The Lemon Fool

Wife bought it. It's been in the cupboard for months, probably years.

So what is trade off between the best and easiest way to cook/use Polenta?

What does it go with?

Best place for it is the bin. Awful stuff (IMO). I regard it with the same horror as does Simsqu courgettes.

GrandOiseau wrote:Wife bought it. It's been in the cupboard for months, probably years.

So what is trade off between the best and easiest way to cook/use Polenta?

What does it go with?

The polenta chips here are easy and very good : https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/j ... san-braise

Although I am assuming you have "quick" polenta. Might involve more time/effort if you don't.

I use it to dust the edges of my pizza and sprinkle it onto my pizza stone before baking said pizzas, stops them sticking. I have used it to toss my roasties in but can't usually be bothered.
Ah not the quick ready mixed polenta the grains.

There are lots of recipes for beef stew with polenta. Just Google Tuscan beef stew with polenta for example (recipes originate mostly from Italy.)

Tricia

It is the quick cook.

Expired in 2016 - should still be good though right?

500g.

GrahamPlatt wrote:Best place for it is the bin. Awful stuff (IMO). I regard it with the same horror as does Simsqu courgettes.

Agreed. Tried and tried to like it. Even had it in a very upmarket restaurant, it still was not worth having.

Polenta sponge cake recipes exist. They are awful, gritty things. just throw it away!

GrandOiseau wrote:It is the quick cook.

Expired in 2016 - should still be good though right?

500g.

As long as it's not going green.

I boil mine with stock (it doesn't have a great deal of inherent taste) until it solidifies then slice it, fry it to get a crispy coating and eat it with salt and vinegar. It's quite nice actually.

Honestly couldn't be [expletive deleted] in the end and binned it.

But thanks for the suggestions and thoughts.

I don't like throwing food away but it was 5 years out of date and I wasn't in the mood for the faff.

We like polenta and in fact had it last Sunday with braised shin of beef. I usualy use the original un cooked type but this time I could only find "Valsugana" express polenta. I softened chopped onions and diced red peppers in olive oil then added chicken stock as per the packet instructions, cooked it 8 minutes, added herbs de provence, chopped flat leaf parsley and diced sundried tomatoes and seasoned with salt and pepper. Sometimes I also add grated parmesan and pour it onto a baking tray, let it cool and set the cut out crescents and pan fry them, serve with tomato sauce Sicillian style.When my son was here, Dec. to Feb, I made beef empanadas using polenta flour, gives a nice nutty texture (and is authentic). These are the three recipes that I cook, plenty more on the internet. One just has to enjoy cooking and have an open mind.
I possibly would have used the out of date pkt, even after 5 years. I only remember once throwing out out of date dry goods, that was custard powder at 10 years past use by date. My wife will only eat proper custard made with eggs and milk and I decided that it's time had come.


john

In all things Italian refer to Marcella Hazan's excellent suggestions in her classic Italian cookbook.

I have had great success in using polenta as a lasagne substitute with your own bolognese.

But my favourite use has been these delicious polenta shortcakes. You simply add sugar, pine nuts, raisins, chopped figs, butter and egg and fennel seeds to the cooked polenta and once mixed add sufficient flour to make a cake batter and bake in a round cake tin for about 40 minutes. You often get slices of these shortcakes in those side street cafes in Venice where they have an inviting name to do with extended noses, which I have unfortunately forgotten.

Eb.

LOL! In the U.S. it is called white corn meal. Back in the 1940s & early 50s, my mother would boil yellow corn meal with water to make “mush”. This was placed into a greased container and refrigerated overnight. It was removed from the container, sliced, fried in a little margarine and served with syrup for breakfast. There is a variation of this found around Pennsylvania called “scrapple” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrapple) that we would sometimes buy & cook.

One of the local chef/food writers said that it is called “polenta” in restaurant menus instead of fried mush or scrapple so that they can charge a fancy price for it.


C.J.V.