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jennifer rose

Jul 23, 2006, 6:07 PM

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Cooking Polenta

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Last week, I had a delicious warm salad at Azafran in San Miguel de Allende, grilled vegetables over a round of grilled polenta, served with a pistachio-mint sauce on the side. That left me wondering how to cook the polenta which had reposed for the past several years in my refrigerator. There was no way I was about to stand at the stove, stirring for some forty minutes.

And then it dawned on me: cook the polenta in the rice steamer. I tossed the polenta with some water (hey, why measure?) in the rice steamer, flicked on the switch, and forgot about it. And it was done perfectly, creamy and unburned. Now it reposes in a mold in the refrigerator, waiting to be sliced and grilled tomorrow.

Yes, polenta is available in Mexico. I bought it at Trico.

sfmacaws

Jul 23, 2006, 8:11 PM

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Re: [jennifer rose] Cooking Polenta

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I've also used this oven method and it works great. I'm not big on standing over a stove, stirring either.

Soft Polenta: Oven Method
Serves 4-6

This hands-off technique makes excellent polenta with very little effort or time on the cook's part. It results in creamy polenta with a very rich flavor.

* 1 quart water
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1/2-1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
* 1 cup coarse-ground cornmeal
* 2 tablespoons butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a 1 to 1-1/2 quart container, stir together the water, salt, pepper, and cornmeal. Add the butter in pieces. Place the container, uncovered, in the center of the top rack of the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Open the oven, pull out the rack, and stir the polenta. (This is the time to add any additional ingredients such as cheese, as well.) Close the oven and bake the polenta for an additional 10 minutes. Remove it from the oven, let rest for 5 minutes, and serve.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán