The Meal with the Built-In Workout

(#10) Master 25 New Recipes

1. Stuffed Peppers
2. Risotto
3. Polenta

The universe was willing me not to make this recipe.

It took us forever to find the polenta. When we looked in the specialty Italian aisle in the store, we found both the instant and the pre-made varieties but I said no way, my readers deserve better than shortcuts! Ronnie used his Ph.D.-candidate-level deductive reasoning skills and looked on the back of the instant polenta to discover that the only ingredient is cornmeal. We were then able to find it in the baking aisle.

Apparently corn meal, corn grits, and polenta are all basically the same thing. Who knew?

Back at home I collected the ingredients (chicken stock, butter, parmesan cheese) and read the preparation directions on the back of the bag. Bring stock to a boil, slowly add polenta, reduce to a simmer...and stir continuously for 30 minutes, or until polenta becomes very thick.

I added the bolding myself to indicate that this recipe was not kidding about those particular words.

If you stop stirring for even a second (say, to check on your side dish of roasted beets in the oven) the boiling hot gloppy mixture will bubble and explode into the air. You can see it starting to happen here while I'm taking this picture:

 And yes it really does take 30 minutes. And by the end it is so thick you're practically kneading dough with a spoon. So...a bit strenuous.

The result was some kind of cross between mashed potatoes and...liquid corn bread. Its not entirely smooth-its made up of tiny grains of corn. But it does firm up kind of like mashed potatoes.

It wasn't unpleasant. But, unlike the risotto, it wasn't work the amount of work that it took to make it. Also unlike the risotto, it wasn't worth the extra carbs.

I'd be interested to try the instant polenta though. Maybe it tastes better if you aren't drenched in sweat from a stirring marathon.

And maybe I'll use the rest of the bag to make "corn grits."