in my heels
mushrooms. delicious, delicious mushrooms. i’ve never met one i didn’t like. decided to try these beauties in a very simple dish.
above are hen of the woods mushrooms, and the lobster mushroom (called that for obvious reasons).
sauteed these babies at a high heat, and plopped them ontop of a beautiful, and flavourful polenta. cornmeal was slowly poured and whisked into some stock that was brought up to a rolling boil. then occasionally stirred for a good hour until its turned into a quiet yellow. added butter and a healthy dose of parm at the very end.
a lot of people don’t like polenta, i think these are some of the most important things to make it tasty: adding flavour where you can (with stock, parm, butter); cornmeal thickens quite a bit, so add a lot of stock/water to keep it creamy and loose; cook for quite a while to avoid any graininess.
i miss the food hugs of comfort food in the cold months, and i’m gearing up for it! soothing stews and concoctions that have been sitting on the stove for a healthy amount of time, bring a smile to my face.
this weekend was pretty solid, a bunch of people came back into town for thanksgiving, as well as a couple birthdays, AND pulled an essential muscle that now makes it extremely painful to sneeze and even laugh!
now its time to play catch up…
Wild mushrooms are the best! So full of flavour and so good for you too. I must admit that I’ve never really liked polenta, I’m glad to hear your secrets – next time I’ll cook in stock for a really long time
I am reading “Best Food Writing 2011″ and in the very first piece by Coleman Andrews he writes about polenta being “the defining starch in traditional Venetian cooking.” Apparently it was very much part of the working-class meal. He eats at (and writes about) a SUPER fresh seafood joint in Venice that serves it with many of their perfect-sounding dishes.
Beautiful mushrooms… I love the simple preparation you use.
Once a home cook starts making stock regularly, love of polenta soon follows.