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Boiled Breakfast Hominy
Into a quart of highly salted water stir in half pint of hominy. Time to boil, one hour. If preferred, use half milk and half water. To be eaten with milk and sugar, or with butter and pepper if desired, as a vegetable. Farina is treated in a like manner, hominy taking much longer to cook than farina. All cereals can be treated in same manner as hominy, taking longer time when cooked in a double boiler.
A plain 4:1 water-to-grain porridge that still works, provided you know which "hominy" is meant and cut the salt back to modern taste.
- Which hominyIn American cookbooks of this period "hominy" on the breakfast table usually means the cracked or coarsely ground kind — what is now sold as hominy grits — rather than whole nixtamalized kernels. Whole hominy from dried corn needs several hours and a soak; grits will be done in the stated hour if coarse, and in 20-30 minutes if the modern quick or medium grind.
- The measuresA quart is 4 cups; half a pint is 1 cup. That is a 4:1 liquid-to-grain ratio, which is right for a loose breakfast porridge. For a stiffer result that sets when cooled, use 3 cups liquid.
- "Highly salted"The instruction is vague and by modern standards generous. About 1 teaspoon of salt per quart suits current palates; taste and add rather than starting from a heavy hand.
- Stirring inRain the grain into water already at a rolling boil while whisking, or it will lump irretrievably. Once it thickens, drop to the barest simmer and stir every few minutes to keep it off the bottom.
- Half milk and half waterMilk scorches far more readily than water. If using the milk version, cook it in a double boiler or over the lowest possible heat with frequent stirring.
- FarinaFarina is finely milled wheat, the sort of product now sold as Cream of Wheat. It needs only a few minutes to cook, depending on grind — nothing like the hour given for hominy, which is what the recipe's own comparison notes.
- Double boiler timingThe note about longer times is sound: water in the outer pot cannot exceed 212F, so the cereal never boils hard and will take noticeably longer than over direct heat. In exchange the porridge will not catch or need constant attention.
- YieldOne cup of dry grits gives about four generous breakfast servings. Leftovers set firm in a loaf pan overnight and can be sliced and fried, which is the classic second use.