A useful tidbit suggested by David Chang in his Momofuku cookbook: soak your grits. The other day I decided to cook some polenta and considered his advice. Despite the fact that I only soaked the ground corn for ~3 hours, it did result in a very pleasing and smooth polenta.
If you do choose to pre-soak--which is not absolutely necessary, but you really should-- you don't need to stand at the polenta pot and whisk it like some sort of martyr. In fact you'll probably find that after the initial soak, you can stir it a bit before the water gets boiling. Then just stir a few more times, and it'll be fine. Especially if you add some butter at the beginning.
Here is my recipe and method, roughly speaking. These are without strict measurements.
Polenta
1 Cup polenta (not instant)
3 cups water
1 tb unsalted butter, if desired.
pinch of salt, kosher
For soft polenta, I generally use a 5:1 ratio of water:polenta. You can use more water, and don't hesitate to estimate if you're soaking the polenta first.
First place the following in a cooking pot, and let sit for a few hours or even overnight. 2-3 hours is enough to do the trick.
About 45 minutes before you plan to serve it, place your pan of polenta over high heat. Add 2-3 cups more of water, and bring to a boil--either stirring or whisking when the mixture begins to simmer. Turn heat down to a low tick, and throw in a pinch of salt. Stir occasionally, every few minutes or so.
After about 20 minutes of cooking and occasional stirring, it's OK to put a lid on the pot and turn the heat down to very low--so that it's still bubbling just a bit, very slowly.
When ready to serve, whisk in 1-3 tablespoons butter and add maybe 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and more or less to taste.
Mushroom ragout with beef marrow bones
1 lb crimini mushrooms, quartered. Or an assortment of whatever mushrooms you'd like.
1 lb beef bones, preferably sawn to <1" thick, with a bit of meat intact, and hopefully a large diameter of marrow.
splash of brandy or bourbon or other brown alcohol--not scotch whisky, though, please.
1/2 cup red wine
1-2 carrots sliced into 1/2" discs
1 medium smallish onion, sliced
if you've some- fresh thyme
1-2 cloves of garlic, whole or chopped
kosher salt and pepper from a grinder, that you're grinding
water
olive oil and butter--a few Tablespoons of each
If you'd like a thicker sauce, add 1 Tablespoon of flour, but this is unnecessary.
1. Season your soup bones with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Place under a broiler in your oven or just fry in a pan with a bit of olive oil until nicely browned. Don't allow to burn at all, slow and steady wins the race. If you'd like to, add a bit of flour at this time. Stir flour into fat that's at the bottom of the pan, adding ~1 teaspoon of oil or butter if you'd like.
2. When brownish, add a splash of whisky or brandy, if desired. After a minute or so of bubbling away, add 1/2 cup of red wine to the pan. Allow to reduce for a minute or two. Next add about 6 cups or so of water. Then add onions, carrots, a couple sprigs of thyme, and garlic. Bring to a boil and cook at a low simmer for ~90 minutes to 2 hours.
3. Take another pan, and add 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter. Add to the pan quartered mushrooms, and sauté over medium heat. Add a pinch of salt. Allow to cook for 5-6 minutes.
4. While mushrooms are cooking, remove beef bones and thyme sprigs from broth. Discard thyme sprigs. Take broth and blend using an immersion blender, then strain back into pan or into pan containing mushrooms. Press as much as you can through strainer with the back of a large spoon.
5. Add beef bones back to mushrooms and broth, and simmer for a minute or two, until mushrooms are cooked thoroughly. Taste broth, and add a bit of salt and pepper to bring out the flavors.
If desired, you can add a bit of butter or even heavy cream to this...but remember, pair a glass of red wine with your saturated fats. Or at least a tumbler of whisky.
And please, serve with a teaspoon or so of Gremolata
1 cup flat leaf parsley, rinsed, dried, large stems removed`4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lemon, zest of
Chop the parsley, then chop a bit more with chopped garlic and lemon zest. This is a refreshing digestive, generally served with osso bucco. The bright, zesty addition contrasts with the rich, amazingly beautiful bone marrow.
Best served into one of those bowl-like plates, or plate-like bowls, polenta, broth, marrow bone, and a spoonful of gremolata on top or on the side.
Make sure you've got a utensil suitable for removing the marrow from the bones. Have a glass of cotes du rhone handy, and serve to your non-vegetarian companion.
No comments:
Post a Comment