Entree -- Quick Weeknight Meals #2 -- Polenta: What, Why and How
Submitted by dvdlee on August 27, 2004 at 10:25 am

DESCRIPTION
Entree -- Quick Weeknight Meals #2 -- Polenta: What, Why and How

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under Misc. Recipes & Requests

INSTRUCTIONS
ABOUT POLENTA

Polenta is ground corn or ground cornmeal that is cooked slowly until tender, smooth and suave. There can be variations in the grind, but it is just a little coarser than grits. It makes no difference if itýs imported or made from American corn. The fresher the cornmeal, the better. Stone ground is better than machine milled cornmeal. Polenta offers a lot of options for fast dinner, or very elegant dinner party dish. Itýs cheap, flexible and tasty (if properly seasoned and used.) People think that polenta is exotic, unusual and is a sign of lots of preparation and professional cooking! (Donýt ever tell anyone different either!)

Polenta can be served hot out of the pot, warm, cold, grilled (my favorite), baked, and fried. You can add cheese, herbs, minced veggies to the polenta ý or top with any of those options.. You can also use the polenta as a base for seafood (scallops & shrimp are great!), Italian sausages and peppers, any kind of meat with or without a sauce, a tomato meat sauce or dice the polenta and make it part of a salad!

Polenta helps relieve the boredom faced by the weeknight cook of having to choose between some kind of potato, rice or pasta for a starch or filler. Polenta can be prepared a day or two before as well as the night of dinner. You can cook polenta while you are having dinner (if you use the method below), so you have a head start on dinner for the next day (or 2!).

Polenta was a staple of the small farmers and sharecroppers of Italy as it was cheap (the wheat, olives and grapes/wine were sold as cash crops) and would also last a long time. While missing some amino acids and vitamins, polenta does have reasonable nutritive value, as long as it doesnýt form the base of your entire diet.

TYPES OF POLENTA
There are several options in polenta nowadays. You can buy it pre-cooked (in those plastic tubes similar to the way breakfast sausage is packaged), ýquick-cookingý polenta (also known as instant) and the original plain polenta as used by Italian farmers!

The packaged polenta is OK if you buy only the plain kind (the flavored versions tend to use cheap or less-than-fresh ingredients and tastes stale or odd) and add lots of cheese or other ingredients to it to help cover up its commercial taste. Instant polenta is cheaper than the pre-cooked tubes, and takes very little work to prepare. (Boil water, add salt & seasonings, add to water, cook very briefly, then add final ingredients). Some people prefer the taste of the tube polenta, others the instant. If the instant polenta is not very fresh, it will tend to have less corn flavor.

The best polenta is the slow-cooked kind. Traditional recipes often call for over an hour of cooking and stirring. Polenta made with real cornmeal (not instant) requires long cooking to remove the raw cornmeal mush taste and to give a taste that is both flavorful and smooth. Recipes that only require 15 or so minutes of cooking will not produce the best polenta. The method given below takes all of the pain and effort out of making traditional polenta.

NO ATTENTION POLENTA (requires very little attention
Traditionally polenta was made in a saucepan and had to be stirred for an arm numbing time. You had to make sure it didnýt get lumpy or burn and you couldnýt just let it cook. You had to watch it carefully. I make this polenta usually the night before it will be used, or around Saturday lunch for that evening.

This method (from The Italian Country Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper) is unique and wonderful. I have successfully used it and highly recommend it to anyone!

The basic method is to pour boiling water into the top of the double boiler, whisk in the polenta and salt. Then put it over simmering water and let it cook for 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours. Stir the polenta occasionally, but not frequently. Thatýs it!

To make any quantity:

3 parts liquid (use water, stock, milk & water, buttermilk & water)
1 part polenta cornmeal
Salt to taste

Fill the bottom of a double boiler 1/2 to 1/3rd full of water. Bring to a boil.

At the same time boil liquid for polenta. Add this liquid to the top of a double boiler that is off the heat. Whisk the water in circles so a whirlpool is formed and then slowly but steadily pour in the cornmeal while continuing to whisk. (I add the cornmeal with my other hand ý donýt try to whisk, hold a bowl & pour the cornmeal!) Whisk unto there are no lumps. Add salt to taste. If you are adding herbs or spices that benefit from long cooking, add them at this time (example: ground chili, very finely minced garlic, etc.).

Place on top of the boiling water and cover with a good sealing lid (you can cover with foil if you are using a steel mixing bowl to make a double boiler), reduce the heat so the water in the bottom pot simmers, but does not boil furiously. Stir after 5 minutes, then again after another 10 minutes than a third time after another 10 minutes (these are approximate times ý a minute or two either way is OK). After that, stir every 30 minutes. Add water to the bottom of the double boiler if needed. After 90 minutes, taste the polenta. If tender with no bitterness, it is done. Otherwise cook another 30 minutes. (I usually cook it the full 2 hours ý its no trouble and that way I donýt have to worry about it.)

You can hold polenta for 2-3 hours over warm water before serving. Or pour into a casserole or platter and serve slightly warm or at room temp. You can take the polenta after it has cooled and cut into squares or wedges. Or pour into a casserole, cover and place in the refrigerator up to 4 days.

WHAT TO DO WITH POLENTA

As a Side Dish, or Enhancing the Polenta
All polenta benefits from adding butter to it! Or make it with 1/2 milk or cream & 1/2 water. Polenta made with chicken stock is already tasty. Or add a big handful of grated cheese (4 to 6 oz. parmigiano-Reggiano, a hunk of blue cheese, cheddar is good also). A bit of dried red peppers or powdered chili (NOT chili powder!) can give a nice subtle bite of spice. A tiny bit of curry powder or saffron will also create a very intriguing flavor!

Most people like polenta best either grilled or sautýed (fried). Pour the polenta into a pan or casserole, cut and remove pieces and then fry in olive oil, or brush with olive oil and place under the broiler or even put on an indoor grill.

When serving polenta as a side dish ý put some fresh herbs or something that is crunchy on top to give some texture to the polenta (such as crisp fried onions, some shredded jicama, some toasted almonds or pine nuts, etc.).

As a Base For the Main Course:
Polenta can serve as the base for lots of different entrees. Some possibilities include: Italian Sausages and Peppers, Pot Roast (add cheese to polenta for this one); Osso Buco, Summer Veggies (grilled, roasted or sautýed tomatoes, eggplants, summer squash, etc.), Shrimp in a Sweet Chili Sauce, Lamb in Wine Sauce, Chicken Breasts (plain or with herbs, or any kind of sauce); a Meat & Tomato Sauce or a veal chop, scaloppini etc. with or without a sauce).

While something that your family will not want every day ý Polenta is a valuable dish that should be part of our repertory in producing something non-boring and different ý without a lot of work, money or extra time.