POLENTA
1 quart pot
whisk
wooden spoon
small bread mold
skillet
1 cup polenta (coarsely ground corn meal)
2 cups cold water
2 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
freshly ground black pepper
1. Pour the the cold water into the pot. Whisk the polenta into it. Turn on a medium flame. Continually draw figure eights with the whisk or wooden spoon while the polenta cooks.
Polenta cooks quickly. Just how fast depends upon the quantity. One cup of dry grain should take about five minutes.
2. The moment all of the water has been absorbed and the polenta is soft and creamy, add the cheeses and pepper and distribute them evenly throughout.* Polenta can be served instantly here.
3. Pour the hot polenta into a bread pan mold lined with plastic wrap. Cover with the wrap and refrigerate until starch is congealed and set.
4. Unmold, slice polenta as if it were bread. Place slices in a greased skillet. Brown them, turn and brown the other side. Serve hot.
2. The moment all of the water has been absorbed and the polenta is soft and creamy, add the cheeses and pepper and distribute them evenly throughout.* Polenta can be served instantly here.
3. Pour the hot polenta into a bread pan mold lined with plastic wrap. Cover with the wrap and refrigerate until starch is congealed and set.
4. Unmold, slice polenta as if it were bread. Place slices in a greased skillet. Brown them, turn and brown the other side. Serve hot.
NOTES: Polenta is coarsely ground corn meal. It is a grain. Serve under beans to create a complete protein. More or less cheese can be added if the polenta is to be served at # 2 above. It is also wonderful at breakfast either as a cereal with fruit, or served as browned slices (# 4) under eggs.
Pennsylvania Dutch add ground breakfast sausage to the pot, mold it, slice it, fry it and serve it for breakfast as Pennsylvania Scrapple.
Italians pour the soft polenta into a square or oblong greased pan, add tomato sauce on top and bake it until the topping begins to brown. (Serve it as a Food Valentine* in a heart mold(s) February 14th.) . Or mold it flat on a sheet pan. Refrigerate. Cut out hearts with a cookie cutter.
Italians also incorporate chicken livers in the middle of the soft polenta and serve it in individual ramekins.
Southerners cook coarsely ground wheat the same way and serve it as grits, with a pat of butter or gravy on top. Sometimes they use white corn meal to produce their grits.
©NANCY BOOKMAN HOFFMAN
February 5, 2008
RECIPES\POLENTA.PTA
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