ASK THE SPLENDID TABLE® by Lynne Rossetto Kasper
Host of The Splendid Table®, American Public Media’s national food show. Ask questions and find Lynne, recipes, and station listings at splendidtable.org, or 800-537-5252. Copyright 2006 Lynne Rossetto Kasper
Dear Lynne, Polenta was my Italian mother’s masterpiece. She made it for pasta sauces, for all those old time stews, she even served it with honey, ricotta and candied fruit all through Christmas time.
Being a wrong headed kid, I never let her teach me how to do it. She passed away last year and my attempts to do the family polenta are a mess. Compared to hers my cornmeal is bitter and lumpy and I always burn myself on the boiling polenta spitting out of the pot. Please search your Italian ancestry and help this ignorant soul who’s Trying to Bring Back Her Italian Heritage
Dear Bringing Back Her Heritage, If it helps any I was the same way -- so wanting to break away, and so wrong headed. I wonder if this identity rebellion has to be part of the children of immigrant families syndrome, or is it merely about growing up.
Universal truths aside, what a wonderful cook your mother was -- honey, ricotta and candied fruit! My mom was a polenta maker as well. Holidays for us were the polenta parties where she made the polenta and relatives brought the stews to go with it. I still have the scars from stirring that boiling pot.
When I finally circled back to realizing my heritage wasn’t so bad, there was no way I was going to stand for an hour stirring polenta and getting burned. So I resorted to a great method that is goof proof, easy, and allows the cornmeal’s flavor to open up like a flower -- every nuance is there. In the process some universal truths about the art polenta came to light.
Since you’re bringing back the heritage, you might as well go all the way with the polenta explorations.
The Tricks to Making Good Polenta
Two important elements make the difference in polenta -- the cornmeal and long cooking. Here is where you’ll see why your polenta’s not working.
You want your cornmeal fresh. (The saying in Italy is you grind your flour once a month; your cornmeal once a week). I like a coarse organic cornmeal from Giusto’s in San Francisco. Evidently they freeze their corn and grind it frequently. Whole Foods markets carry it, or mail order it directly from Giusto’s at www.worldpantry.com. Check, too, for local mills. Never use the over processed boxed cornmeal in supermarkets or stale imported polentas.
Italy’s polenta experts insist cornmeal needs an hour or more of cooking to come to full tenderness and flavor, and to lose any trace of bitterness. Unless you like harsh, raw cornmeal mush, ignore recipes recommending cooking polenta fifteen to twenty minutes.
Here is how to sidestep those burns and the stirring.
Perfect and Effortless Polenta
The Double Boiler Method
The double-boiler technique consists of pouring boiling water into a bowl, whisking in polenta and salt, setting the bowl over a pot of simmering water, covering it, and cooking 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Stir the polenta occasionally, and it is done. Here is the basic formula and method for a polenta that stands in high mounds, and cools to firm and sliceable. For creamier polenta, increase the liquid by about one-third.
Basic Formula:
3 parts liquid to 1 part cornmeal and salt to taste (Liquid could be water, broth, milk and water, or buttermilk and water)
For every 4 to 6 people use 1 cup cornmeal.
1. Have handy an 8-quart stainless steel bowl and a whisk. Bring the amount of liquid needed for cooking the polenta to a boil. Meanwhile, fill a 6-quart pot half full with water. Bring to a lively simmer. Place the cornmeal in the bowl. Whisk the boiling, measured liquid into the bowl, whisking until any lumps disappear. Seal the bowl with foil and set it over the simmering water. Cook 1 1/2 hours.
2. During the first 20 minutes, stir polenta several times. Then stir only every 20 or 30 minutes, tasting for salt. Replenish simmering water as necessary. Taste polenta for bitterness and tenderness, cooking another 30 minutes if necessary.
3. For serving polenta soft, it can be held over hot water for up to 3 hours. Or spread the polenta on an oiled shallow pan, or in a loaf pan, cool, cover, and refrigerate up to 5 days.
4. Serve polenta with anything that has a sauce, like stews, braisings and sautés. Spoon pasta sauce over it, or have with fresh ricotta and honey as they do in the mountains of Lombardy. Layer polenta with cheese, sauce and/or vegetables to make a sort of polenta "lasagne." Bake until heated through.
Leftovers are superb grilled, baked or fried.
POLENTA PARTY CHICKEN
WITH
WHOLE GARLIC AND FRESH LEMON
Serves 6 to 8 when served with polenta.
Try to cook the chicken one to two days ahead, so flavors can open up all the way. Add the lemon juice at when you dish up the meal. A salad of curley endive and Bibb lettuce balances beatifully, and a big red wine like Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is ideal.
Good tasting extra-virgin olive oil
3 1/2-pound chicken (organic if possible), cut into 8 pieces, rinsed and patted dry
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 small carrot, minced
1/2 medium onion, minced
4 branches Italian parsley, chopped
10 large, fresh sage leaves, torn
Shredded zest of 1 large lemon
12 large cloves garlic, lightly crushed and peeled (don’t chop them)
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup eachdry white wine andchicken broth
28 -ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
Finish:
1 recipe Effortless Polenta
Juice of 2 large lemons
3 tight-packed tablespoons Italian parsley, coarse chopped
1. Lightly film the bottom of a 12-inch straight sided sauté pan with the olive oil. Heat over medium-high. Add chicken pieces, skin side down, arranging them so they don’t touch. Turn heat to medium and slowly brown on both sides to a rich amber color. As chicken cooks, sprinkle on the salt and pepper. Remove the browned chicken to a platter.
2. Stir the carrot, onion, parsley, and sage into the pan and sauté until picking up color. Take care not to burn the glaze on the pan’s bottom. Stir in the lemon zest, garlic, and cloves with the wine. Bring to a boil, scraping up the glaze from the bottom of the pan. Boil down to nothing. Add the broth and the tomatoes (breaking them up as they go into the pan), and the chicken.
3. Get the liquid up to a very gentle simmer, cover the pan and cook about 25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Taste for seasoning. Remove it to a bowl or serving platter. Boil the sauce until it is rich and full tasting (a few minutes). At this point you can store the chicken in its sauce in the refrigerator.
4. To serve, reheat the chicken, pile the hot polenta in the center of a large platter and spoon the chicken and its sauce around it. Squeeze the lemon over the chicken and sprinkle everything with the parsley.
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
