polenta cakes with fresh tomatoes, scallions and basil

Hooray for tomato season!  Such a glorious assortment of sizes and shapes everywhere, from farmers markets to home gardens, to co-ops and grocery stores  - and because I'm without a garden this year, it's all the more thrilling.  I was hoping to make a tomato tart, but got blindsided with a gimpy ankle for a few days which kept me off my feet and away from the markets.  But I did have a stash of fresh herbs and baby tomatoes - and remembered those polenta cakes I used to make soooo......  I gave it a whirl, and was actually stunned when I unmolded the polenta cakes - they were so PRETTY!

This is such an easy, simple recipe, I'm sure you'll come up with some beautiful ideas of your own.  And don't forget, they're gluten free.

Polenta cakes with fresh tomatoes, scallions, and basil

First, you will need 6 of those little white souffle/dessert cups.  Drip a little olive oil in each one, and rub the oil on the bottoms and sides.  Set aside.

Tomato/herb mixture:

About 1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons of chopped basil

2-3 tablespoons sliced scallion greens

Mix together the herbs and tomatoes and and sprinkle equal amounts on the bottoms of the souffle cups.  Set aside.

The polenta:

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup cold water

1/2 t. salt
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)

Whisk the cornmeal into the cold water and set aside.

In a separate saucepan:

3 cups water, brought to a boil in a medium sauce pan

When the water is boiling, scrape the cold water and cornmeal into the hot water and whisk briskly.  If you want to, you can add 3/4 cup finely grated parmesan to the mixture.

Whisk the mixture until it makes plopping noises and bubbles.  Remove from heat.

Using a large spoon or a spring loaded ice cream scoop, fill the oiled cups right up to the top and smooth with another spoon.  Let cool for 25 minutes, run a knife around the lip of each cup, and unmold very carefully onto a platter or individual plates.

Serve at room temperature, along with a fresh green salad, some nice brie and rolls or good bread.  Yummers!

And that gimpy foot?  Turned out to be gout, of all things, which runs in my family.

No more sardines, chicken, hamburgers, tunafish, or mackerel - or gelato, either. Not for a while, anyway.   Hope you're having a glorious summer!

                           

creamy polenta saves the day

I began feeling odd four days ago. That tight, headachey feeling in my head. The flickering feverish feeling that wouldn't go away, even after hot showers with lemon verbena scrub, or peppermint and thyme baths. Three days ago I made some lovely sardine toasts, with Thai sardines and hot sauce. I couldn't even think of eating them. Then I made roasted walnuts with rosemary and hot peppers, salt and thyme. I scraped them into a jar and put them in the cupboard. The more I couldn't eat, the hungrier I got.

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That's when I remembered polenta. Creamy, wonderful polenta made with roasted chicken broth and finely ground cornmeal, which I've been eating for three days now, graduating from a baby rice cereal texture, to a hardier almost-polenta-cake. I even added a little cheese today.

I've watched a lot of the Cooking Channel, new to me. I fumed over a horrible book about politics and agribusiness called The End of Food, and could only breathe when I got to the last chapter, one that airily mentions locavores, farmers markets and organic farms, dubiously. I looked out the window a lot. Now that I'm on the mend, I'm back to scribbling down recipes for Thanksgiving and hoping for an oozy, cheesey and veggie laden forkful of omelet.

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Creamy Polenta with roasted chicken broth and cheddar

Makes 2 servings or so

2 cups roasted chicken broth or stock

1/2 t. kosher salt

3/4 cup finely ground cornmeal

1 t. butter or olive oil

1/2 cup shredded cheddar or parmesan (optional)

Bring the broth or stock, salt, and oil or butter to a boil.

Slowly, very slowly, whisk in the cornmeal, tablespoon by tablespoon. If you dump it in quickly, it will clump up and will be inedible.

Keep stirring the polenta for another five minutes, adding the cheese, if you're using it.

Pour into a shallow bowl and eat.

You can also make little cakes by oiling ramekins, and pouring the polenta into them.

They can go in the fridge, covered, then unmolded and fried in a skillet for breakfast.

Be well!

A year ago :

Gingerbread Witch hat cookies

2 years ago:

Halloween doughnuts

polenta cakes with rosemary and chives

Things are looking up here in New Hampshire - we actually had almost two days without rain! Today the rain is back with thunderstorms , but it has to stop sometime, right?

Yesterday I was experimenting with these cornmeal cakes, longing for the day when ( if?) my tomatoes are ripe. Can you imagine what a polenta cake with fresh diced tomatoes and basil would taste like? Add a nice green salad and some roasted or grilled chicken and it's a well rounded lunch or dinner. They are also perfect picnic fare, since they hold up well without having to pack in ice. Until the tomatoes are ready, I think I'll also try a green chile version - not only tasty, but pretty!

To make:

4 cups water

1 cup yellow or white cornmeal

salt and freshly cracked pepper

1/2 cup minced chives

2 T. chopped fresh rosemary

(1/2 cup or so parmesan cheese, grated, optional) If you decide to add the cheese, hold off on the salt)

Oil several ramekins or souffle dishes with canola or olive oil. If you prefer, you can oil an 8x8 inch cake pan and cut the cakes out with a glass or cookie cutter once cooled.

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil.

Mix the one cup of cornmeal into one cup cold water and mix briskly with a fork.

When the water comes to a boil, pour the water and cornmeal into the boiling water.

Stir, then whisk until the cornmeal is thick and blops as it cooks.

Take off heat and stir in the herbs, salt and pepper, and parmesan if desired.

Spoon into the ramekins or scrape into the cake pan.

Let cool at least 1/2 hour.

Unmold the ramekins by turning upside down - the cakes should pop right out.

If using the cake pan, cut out circles with a cookie cutter.

Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

PS/ Izzie the 3 year old liked the few plain polenta cakes I'd made - just in case. So if you're serving company that includes very small ones, make a few plain ones for them. ( She also tried to dip them in the coconut cream dip for the strawberries:)

southern breakfast: silky collards and cornmeal cakes

I made a real Southern style lunch yesterday - with silky collards, cornmeal mush cakes - and even pralines - and ate it happily as I watched the snowflakes fall.

I spent several years in the South, and it remains part of my cooking ( and eating) history.

I never used to cook collards right. I'd rinse them, slice them up, and then briefly parboil them, wondering why they were a little too tough. Then I ate at Redbones BBQ in Cambridge, and tasted their silky collards flecked with hot pepper flakes and fatback and realized my mistake. You have to cook them a long time - about an hour is right, with plenty of fat - I use smoky bacon and salt pork or fatback.

My side was simply cornmeal mush cakes with fresh scallions and rosemary, cut into a disc.

To make:

A bunch of collards, rinsed and trimmed of stems ( I cut off the stems, then tear the collard leaves off the center stem on each leaf)

Up to 2 cups diced salt port and thick, smoky bacon

salt

hot pepper flakes

Place trimmed collards in a large pot.

Add water to just below the top of the collards.

Add the salt pork and bacon. hot pepper flakes, and some salt

Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook for about an hour, covered, checking often and stirring the collards.

Pick out the diced fatback ( or some of it) place in microwave-safe dish, and cover with a paper towel. Microwave for 2 or 3 minutes and it will brown up.

Scoop the collards into bowls or mugs, add some of the cooking liquid, and top with some of the browned fatback.

Serve with hot sauce.

For cornmeal cakes:

2 cups water

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup chopped scallions and fresh rosemary

salt and pepper

parmesan cheese (optional)

Bring water to a boil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add salt , pepper, and herbs to boiling water, then slowly whisk in the cornmeal ( and cheese, if using).

Turn down heat and continue to stir until cornmeal is thick.

Pour onto a plate and cool.

When cool, cut cornmeal into discs and briefly reheat in microwave.

You can also skip the herbs and make plain cornmeal mush and serve the cakes with syrup - kids love it!