Basic Polenta

Basic polenta recipe: From the food network http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/basic-polenta-recipe/index.html


6 Cups water
2 tsps salt
1.75 cups yellow cornmeal
3 tbsp unsalted butter


If you use salted butter, forgo one of the tsps of salt.



1. Bring the water and salt to a boil in the saucepan
2. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal
3. Turn to low and cook until it has a creamy, thick consistency (~15 minutes), stirring often
4. Add the butter, stir until melted


I ate some of it right away, and it was very oatmeal-like. For dinner I preferred it fried. Cut it into 1cm wide strips and freeze what you aren't going to use right away. It freezes very well, and you can throw it into the microwave to defrost.

To fry it, take the 1cm-wide strip and put into frying pan with a little butter or oil. Let each side get very lightly browned, or just to the point where the outside is starting to get a bit crunchy and the inside is creamy. Eat with anything. It went really well with the herbed chicken, although you can't fry it at the same time as the chicken or it turns mushy.