Pole Position

The Daytona 500 is this Sunday. Hubs is a longtime NASCAR fan, and if he were going to be home, the vroom, vroom of race cars would be filling our living room. However, he is out of town. This frees me to think about another kind of pole position. My pole-enta position. (sorry. bad pun)

I have mentioned before that I am pretty smitten with polenta. The creamy, rich goodness appeals to every happy cell of my body. When I saw a simple Sausage and Mushroom Ragu recipe served over polenta, I raced to try it. It was a scrumptious finish.

If your position prefers pasta to polenta, do please still try the sauce. The Italian sausage flavors the tomatoes as they simmer together into an easily gratifying sauce. It feels homemade without a ton of homemade work. That kind of meal always takes the checkered flag for me.

Sausage and Mushroom Ragu with Polenta

(adapted from Cooking Light)

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

8 ounces Italian sausage (I like the kick of the spicy versions.)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained (I prefer the petite diced version.)

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup uncooked polenta

4 ounces cream cheese

1 tablespoon butter

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Remove sausage from casings and add to pan; saute until browned, stirring to crumble.
Remove sausage from the pan.
Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan and swirl to coat.
Add onion, sauteing until golden.
Add mushrooms, cooking until softened.
Add garlic, saute briefly, until fragrant.
Return sausage to the pan with tomatoes.
Season with 1/8 teaspoon salt.
Reduce heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. 
Meanwhile, bring broth and water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
Add polenta slowly, whisking well to avoid lumps.
Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally.
Stir in remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, cheese, and butter.
Serve with sausage mixture. (4 servings)

Fall Back

I think I am getting old. I don't remember the time change from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time kicking my butt so much in the past. Sure, I have lamented about the lack of evening natural light for good photos of my dinner meals and recipes, but overall, the biggest pain has usually been climbing up on a chair to change the analog clock that hangs high in my kitchen.

This year, the early darkness is making me a crab-ass. My temper is short in the evenings and everyone needs to beware. Perhaps, it is due in part to the pups not getting the memo about the clocks moving. They are being kind of insane, too. At the first hint of dusk,--which, let's face it, is about 3pm--they start sitting at the side door and whining. No, they don't want to go outside; they could easily escape through the swinging puppy door installed in the back door. They want Hubs to come home. Never mind that Hubs' work hours have NEVER allowed him to come home at 3pm; at the first hint of darkness, they think it is time for him to be home to lounge together in his big leather chair. Who wouldn't be a crab-ass if they had to listen to two dogs' endless whimpering for hours and hours? Really.

Anyway, I am going to try to yank myself out of this funk (and not throttle the pups) by pulling from some recipes I tried during the long, endlessly sunny days of summer. I am going to fall back into a plate of Fresh Corn and Gruyère Polenta and Grilled Scallops and blissfully remember the night we first sampled these in a late evening dinner on the patio. It was still light at 9pm, and the heat of the day rose from the concrete. Although it had been a very lengthy day of working on the front porch project, we were at peace as the pups playfully wrestled on the grass at our side.

It wasn't dark.
There was no whining.
The food was good.
What more could I want?

for those kind of days to last forever...

Fresh Corn and Gruyère Polenta

(adapted from Food For My Family and Gwyneth Paltrow - I had first seen the blog post from Shaina at Food for My Family, and then decided that adding fresh corn as Gwyneth Paltrow suggested in her cookbook would be perfect for us. Loved the extra texture of the corn kernels.)

4 cups water

1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 sprig rosemary
1 cup cornmeal polenta
1 cup of fresh corn kernels (alternately, frozen corn may be used when fresh is not in season)

3/4 cup milk

3 tablespoons butter
1 cup Gruyère, shredded

Bring water, salt and rosemary to a boil in a medium saucepan.
Reduce heat to low and remove rosemary sprig.
Whisk in polenta.
Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until polenta is thickened; stir frequently.
Stir in fresh corn and milk.
Add butter and allow to melt into the polenta and incorporate.
Stir in the shredded cheese a bit at a time to melt thoroughly into the polenta.

Grilled Scallops

1 pound sea scallops (original recipe called for fresh, but frozen are better suited to my geographical location)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

Heat grill to 600 degrees. (We used charcoal for the added smokey flavor, but use gas, if that is your thing...or even a super smoking grill pan indoors, if the weather isn't friendly.)
Combine olive oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
Add scallops and toss to coat thoroughly.
Place scallops on the smoking hot grill.
Cook 1 to 2 minutes per side, just until grill marks are browned and scallop is cooked through.
(Don't overcook...rubbery scallops aren't so delicious.)
Remove from grill and place on platter.
Cover with foil and allow to rest about 2 minutes.

To serve the Fresh Corn and Gruyère Polenta and Grilled Scallops, use a shallow bowl or scooped plate to first add polenta, and then top with scallops. Season with fresh cracked pepper. (Serves 4)

Piggly Wiggly

Have you ever had something that you expected to like, but didn't expect to love? You know, one of those things that you didn't even have to taste to know it would please your palate, but when your mouth started to do a happy dance, you were pleasantly surprised?

Polenta did that for me. Cornbread, sweet corn, and hominy are loves for me. So are grits, cream of wheat, and even *gasp* chocolate Malt-O-Meal. Therefore, I knew that neither the flavor, nor the texture would offend me with polenta. Still, I was a little shocked at my response when first trying what is essentially cornmeal mush. I couldn't get enough. I was a pig. Piggly wiggly. The creamy richness of this simple food won me head over curly little tail.

Herb Rubbed Pork Chops with Polenta and Sautéed Morels

(adapted from In Good Taste)

4 (6-ounce) pork chops (boneless loin would be good, but I used 1/2" rib chops)

Olive oil

Marinade:

1/4 cup minced fresh rosemary

1/2 cup minced fresh thyme

1/2 cup olive oil

Polenta:

1 cup coarse ground polenta

1 cup water

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon salt...to taste

1/2 cup mascarpone

4 tablespoons Parmesan

3 tablespoons butter

Sautéed Mushrooms:

2-4 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 pound morels, cleaned gently

2 shallots, minced

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

For the marinade:
In a Ziplock bag, combine the ingredients for the marinade.
Add the chops and rub with the marinade.
Let marinate for 1 hour at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 6 hours.
Heat olive oil in a sauté pan.
Place the chops in the pan and cook until lightly browned on the first side, about 4 minutes.
Turn the chops and cook until the second side is browned and the chops are cooked through, about 3 minutes more.
Transfer the chops to a platter and tent with foil to keep warm.
For the Polenta:
Bring water, chicken stock, and salt to a boil.
Whisk in the polenta.
Reduce the heat to a very low simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the cheeses, butter and season as needed with salt and pepper.
Take the polenta off the heat and set aside.
For the Mushrooms:
Add the additional olive oil to the sauté pan from the pork chops and heat over a medium flame.
Add the mushrooms and sauté until they begin to brown and soften.
Add the shallots and minced garlic (you may need to add a little more olive oil).
Keep the mushrooms and shallots moving in the pan until they are fully tender.
Season lightly with salt and pepper.
To plate:
Spoon polenta onto center of each plate; rest a pork chop on top of the polenta, and top with sautéed mushrooms.