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Feb. 7th, 2006 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sereneJust posted about polenta in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
cooking, and I thought I'd put it here for future reference.
As for polenta, it's one of our favorite things. Here's how I make it.
1 cup cornmeal (polenta)
3 cups water
salt, oil (optional)
butter
cheese (usually parmesan, but whatever you've got), optional
Boil the water with a little salt and oil if you want. When the water is boiling, *slowly* pour in the polenta while you stir the whole time. Turn down the heat and boil gently until the polenta is quite thick -- it only takes a few minutes. Take it off the heat and stir in butter (as much as you want -- I usually use a few tablespoons) and cheese (1/4-1/2 cup of parmesan is normal for us).
Now you have choices -- eat as is, or chill in the fridge until firm, then cut into cubes or slices and either boil like fresh pasta or fry. I like frying the cubes in olive oil, then topping them with spaghetti sauce.
The polenta is also good with things added in -- I love it with sliced mushrooms and sauteed onions. Be creative -- it's really forgiving. And you can put herbs and spices in the boiling water -- I like garlic and basil if I'm using spaghetti sauce, for instance.
Can you tell we eat this a LOT? :-)
cooking, and I thought I'd put it here for future reference.As for polenta, it's one of our favorite things. Here's how I make it.
1 cup cornmeal (polenta)
3 cups water
salt, oil (optional)
butter
cheese (usually parmesan, but whatever you've got), optional
Boil the water with a little salt and oil if you want. When the water is boiling, *slowly* pour in the polenta while you stir the whole time. Turn down the heat and boil gently until the polenta is quite thick -- it only takes a few minutes. Take it off the heat and stir in butter (as much as you want -- I usually use a few tablespoons) and cheese (1/4-1/2 cup of parmesan is normal for us).
Now you have choices -- eat as is, or chill in the fridge until firm, then cut into cubes or slices and either boil like fresh pasta or fry. I like frying the cubes in olive oil, then topping them with spaghetti sauce.
The polenta is also good with things added in -- I love it with sliced mushrooms and sauteed onions. Be creative -- it's really forgiving. And you can put herbs and spices in the boiling water -- I like garlic and basil if I'm using spaghetti sauce, for instance.
Can you tell we eat this a LOT? :-)
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Date: 2006-02-08 03:51 pm (UTC)It usually takes me a whole lot longer than "a few minutes". I keep stirring (and stirring and stirring) until the whole mass starts pulling away from the side of the pot. Maybe 15 minutes or so. Then glop (there's no other way to describe the transfer. it's like dealing with The Blob) it into some sort of container, and after 10 minutes or so it firms up to the point where you can take it out with your hands as a solid disk (or whatever). At that point I usually make something else to put on top of it (mmmm. mushrooms. scorched eggplant.), broil or grill the polenta disk, and then put the former atop the latter.
Also, putting about a half teaspoon to teaspoon of cumin in the boiling water worked very well.
Yeah, I make it a lot, too :)
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Date: 2006-02-08 03:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-09 12:13 am (UTC)