Terrific on Tuesdays: Polenta

Until somewhat recently, polenta was a bit of a mystery to me. It was one of those things that I’d heard of, but wasn’t really sure what it was. I knew that it could be served as “cakes” or poured out and allowed to stiffen on a board. “What was this magical substance?” I wondered.

When I found out that polenta was essentially a cornmeal porridge, it made this food incredibly accessible to my cooking repertoire. After all, I’d been eating rice porridge (congee or xifan) my whole life and I’d been eating hominy porridge (aka grits) for most of my life.

The trick to fluffy polenta is a high ratio of water to cornmeal–that, patience, and a lot of stirring. I like the 4 cups of water to 1 cup of cornmeal-type recipe. You can add a little butter as you slowly cook it, but I generally forgo butter and simply season it with herbs and spices. I find that garlic powder is good, as is sage or rosemary. I also like Magic Unicorn Salt.

Finally, don’t forget that part of the magic of polenta (or honestly, mashed potatoes and other smushy foods) is that it can be fried the second day for a nice side. Here are some polenta cakes setting up in my frying pan. Yum.