These crispy Colby cornmeal cakes are a cross between a mozzarella stick and cornbread. Cheesy, soft, warm and delicious served with your favorite tomato sauce. They take a bit longer than most of our recipes and require chilling time so this may be a meal you make when you have a bit of extra time on your hands.
Some people collect stamps, others collect comic books or baseball cards. I, on the other hand, collect cookbooks. I suppose it could become problematic, what with how heavy and large cookbooks can be. But just like you may sit down with a new novel by your favorite author, I am attracted to cookbooks of my favorite chefs. Thomas Keller happens to be one of these chefs and I wasted no time in getting each of his cookbooks as they were released. In his cookbook for Ad Hoc, he has a recipe for Grits Cakes served with an Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce. These two recipes, which I made on a whim one day when I had some excess cornmeal and tomatoes, have gone into a pretty regular rotation for us. These cornmeal cakes are an easier version of those grits cakes.
We start by adding 6 cups of water to a heavy bottomed pot, then add the cornmeal in soon after. Some recipes call for you to wait for the water to boil. Don’t! Having made these many times, I tried multiple times to put the cornmeal in and whisk as well as I can to prevent lumps. Bottom line is it really doesn’t work and the polenta will start to attack you as it bubbles away, like bubbling hot lava.
And if you thought I was kidding, here is the lid, after it is done cooking. You have to be careful to whisk and cover while avoiding the polenta!
Did I mention it is a lot of cheese?
Mix in the salt, milk and cheese
and look at your delicious cheesy reward…
Stir the polenta until it starts to pull away from the side of the pot. Then pour into a rectangular pan and cool in the fridge or freeze until it sets up firmly. Set up a dredging station of flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. Cut the cornmeal cakes to your desired size and thickness. Dredge into the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs and cook in a skillet with 1/4 inch of canola oil until both sides are crispy. Serve with your favorite tomato sauce.
Crispy Colby Cornmeal Cakes
Ingredients
- 6 cups water
- 2 cups cornmeal
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 cups grated Colby Jack cheese
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- Olive oil , for frying
- grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Add 6 cups of water to a heavy bottomed pot, then add the cornmeal in soon after. Some recipes call for you to wait for the water to boil. Don’t! Having made these many times, I tried multiple times to put the cornmeal in and whisk as well as I can to prevent lumps. Bottom line is it really doesn’t work and the polenta will start to attack you as it bubbles away, like bubbling hot lava.
- Mix in the salt, milk and cheese.
- Stir the polenta until it starts to pull away from the side of the pot.
- Pour into a rectangular pan and cool in the fridge or freeze until it sets up firmly. Set up a dredging station of flour, egg, and breadcrumbs.
- Cut the cornmeal cakes to your desired size and thickness.
- Dredge into the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs and cook in a skillet with 1/4 inch of canola oil until both sides are crispy. Serve with your favorite tomato sauce.
I am making these today for our new year dinner and this looks amazing with shrimp,will let you know how yummy it is.
Happy new year! Hope you enjoy them!