground corn, usually
without the corn skin or germ and has a coarse texture. Cornmeal
doesn't contain gluten so it is generally used to make quick breads or
breads with a cake-like texture. If you don't have one cup of
cornmeal substitute one cup of grits or polenta.
Cornmeal is sometimes called for in bread recipes for dusting a greased
pan. Dusting a pan helps keep the bread from sticking to the
pan. It also gives the bread crust an extra little crunch and a
hint of flavor.
If you don't have cornmeal you can substitute
corn flour, regular wheat flour or any other flour to keep bread from
sticking. If you still want that crunchy texture try pulverizing
some corn flakes instead. Or try using another thinly ground
grain like steel cut oats or cracked wheat.
Johnny Cake: Johnny Cake or Journey Cake is a
simple quick bread made with corn and water plus sugar. Hoecake
technically, is a corn cake cooked over the fire on the back of a hoe
(or shovel). The method still works - but don't forget to grease
your shovel first, or the hoecake will stick! Over the years we
have added salt and leavening agents to our corn cake recipes for
variations on the same corny theme.
Here's a great old-fashioned
recipe for Corn Cake using molasses as a sweetener.
Molasses Corn Cake
1 cup corn meal
3⁄4 cup flour
31⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 cup molasses
3⁄4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon melted butter (or margarine)
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add milk with molasses,
egg well beaten, and butter. Bake in shallow buttered pan
(roughly 9x9 or 8x8) in 425 degree oven for twenty minutes.
Easy Molasses Measuring Tip: The easiest way
to measure the molasses for this recipe is to use the same measuring
cup as the milk. First, pour the milk up to the 3/4 cup
line. Then add the molasses until it measures 1 cup. If you
still have room in the cup, add the egg and mix everything together
before adding it to the dry ingredients. Good luck and happy
cooking!
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