Polenta is similar in taste and texture to grits, but can be made with plain yellow cornmeal so you don’t have to keep extra ingredients around the house. For those of you in the South where the grits roam free, this is a tasty way to use that cornmeal you have for something other than cornbread.
Polenta and grits share a common phenomenon of ’setting’ when chilled: they turn from a spoonable texture (think oatmeal) to a sliceable solid (think cold mashed potatoes). As a result you can choose to serve your polenta as a spoonable side, or it can be chilled, sliced, and fried in butter (my mom does that with grits for shrimp & grits).
At any rate, I made this recipe tonight (with modifications I’ll note) to go with a steak and it was quite tasty. It would also do well with some grilled shrimp stirred in. This recipe was on the back of my bag of cornmeal and is from Publix Apron’s® Simple Meals.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup (half a stick) of butter
- 2 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup plain yellow corn meal
- 1/2 cup shredded Chedder cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmasean cheese
Instructions
- Combine first seven ingredients in a large saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil. Do not leave this unattended while it’s heating up, it will go from nothing to boiling over in the blink of an eye. Trust me on this.
- Add cornmeal (slowly!) whisking constantly until it’s well blended. Reduce heat to low and cook 8-10 minutes, whisking often, until thickened.
- Stir in cheeses and mix well.
- To make polenta cakes, spoon the mixture into a plastic wrap lined pan (such as an 8×8 pan or a loaf pan). Chill over night. Remove polenta from the pan and plastic wrap and slice into 8 portions. Fry in butter over medium-high heat 5 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
The substitutions I made are as follows
- I used 1% milk because that’s what I have on hand.
- I used Smart Balance® spread instead of butter and cut the amount in half, using 2 tbsp instead of 4.
- I used three large cloves of garlic chopped, which is at least double. Then again, I really like garlic.
- I used a bit more Italian seasoning and pepper, for the same reason as number three.
- I added three shakes of onion powder. It worked well.
- Instead of Chedder and parm I used 1/2 c Scotch Ale Chedder and 1/4 c Gruyere. The cheese you use is going to be a matter of taste and what you have on hand.
I didn’t add the cornmeal in slowly enough, so my polenta turned out rather lumpy. Tasted fine, just a tad ugly. I’ll grab a picture for this post the next time I make this dish (and yes, I will be making it again!).
Tags: recipes
