Fall in Texas is strange. The days are getting shorter, and some of the leaves have started falling off the trees, but the high temps are still almost 90 degrees. Coming from Seattle, my idea of fall involves cold rain, dark cloudy skies, and wearing a jacket.
More food photography:
Now, normally I’d call this creamy polenta, but seeing as how I’m in Texas, I think I’m obliged to call it grits. (I _think_ technically the difference between the two is in the grind of the cornmeal. Grits are a coarser grind, polenta is a somewhat finer grind.) So…creamy grits topped with smoked salmon and an over-easy egg. Yummy. I suspect that if I wanted traditional grits and eggs, I’d have to substitute bacon and/or cheese for the smoked salmon, but the saltiness of the salmon worked really well, and I can pretend that it’s healthier this way.
Yum! Did you make that? Back in SF I used to eat at the Crescent City Cafe on Haight St where for breakfast I’d have grits and crab cakes with a fried egg on top.
Very Yuummy…
Anon
Yup, I made polenta to go with dinner the other night, and had some left over. So this morning I reheated it with a little extra milk and some thyme, and put the smoked salmon and egg on top.
Grits with crab cakes sounds tasty too!
Wait until you have your first shirtsleeve day in December or January, then you can add “Winter in Texas is strange” to the list :)
Right! I’m really looking forward to winter here, which I suspect will be much nicer than winter in Seattle.
So are corn meal and corn flour different? I bought something and it’s not well-marked and I’m not sure whether I can make this…
I think the difference between corn meal and corn flour is texture. Corn meal will have a coarser texture (sort of like sand) whereas corn flour will have the texture you’d expect of flour.
When I went shopping, I wasn’t sure yet exactly what I wanted, so I got a medium grind corn meal (there’s a big variety of textures even within the category of ‘cornmeal’). I probably would go for something coarser next time (these are often labeled ‘stone ground’).
I don’t know whether this would come out with corn flour or not (I’ve only made it just the once, and I haven’t really worked with corn flour before). Maybe it would come out similar but with a smoother texture? If not, I’m sure there’s some great recipes for cornbread and corn pancakes to use up what you got :)
I think it’s corn meal, then. Hmmm. I’ll google around. Thanks!