[pct-l] Corn pasta

[rogercar@pacifier.com (Roger Carpenter)]

On the topic of corn pasta, Charlie Thorpe wrote:
>>We tried corn pasta for the corn carbo and never learned to cook it =
right.
It always seemed to turn into either rubber or a soggy mush.  We quit =
trying
and experimented with Polenta.  The Polenta wasn't bad, but we quickly =
found
a corn alternative that suited us MUCH better.
We live in Alabama and found our corn carbo on the b'fast table - grits. =
 We
started using off-the-shelf 5 min grits and never looked back.  We liked
grits so much that we eventually got to doing grits every other =
evening.<<

Charlie, thanks for the comments.  You had some great food tips that I =
still remember from the time we hiked together on the PCT in 1995.  I'm =
not sure you were cooking grits back then, but Polenta is something I've =
been cooking on the trail the last couple of years.  Daniel Fleischer, =
who thru-hiked the CDT in 2000, gave me a great recipe for Polenta =
Chile.  I cook the polenta in reconstituted tomato sauce, heavily =
seasoned, and add TVP.  I'll e-mail the recipe to anyone interested. =20

I won't join the bandwagon of politically correct corn pasta bashers, =
but on my thru hike in 1996 and other hikes I found that corn pasta was =
not very good with tomato sauces.  But I still like it with cheese =
sauces such as cheddar or alfredo mixes, the packaged sauce mixes you =
find in every supermarket.  In the bigger resupply towns I would buy the =
cheese mixes and toss my tomato leather.  I'm sure I also tossed plenty =
of corn pasta in the hiker boxes until I got it right.    Like everyone =
else I found if I cooked it too long it got mushy, so I had to be sure I =
didn't over-cook it.  And I only used corn elbows.  I still occasionally =
eat a corn pasta meal on the trail.  Besides, if desperately hungry, =
like on the final 500 miles of a thru-hike, does it really make any =
difference?

Blisterfree said yesterday:
>>I recommend trying Ancient Harvest Quinoa
pasta, which is actually 80% corn, 20% quinoa grain. The corn gives it =
any
corn advantage or disadvantage we care to ascribe, and the quinoa gives =
it a
nutty flavor and quite a bit of balanced protein. It also seems to hold
together better than straight corn pasta, although neither is as =
forgiving
as wheat. On the trail I now eat the Quinoa pasta almost exclusively; =
it's
that good.<<

Sounds like a good tip.  Thanks!

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