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Don't Call Me Corny:
Recipe 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.
Baking with 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.
Cooking with 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.
About 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 to the pan. 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.
Sauce
Thickener 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).
Mix the powder and liquid together in a separate container. When
your thickener is dissolved into liquid, just stir it into your sauce
with a fork or whisk.
This
helps to cook up a smooth sauce with no lumps.
Johnny
Cake, Hoecake and Other Corny Breads
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.
Old-Fashioned
Molasses Corn Cake (Cornbread) Recipe
 Here is a delicious old-fashioned
recipe for Corn Cake using molasses as a sweetener instead of sugar.
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!
If you must use a mix, I recommend Jiffy
Cornbread!
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