Creamy Polenta

Polenta is an interesting dish.  I have never been to Italy, but since corn is a North American native plant, I have to think that it was probably brought back by the likes of C. Columbus and crew.  Not sure about that but it makes sense.

As it turns out, polenta in it's current form, corn, began in the 15th or 16th century.  Prior to that polenta was a rough grind of primarily buckwheat.  Who knew!?!

I'd like to try that type as it is allegedly much more nutritious than the corn version.  So I'm on the look out for buckwheat ground for polenta.  This is also important as buckwheat has a very low gluten content, thus making it ok for my family.

But for today we are making polenta from corn.

Here is my recipe (I will apologize in advance for some of the measurements as the only things that I really measure when making polenta is the grain and the liquid depending on what texture I am after for the current preparation's goal):

1 Cup polenta

1 qt chicken stock

2 tsp kosher salt

About 4 medium to small garlic cloves (minced)

2 oz butter

A large handful of finely grated Pecorino Romano 

And finally, a little bit of patience.

I start with the chicken stock and garlic in a 2-3 qt sauce pot.

Bring it to a boil and add the polenta.  

It is important at this time to stir your polenta with a wire whip until it starts to pick up some of the liquid.  

This usually takes a minute or two.

Once the polenta is starting to thicken, turn the heat down to medium or even a bit lower.  Good polenta is not made in a hurry.  That said, it doesn't take that long either.

As the polenta continues to get thicker in consistency, it is important to continue to stir it occasionally, but also watch the level of your burner.  This stuff is like edible lava.  It bubbles and pops, and sometimes let's loose some droplets that will be super hot and stick to you like glue.  Lower temps on your burner will minimize this possibility.

It is also important that you work the wire whip into the corners of the pan so that the polenta does not gather there and solidify.

Once the liquid has been all but absorbed, your preparation will look something like this.

At this time I usually dip a spoon in and taste it for flavor and consistency.  Please be careful as the lava component of this dish is still really hot!  Nothing could be worse, for me any way, to prepare something this good and have my taste buds fried for the night.

As this dish continues to cook, the texture will become softer to a certain extent.  Once you reach the "neighborhood" of the final desired product, it is time for the final flavorings agents!

This is the good stuff that makes polenta so good.

I add, for a recipe of this size 2 oz of butter (4T if your measuring from the stick of butter) 

and a huge handful of finely grated Pecorino Romano.  I am a big fan of Pecorino Romano as I feel it is much more versatile than Parmesan.  I also like the flavor of it more than Parmesan.

Whip these into your polenta and hold it for service.

This recipe makes a creamy polenta.  To make yours more firm, simply add more of the corn meal.  If you increase your measure of the polenta to 2 cups and pour it onto a sheet pan and allow it to cool, it can be used for seared, fried or grilled polenta, both very nice.  However if you are to grill the polenta, think about minimizing the butter and cheese  to present a better product as these will make it more difficult to achieve good grill marks.