Polenta

This week's whole grain adventure was Polenta. Polenta is like grits, but it is more coarsely ground. Honestly, I am lukewarm about the flavor of grits, so I got just enough to try one batch since I figured I probably wouldn't like it much.

I was WRONG! It is SO Good!! And like the other grain recipes - easy!

I got the recipe from Alton Brown on Food Network.

2T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1 cup coarse ground corn (technically polenta is what it is after it's cooked)

1 qt Chicken Broth

Salt

Pepper

3T butter

2 oz Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 350

Put the olive oil in a pot (best done with a dish that goes from stovetop to oven) with the onions. Sprinkle salt on the onions and sweat them until they are transluscent. Add in the garlic and let it cook together a minute longer.

Add the Chicken Broth to the pot and bring it to a boil. Add the corn slowly, wisking the mixture so it doesn't get lumpy. Over the pot and put it in the oven. (If you don't have a stove to oven dish, you can transfer it to a 9 x 13 baking dish and cover it with foil. The mixture will stick, so it helps if the dish is sprayed with cooking spray or non-stick but that's not required.).

Bake the polenta for 35-40 minutes stirring every 10 minutes to keep it from getting lumpy. (I was lazy, and I stirred once half way through and it was fine.)

The polenta should have absorbed most of the water. Add the butter, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. The Polenta will start to thicken and become creamy. Add the parmesan cheese. Stir again.

You can eat it warm if you like. Or you can put it into a 9 x 13 dish and put it in the fridge to cool. If you let it cool, it will become almost solid. When it's cool you can cut it with a knife and either grill the squares, sautee the squares in a pan, or fry them.

YUM!