Polenta (EDC page 84) can anyone help?

[meganjane]

I went to Bookclub the other night and enjoyed polenta made as only an Italian can. our host had her Nonna's polenta pan and electric stirrer. The polenta was light and fluffy, rather like mashed potato.

So, I thought I'd try it in Thermie. Firstly, speed 2 does nothing, so I moved to speed 4 so all the polenta was turning. Cooked it for the prescribed time, 30 minutes. But, I had gluey glug, not nice, fluffy polenta!
I added some parmesan, but that shouldn't have made a huge difference.

Those who cook polenta, was it the higher speed that made it gluey? If so, should the  be used to make sure all the polenta turns?
I've put it in a dish and cut into diamonds, but what do I do with it now? Do you fry it, bake it?

[earth mumma]

Hi Rach.
I haven't made polenta from the edc.  You definately can grill it or fry it or bbq it.  Looking at the recipe I think it is a bit bland.  Great polenta really requires lots of stock, maybe some wine and definately some butter to give it that lovely creamy taste.  Don't give up on it maybe look at the traditional way to make it and see if you can modify.  Also the type of polenta you use will impact on the result.  If you used fine or instant polenta that would make it gluey.  If you want it to be light and fluffy maybe try varying the amount of polenta - try 250 instead of 300gm.  If you are not vegetarian some chicken stock would make it tastier, as does the parmesan cheese (try adding this at the end and see if this makes a difference).  We eat polenta nearly everyday for breakfast instead of porriage (ds has gluten intolerance).  So our version is sweet.  We make it with rice/almond milk (TM style) roughly 1000gm rice milk, good dob of butter - cook 100oc speed 4, 4mins.  Add 2-3 mc cups of polenta cook 100oc for another 6 mins.  Sometimes we cook a couple of mashed bananas in it or add some cinnamon or grate some apple for on the top (we do this after we have cooked the polenta - grate 2-3 apples quartered core removed on speed 5-6 for a few secs).  We love it with some pure maple syrup or raw honey.  This is enough for 4 in our house, but could easily do 6 with fruit on top (we are BIG breaky eaters).  The consitency varies a bit but comes out a little like semolina if you have ever had that.
Good luck

[meganjane]

Thanks earthmumma!

I used to eat semolina as a child and loved it with butter, sugar and milk!
I bought regular polenta, it was particularly fine, but all that Woolies had. I'll check out a traditional polenta recipe and will work on it.

[earth mumma]

Sorry that should have been Megan Silly me!! Yes I had semolina that way too, but with brown sugar on top - loved it.

[Zanne]

Hmm,  I had a similar problem.  The polenta was not combining.  The mix around the blades was combined and cooking and the remainder of the mix above was doing nothing.  I ended up taking the whole lot out and giving it a stir before before putting it back in.  Tasted quite nice though...pan fried the 'diamonds' and served with the tomato pasta sauce and some grated romano cheese.  Was quite lite and soft, real comfort food, but definitely not like fluffy mashed potatoes.  The bowl took a bit of cleaning afterwards too.  Maybe the recipe just has too much for the bowl to handle?

[meganjane]

I've since tried polenta again in the TMX. The ratio is 1:3 or 1:4. I use half chicken stock and half milk. I cook it on 90, speed 2-3 and the time depends on the quantity. (around 8 minutes for 1/2 cup polenta to 2 cups liquid)

Adding chopped rosemary to the polenta as it's cooking adds a delicious flavour as does adding grated parmesan and some butter at the end!

[judydawn]

Glad to see you got it sorted MJ. 

[passionflower]

We eat a lot of polenta in our household so I wanted to give it a try in my TMX and OMG!! is so much easier. To me the secret is to cook using the butterfly whisk instead of just the blades. Here's my recipe for it
- 300-350 g Polenta depends how thick you want it, we like it fairly thick
- 1200 g liquid (a mixture of water and milk, just water or just milk is up to you, I usually add half and half)
- 2 Tbsp chicken stock paste(you need this for flavour polenta on is own is pretty bland)
-40gr butter to finish (optional)

Add the liquid and stock to the bowl and boil for 12 Min. 100°C Speed 1.

Next insert the butterfly whisk pour polenta through the lid while blades are moving at Speed 2( you will have to make sure all the polenta is incorporated if need be whizz for a few seconds at speed 4(to make sure is evenly mixed with the liquid) cover the measuring cup with a cloth just in case!!!

 Then simply cook for 10 Min at 100°C spoon speed.
a few seconds before finish add the butter if using.

I love it with sautéed wild mushrooms but by far my favourite way of eating it is with pancetta and three cheeses. You layer it like you would lasagne and bake it in the oven for 20 min for the cheeses to melt yummylicious.  

[Katiej]

Hi Monica,

I was going to try your polenta recipe you posted a week or so ago.  Planned the meal and even started cooking parts, but when I went to get the polenta from the pantry I realised there was less than half a cup of polenta there.  Had to resort to "plan B" and have potatoes.  Very dissapointed 

My OH seemed way to pleased when I told him we couldn't have polenta!  The memories of the horrible EDC version I cooked a few months ago still in his mind I think!

I've bought more polenta and hope to try this on the weekend.
The pancetta and three cheese polenta sounds lovely 

cheers, Katie

[meganjane]

Thanks for the recipe Monica, I'll make sure I try that. I love polenta now, but unfortunately no one else in the house does...

[sammidog]

Hi Monica

Thank you so much for your polenta recipe.  A couple of questions:

• Sometimes we like to eat soft polenta with a casserole, etc.  Can you please give the quantities for a soft version, and ...
  For a lesser quantity of polenta (you mention 300-350 g), is it OK to just halve all the ingredients?  And what would the cooking time be for that?

Thanks again.
Carol

[Herbal]

Hi Sammidog,

Just tried passionflowers Polenta recipe using 300g.  I am making it to go with an osso bucco, so I was thinking something with a mashed potato consistency.

The 300g is still a little thick for me, so next time I think I'll try it with maybe 260g or so and see how I go.

It's delicious though... even my 3 year old son is getting into it!!

Good Luck!

Herbal

[Jamberie]

I should've known better!

I followed the EDC recipe before checking the forum! It was a disaster! Polenta soup. Luckily not all the water had been absorbed so I used a soup ladle to scoop out as much water as I could, turned the heat to varoma then gave it 5 more minutes. It seemed to do the trick and it is now setting in the fridge.

[meganjane]

  I now know to always check here before making anything from any of the TM recipe books! Saves a lot of time, wasted ingredients and disappointment.