Corn Custard: Not Your Mama's Grits

In the wintertime when I'm waking up before daylight with my young children, I hanker for something warm and nourishing to eat.  Something economical, easy, and kid-approved.  You, too?

Here's Corn Custard, my adaptation of old-time "corn-mush." It's satiny-smooth, filling, easy on the stomach can be varied with hundreds of additions or tweaks, and it even looks good in the bowl.



It's not Polenta, nor Grits, as I'll explain later.

Here's the Recipe:

1 cup Water

1 cup Milk

double pinch of salt

2T Evaporated Cane Juice, or Brown Sugar

2/3 cup Masa Harina - finely ground corn flour, treated with lime to enhance nutritional value (see below)

2 Large eggs, cracked into a dish or coffee cup ahead of time

2 T Butter

Heat the first group in a 1.5 quart pot.  Have a whisk at the ready.  Turn the fire to high, and wait until you hear the rushing noise indicating that it will boil soon.  Put the whisk in the pot and agitate the water/milk mix, and keep doing that while you pour the masa harina into the pot in a stream.  Working quickly, use the whisk to whack any lumps that form - they will smooth out in a few seconds.  

Let the pot simmer (beware of splatters,) turn the heat to medium, and begin whisking again and then drop in the eggs and beat slowly but constantly until you see a few bubbles come popping up.

Remove from the heat, stir in the butter, and serve.

(If you have a hungry toddler at the table, spread the custard out on a plate to cool it rapidly, and don't set it down until you're sure it's cool enough.)

This recipe makes 2 Adult servings, but scales up easily.

NOTES

Masa Harina can be found in any Mexican/Latino grocery.  I prefer MASECA brand.

Grits, as the name implies, are made from coarsely ground hominy (corn treated with lime) and give a gritty/grainy mouthfeel.

Polenta is made from pure corn meal, which is tasty but lacks any useable niacin, a crucial nutrient.  Treating the corn with lime (alkali) changes its flavor and unlocks niacin and other nutrients. Eating corn as the principle staple food will give a person Pellagra, a deficiency condition that was epidemic in the New World among European settlers.  It took them decades to figure out why the Natives of the Southwest could eat corn all the time and not get sick.