One of my most favorite things is polenta with a rich, meaty sauce. That’s what Iris and I had for dinner tonight, and I think I’ve edited it down to its elemental form.
First, the polenta. I’ve flirted with various methods for making it–stovetop, double boiler, oven, grill. Okay, not grill. I’ve come back around to the oven method, as described in Best American Recipes 1999. It takes a while, but it’s foolproof. No clumping, no sticking to the pot. I’ve also toyed with making polenta with milk or chicken stock. Not necessary. Water is fine. But I do like to stir in butter and Parmigiano at the end, partly because it tastes great and partly because I like watching the texture get creamier as the cheese insinuates itself between the grains of cornmeal.
To make polenta in the oven: Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium saucepan, Stir together 1 cup polenta, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and 4 cups water. Bake uncovered, 45 minutes. Stir (you can add more water at this point if the polenta is thicker than you like), cover, and return to the oven for another 10 minutes or until dinner. If you double the recipe, the times will be longer–more like 90 minutes total.
The meat sauce was the Brunelleschi sauce from The Campagna Table. It works well with polenta because the meat retains some chew, unlike with a ragu–not that I’d ever say to no polenta with ragu.
I think I’d shied away from making the oven polenta method my house standard because it just seemed too easy. I know you don’t have to stir polenta constantly (there’s a funny bit about this in Heat), but can you really make great polenta by turning it into some kind of…casserole?
Yep.
I know you don’t have a microwave, but their microwave version was really good to us polenta novices: 1 cup medium-grind cornmeal, 3 1/2 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt. Combine everything in a bowl, microwave, covered with plastic wrap, on high for 6 minutes. Uncover, stir, re-microwave for 5-6 minutes more.
one word for you. zucchini polenta casserole. in sicilian vegetarian cooking. by john penza.
I’m ashamed to admit… the first time I tried “polenta” was this past weekend. Well, except here in the “south” (Yes, Maryland is south of the Mason Dixon Line) they’re called grits.
Anyway, I made it, with asiago cheese, as an accompaniment to braised lamb shanks in lieu of the usual risotto. I liked it! But only with the gravy that the shanks were swimming in. I am not sure if I would like them without some sort of gravy. I think it’s a texture thing for me…
I did this recipe. With some nice french wine (a bit too dry maybe) – After 2.5 hours I beat up the meat into shreds (this is correct, no?) to make it into a sauce-like thingy. However.. hm.. while when the meat was in chunks there was a definite liquid element in the sauce, after the dissolving process it suddenly disappeared, probably in between those thirsty meat fibres…
Ps. My butcher cuts off the oxidised surface of the meat.. I think it ain’t bad, but it has a bad smell when cooked.
Thanks for the idea!