Indian Spices

The history and culture of Indian spices is probably as old as human civilization itself. it is a history of lands discovered and destroyed, kingdoms built and kingdoms brought down, wars won and wars lost, treaties signed and flouted, favours sought and offered and the rise and fall of different religious practices and beliefs across the country. Spice. It is what provides a wealth of flavours to a range of colourful, aromatic. Multi-textured cuisines across the country. One of the many things that go to make India truly incredible!

Spices are a natural way of caring For yourself. They can not only improve the taste of your food, but can also improve the state of your health. They are used as appetizers, preservatives and many with their rich and varied properties are used in pharmaceutical, perfumery, cosmetic products. religious rituals etc. In fact, special preparations of spices (also known as nuskhe) are an integral part of Indian culture and society and helps keep the doctor away. Here are some of them :

Ajwain carom seed

Ajwain/carom seed/bishop’s weed/ajowan/ajowan seed/ ajwon/ajwan.

Pronounced as AHJ-a-wahn pungent version of thyme. Indian cooks like to sparkle them on breads.

Substitutes : dried thyme ( use more), cumin or caraway.

Medicinal value : cures stomach upsets.

Dried Mango powder

Mango Powder : Amchoor/amchur/umchoor/green mango powder/aamchur/amchor.

Made from sun dried tomatoes, it’s used as a souring agent or to tenderize meats.

Substitutes: lemon juice, lime juice, tamarind, chopped fresh mangoes ( use more) or chopped fresh papaya ( use more).

Creamy Mashed Cauliflower

Kathryn says:  Are there any vegetables you just can’t come to terms with?  That was me with cauliflower.  I was never a fan of the taste.  But J likes it, and since we cook together a lot, it gave me a good reason to keep searching for a way to enjoy it.

I’m happy to report a success story: mashed cauliflower.  Once you mash it, the vegetable takes on a whole new texture – that of risotto (creamy rice), which I love.

I found this recipe on Women’s Health Magazine’s Web site, and it was quick and tasty.  I boiled a head of cauliflower until it was soft, drained it, mashed it with a potato masher (a fork would suffice), added garlic powder, fine sea salt, cream cheese, and butter, and kept mashing until it was all mixed.  I sprinkled dried parsley on top for presentation.  I liked it enough to get seconds!  I won’t be cringing next time J suggests cauliflower for dinner.

Jamie says:  It was nice- all us ladies were in the kitchen together creating our own dishes for dinner.  Mom was working away preparing a delicious pork recipe with orange marmalade and mushrooms, Kathryn was experimenting with a mashed cauliflower recipe, and I found some yellow squash in the refrigerator to work with.  I quartered the squash and drizzled extra virgin olive oil on top.  I minced up some fresh garlic and sprinkled sea salt, dried parsley, and dried rosemary on top; and into the oven it went with Mom’s pork roast.  Our dishes came together nicely.  I enjoyed looking at our Christmas tree all lit-up and dressed-up during dinner.

Nutrition note:  Try to eat a variety of vegetables.  There are 5 vegetable subgroups- dark green, orange, beans & peas, starchy, and other.  The different subgroups offer different nutrients important for good health.  Squash falls into the other vegetable subgroup.

We found this festive pomegranate salad flecked with flat-leaf parsley on Heidi Swanson’s 101cookbooks.com, and knew it would be the perfect holiday salad to end our Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme recipe theme. Heidi chose this recipe from Samuel and Samantha Clark’s cookbook Moro East. We encourage you to visit her site to see her gorgeous pictures that accompany the recipes as well as read an excerpt about the Manor Garden Allotments in London.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup (100g) medium or coarse bulgur

• 1 pound (400g) celery (a small head), cut in thin slices on a slight bias

• seeds of 1/2 large pomegranate

• 3/4 cup (75g) walnuts, roughly chopped

• 1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley

• 1 scant tablespoon fresh mint, finely chopped

Pomegranate Dressing:

• juice of 1/2 large pomegranate

• 1/2 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon of salt

• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Separating the pomegranate from the pith.

Directions:

HS note: To get the seeds out of a pomegranate cut the fruit into wedges. Place the wedges in a large bowl of water and break the wedges apart to remove the seeds. The seeds will sink to the bottom and the bitter pith and skin will float to the top making it easy to remove. To juice the seeds, simply place small handfuls into a handheld citrus juicer and let the juice run into a separate bowl.

For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together, season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

Put the bulgur in a bowl, add (hs note: boiling hot) water to just below the surface of the wheat and leave it to stand for 10 minutes (hs note: 10 – 15 minutes), until just tender but still quite al dente. Add more water as required or drain in a colander if too wet.

Put all the ingredients in a bowl, pour over the dressing and check the seasoning. Serve immediately. Make sure the walnuts are dressed just before serving, as sometimes they can impart a bitter flavour and unpleasant colour to the dressing if left to sit. Serves 4.
Happy Holidays!

-The Geese at The Goose

One of my gardening goals this winter was to keep parsley alive and edible, outside, all winter. November was warmish and lulled me into believing that I might actually be able to pull it off. Now, I’m not so sure. Before the cold weather hit, I covered the parsley up with a towel, then there was some freezing rain, next, eight inches of snow. The snow is gone and the towel removed, the parsley looks sad now and also pooped upon. Thanks, doggies! We will see if it recovers. Due to sneaky November I didn’t even cut any for myself, I just assumed it would keep truckin along in the cool, but not, cold weather. Foolishness, I say! FOOLISHNESS! I’m a foolish gardener.

Also, I’m a delusional gardener. I was going to try to keep some petunia plants alive through the winter too. HA! I just keep remembering that ONE winter, way back when, that my roommate kept passionflower vines (yes, plural) alive, in the ground, outdoors. In Omaha. OMAHA. One of those winters is gonna happen again someday and me and my parsley, we’ll be ready.

Our family friend Brian brought us a couple pounds of short ribs. So I, of course, jumped at the chance to cook them. If it wasn’t for beef, I would be a vegetarian. I was a vegetarian, but I just craved steaks. I’m not into chicken, I went about eight years without pork. And honestly, I just like seafood and beef. Surf and turf… so my love of beef combined with Brian’s gift created this crusted short rib dish.

Ingredients
3-4 pounds short ribs
1 slice white bread
1/2 cup mayo
3 TSP dried parsley
1 TBSP chopped red onion
1 TBSP brown mustard
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Dash of salt

Place beef, fat side up and roast in an oven at 325. It’s a twenty-minute a pound sort of thing. Ours cooked for about an hour and a half. So you put this in the oven and then start making the crusty part. First step, take that slice of white bread and tear it up into tiny bits into a small bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, mix well. Take mayo bread future beef crust mixture and about twenty-five to thirty minutes before your ribs are done and add spread it over the ribs. Yum! Okay so cook the last thirty minutes and take it out, let it cool and there you go! Eat!

Day two of the big east coast snow storm. Being it is late in December, it got me thinking the last time in the grocery store that I was getting in the mood for codfish cakes. These Portuguese treats are lightly fried fish and potato offerings that are not that far from many other fishcakes (most notably those Baltimore wonders, the crab cake). Many of the recipes, including my family’s call for salt cod (Bacalhau), however, I have seen some using fresh boiled cod, as well as other hearty white fish such a Pollock (which also comes dried and salt cured and would be treated the same way). There are so many wonderful childhood memories of these, from New Year’s Day eating them as cold leftovers with the family, to stealing them straight out of the cooking oil for a treat while helping grandma make them. Over the years the recipe varied slightly depending on who helped make them and what we remembered. A popular variant of these is Sonhos de Bacalhau, which is similar but without the potato and the cod is essentially pureed before being fried. Oh so good.

It is important to note that some of this recipe is in consistency / texture of the mixture. Start with 1 lb of fish to 2 medium starchy potato to 1 egg, with the caveat that more or less potato might be necessary, more egg to bind it might be needed or even some of the water from cooking could be helpful. It is all how doughy it feels when trying to form the cakes.

Salt Cod
Potato
Egg
Whole black pepper corns
Garlic cloves
medium onion
fresh parsley
canola oil
water

Rinse the cod overnight, changing the water at least 3 times during the process to remove the excess salt from the curing process.
Make large cubes of the potatoes, half the onion, half the garlic cloves.
In a large skillet or similar pan place the cod, onion, garlic and pepper corns and add just enough water to cover them.
Allow them to boil covered until the onion and potato are fork tender and the fish easily flakes with a fork.
Remove from the water, drain the fish, allow to cool until the onion, potato and fish are able to be handled without being burned.
Flake the fish completely (removing any bones as necessary), mash the potato and if desired mash / finely cop the onion and garlic.
Mix the flaked fish and the rest of the boiled ingredients together well by hand including the parsley. If the mixture is too crumbly, add another egg, if it’s to tick add a little of the cooking water, if it’s to wet add extra potato.
Form cakes depending on your desired size (table spoon cakes are good finger food).
Preheat a skillet with the oil, using just enough to cover the bottom of the skillet completely, these are pan fried, not deep fried.
Once the oil is to temperature add a couple of fish cakes at a time to the oil and allow them to brown on all sides evenly.
Remove cakes from oil and allow to cool over paper towels to drain excess oil.

It was sooooo cold in D.C. yesterday and night…. I needed to make something to warm us all up. Mike was feeling sickly still from his flu shot he got the other day, and he wanted some Minestrone Soup.

So I pulled out the book…. because I don’t know the recipe by heart and made the Minestrone Soup:

8Cups of Vegetable Stock
11/2Cup Garbonzo Beans*
2Cups Red Kidney Beans*
1/2Cup Carrots
3Medium Tomatoes*
1/2Cup Fresh or 1Tbsp Dried Parsley
1Cup Cabbage
1/4tsp Oregano
3/4tsp Basil
1/4tsp Thyme
1/2Cup Celery
1/2Cup Onion
1Clove Garlic
1Pkg Noodles

* Or one 14oz can of unsweetened and unsalted Italian Tomatoes with juice
*Soak Kidney Beans or Garbanzo Beans overnight and rinse and then cook beans. Or use canned Kidney Beans or Garbanzo Beans.
Chop all vegetables, saute in water or soup stock over medium heat until onion is translucent-about 5 minutes. Stir in drained Kidney Beans, Garbanzo Beans, Diced Tomatoes and Minced Herbs. Bring to a simmer, then turn heat down and simmer about 10 minutes. As the soup cooks, it will thicken. Add more tomatoes or soup stock as needed. Serve with Noodles.

Beef Two Ways: The Finished Product

Beef Two Ways transforms 2.3 pounds of 3/4″ sliced beef chuck medallions into a delicious tower of beef.  Beef strips with lightly caramelized onions makes the bed (under which you could start with rice and/or veggies), upon this foundation, two beef medallions were balanced and layered with a horseradish sauce and flat leaf parsley for garnish.

Beef Two Ways: Seasoned With Salt Beef Two Ways: Seared Medallions

Beef Two Ways: Medallions With Mixture Beef Two Ways: Thinly Sliced With Onion

Prepare all the beef by blotting away the moisture and seasoning with salt.  Lightly oil a cast-iron skillet (canola oil in this case, a few table spoons) and after heating the pan on Medium-High, add half the medallions.  Sear on both sides and then set on a plate and let rest while you sear the other half of the medallions.  If the pan fills with juices from the meat, wash quickly with hot water between sets of beef and dry (carefully) with a thick paper towel (don’t burn yourself), re-oil lightly and add second batch.  After second batch is set to rest, thinly slice the first batch against the grain of the meat and quickly chop an onion or two (two medium yellows were used above).  Add onions to pan and set to medium-heat.  Let sit for approximately 2 minutes, stir, 2 more minutes, check for golden-brown color and sweet flavor.  Spoon over sliced meat and mix.  Make horseradish mixture and spoon over medallions, reheat quickly in pan (1 minute).  Plate sliced meat and onions first, add a medallion or two, some extra sauce and a sprig of parsley for decoration.

Beef Two Ways: The Finished Product

Sweet Horseradish Mix

I found myself with a night of me me me, so what do I do?  Cook.  It was cold, wet, damp and miserable enough out that I was desperate for comfort food that would not infringe on my upcoming Christmas binging.  The result was another soup – one that was sooooo good it only lasted a day (no freezing possibilities were even a glimmer in anyone’s eye).  The best thing about this soup is its versatility.  Add or remove whatever you want or have or feel like – maybe double the batch so at least there’s a chance it may last for more than a day.

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INGREDIENTS:

1 TBSP olive or canola oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 tsp coarse salt

2 cups mushrooms, chopped

1 medium zucchini, chopped

1 pepper, chopped (red, yellow, orange will do)

1/2 can of sweet corn

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced)

4 cups good quality broth

1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz )

1 can mixed beans (19 oz)

2 TBSP tomato paste

2 tsps each of dried basil and dried parsley

1 tsp dried thyme

fresh pepper to taste

3-4 cups water

1 cup dried macaroni or shells

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DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oil in a large stove-top pot at med-high, add chopped onion and sauté until translucent.

2. Add all remaining vegetables to the pot and sauté until well cooked and softened (about 10 min).

3. Gradually add stock, tomatoes, mixed beans, tomato paste, spices, and water (add as much as you like until you get your desired consistency – I used 3 cups).

4. Cover with lid and simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes – stirring occasionally.

5. Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil for macaroni or shells then add pasta to boiling water, and cook until al dente (just under the recommended time)

6. Add al dente pasta to soup and simmer for another 5 minutes.

7. Remove soup from heat, and serve sprinkled with fresh Parmesan and crusty bread.

I’ve finally decided to join the world of blogging. It’s been a decision I’ve wrestled with for quite some time; growing up, I was so eager to joining the ever-changing worlds of Xanga, Livejournal, and Deadjournal (oh, those depressed, highly emo days…) just to let the world know what was going on with me, because I had no idea (or maybe I lacked the courage to do so) how to really speak to anyone about what interested, haunted, or excited me. Now, here I am, eight years out of high school, and I find myself making yet another blog (and yes, I did have my own Xanga, Livejournal, AND Deadjournal), but now, I feel like I have a sort of purpose.

A good friend of my mother joked the other day about how the restaurant/food gene has seemed to skip my parents, since both their respective fathers owned restaurants and were amazing cooks in their own right, and has found its way to me. What can I say? Perhaps in another life, I was a food critic, or a chef, or a restaurateur. Maybe I was just a lowly cook who never made it big. Whatever the case is, my passion for food and cooking is what defines me. I’m a food fanatic trapped in the body of a reluctant, soon-to-be accountant who acts on the side. This is my way of chronicling and journalizing the exploration of what makes me feel whole.

Now, I don’t have any defined tastes, or a style of cooking. I grew up watching my mother and uncle cook; the former seamlessly blends Anglo-Indian tastes with distinctive Swahili flavors that she learned from my dad, and the latter is an amazing Thai-Chinese cook (just to be clear, my family is Afro-Chino-Anglo-Indian Arab…don’t ask). I tend to blend them all some days, and other times, I experiment, and by perhaps dumb luck, with a lot of success. Don’t get me wrong, I love all types of cuisine, but I’m absolutely enamored with all things Latin. Latin flavors seem to go well, somehow, with what I cook (don’t ask me to define it); perhaps it’s the spice, heat, and/or the citrus accents.

Well, in any case, I’m finally home for my first winter break in three years. Considering everyone is still finishing up finals, or have jobs, I’m just occupying myself by sleeping, reading, exercising, eating out, and of course, cooking. Recently, I wanted to try something new; I’ve never used cooked vegetables in a food processor, so I tried something new w/ fire roasted tomatoes and bell peppers. Hence, I slow cooked spring onion, green chili, ginger, and chicken in a roasted tomato, bell pepper, garlic, and parsley sauce.

I suck at plating. Let me repeat, I suck at plating.

I hate chopping. In fact, I’m almost useless with a knife. Quick-chops are my best friends, and, once again, I absolutely suck at plating and making food pretty. Hopefully, I’ll improve as time goes on, and maybe if I have the discipline to keep up with this, I’ll be able to journalize it here.

Well, that’s the first entry. I almost guarantee that there will be days filled with fiery political commentary and/or exasperated comments about anything that fills my head. But fear not, the real focus is the food. As it should be.

Always embrace your inner fat kid, but ignore the ho-hos.

- H

Bell peppers stuffed with rice, beef and fresh herbs are a nutritious and delicious “classic American” weeknight meal that also make great leftovers.  But don’t interpret “classic” and “nutritious” to mean old school, boring and tasteless. These are packed with flavor and interesting textures.  A half cup of white and wild rice mix is steamed in chicken stock and then combined with a pound of browned, organic beef, onion, garlic, and worcestershire sauce.  Add in an 8 oz can of Italian seasoned tomato sauce and a hearty helping of fresh chopped parsley. Fill up the pepper hulls and top off with some shredded cheese, bake for 30-45 minutes at 350 and voila!

I went up to Cochiti over the weekend, camera in tow. Mom lives in the town of Cochiti Lake, which is a little community at the base of the Jemez Mountains, south and west of Santa Fe. And I mean little – there are only about 400 residents.

I really enjoy looking at other people’s plants, especially Mom’s. Her thumb is super green.

Look at how beautiful her Norfolk Island Pine is! Gorgeous! My Norfolk, Peach, looks pretty sickly in comparison.

I just repotted her last week, so hopefully she’ll grow up to be big and strong like my Mom’s Norfolk.

I don’t know what the name of this is, but I love it. It’s growing toward the window!

Look at the size of those leaves on her Pothos! It’s some weird strain of Pothos I found a few years ago – it’s like a regular Pothos but on steriods.

Mom’s really proud of these little guys. Apparently, my sister inherited a funky Jade plant after Dad died that she was killing. Mom told her to bring some cuttings of it when we met for Thanksgiving. They’re thriving! I don’t know how parent plant is doing (Molly?), but it’s nice to know its children are fine.

I said to Mom that I always thought I got my green thumb from Dad, but looking at her plants, maybe I was wrong. She said no, she learned her love of plants from Dad, too.

I think if he could see this plant blog and how his influence has spread, he’d be happy. Thanks Dad!

There’s one very special plant at Mom’s house that is stunning. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see it, though. In the meantime, this is Parsley she keeps on her kitchen windowsill. According to her, it’s the best thing ever for bad breath. “You could eat an entire onion, then eat a little Parsley and you won’t smell the onion.” I guess I never knew that about Parsley! Cheaper than Altoids, so I’m a fan!

Tomorrow is Flowers and Flowering Plants, hope to see you back. Until then, happy indoor gardening everyone!

The second half of the birthday treat bonanza were these gougeres.  I had never made them before, but I had some parsley and eggs so, why not? Pam at eggs on sunday makes them look like a piece of cake. This was not the most relaxing recipe I’ve ever executed…my pate-a-choux never quite dried out like it was supposed to, but I could tell it was over-cooking.  The over-cooked dough then didn’t pipe very nicely and to top it all off…the little suckers hardly puffed at all. (This would be the time to mention Pam is also a classically trained chef.)  At the height of my frustrations, I asked Manfriend to open the blinds for more light. And then we realized: it was SNOWING. I screamed with joy and all was right in the world.

So, they weren’t up to my (admittedly exceedingly high) standards, but they were quite tasty, and every last one was devoured during the celebrations.

Goat Cheese and Herb Gougeres
eggs on sunday

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, divided
• 1/2 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese; use something local if you can get it
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as chives or parsley
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.
• In a medium saucepan,  combine the butter, milk and salt and bring to a boil.

off to a smooth start

• Remove the pan from the heat and add the flour all at once. Whisk for a few minutes, then return the pan to the heat and continue whisking to dry the paste out slightly.

and then things so quickly went a wry

• Remove the heat from the pan again, switch to a wooden spoon, and add 4 of the eggs — one at a time — stirring to make sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next.

• Stir in the goat cheese and chopped fresh herbs.

• Pipe the batter onto the baking sheets (or drop by the tablespoonful).

maybe we're back on track?

• Beat the remaining egg, then brush the tops of each puff with it. Sprinkle each with a little grated Parmesan cheese.

consider yourself lucky you were spared from the piping disaster. notice the awkwardly shaped plops of dough.

you look nice. back on track again?

• Bake each sheet, one at a time, in the 375 degree F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned and the gougeres are puffed. Serve warm, or let cool completely and freeze in a ziptop bag (you can reheat in an oven on a baking sheet before you’re ready to serve.)

Makes about 2 dozen, plus a few.

and the train has completely come off the tracks. where's the puff?!?!

Despite their lackluster oven performance, they did make a nice party food because they can be easily transported (once cooled) in a ziplock and reheated quickly in an oven.

C’est la vie.

Caramelized Pearl Onions, Parsley Cream Sauce, Roasted Shallot Wine Sauce, and Beef Demi-Sauce.

Hi, my name is Eric and I cook!

Well, folks, POD 2009’s days are nearing the end.

That is, we’re approaching the shortest day of the year and the bits salvaged from the little blue deck are precious and few. So, let’s hear it for David Leite’s Eggs Simmered in Tomato Sauce. What a great excuse to snip what’s left of the parsley, Thai chilies, bay, and rosemary. Okay, so the bay and rosemary live a pampered indoor life these days, but still.

Eggs Simmered in Tomato Sauce, tomatada com ovos — adapted ever so slightly (POD’s minimal revisions in parentheses) from The New Portuguese Table, by David Leite.

1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
2 large eggs
Fine seas salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 slices rustic bread, toasted (it helps immeasurably if you have a heavenly husband who bakes)
1 garlic clove, cut in half
Olive Oil

1) Warm the tomato sauce is a small nonstick skillet, covered, over medium-high heat, until it’s bubbly and (very) hot, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, stir, and then make two wells in the sauce with the back of a spoon. Crack an egg into each well and simmer, covered, until the eggs are cooked, 5 to 8 minutes.
2) To serve, lightly rub the toast with the garlic, drizzle with a thin thread of oil, and place on plates. Scoop an egg and some tomato sauce on top of each slice, and season with salt and pepper to taste. (Stick the remaining sauce in the freezer for a lazy day.)

Leite’s Eggs Simmered in Tomato Sauce

Leite’s Tomatada (Tomato Sauce) — POD’s minimal revisions in parentheses

3 tbs olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into thin half-moons
2 sprigs (or more) fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 Turkish bay leaf (or three)
3 sprigs rosemary (totally optional and probably entirely wrong, but who cares)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs very ripe tomatoes seeded and chopped, or one 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, chopped, juices reserved (it’s December, go for the San Marzano’s, please)
2 to 3 tbs double-concentrate tomato paste, to taste (2 tbs)
1 small fresh medium-hot red chili pepper, such as serrano, stemmed, seeded, and chopped — (or, 4 Thai chilies, chopped)
(honey, to taste — we found the sauce to be rather acidic and opted to do about two teaspoons worth of neutralizing)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1) Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the onions, parsley, and bay leaf and cook until nicely golden, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

2) Turn the heat to medium-low, stir in the tomatoes and their juices, the tomato paste, and chili pepper, if using, and bring to a simmer. Cook, lid ajar, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down, about 30 minutes.

3) Toss out the parsley and bay leaf(ves and rosemary), and season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper (and honey). If you wish, you can scrape the sauce into a food processor and buzz until smooth (peshaw).  Store the sauce in the fridge in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid for up to 1 week; it can also be frozen for up to 2 months.

After feeling like I hit a culinary wall of non-creativity (why is it that we always go back to the same old same old after a while??), I went a huntin’ in the great abbyss that is my pantry.  My prey?  Turned out to be a big fat zippy filled with cornmeal.  Enter… inspiration!  I’ve made both the store bought and homemade kinds before, but I wanted to jazz this lil diddy up, so I made this into fingers.  Cooled ‘em, cute ‘em, grilled ‘em, then smothered ‘em in sauce.  Outcome?  A brilliantly cheap, quick, hearty and luscious winter-time meal.  Bonus was the totally gluten-free day I had!  Woot!

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INGREDIENTS:

For the polenta -

4 cups water

3 1/2 cups of milk

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups cornmeal

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp butter (I used unsalted)

For the sauce -

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups fresh green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1 inch pieces

2 cups diced canned tomatoes

1 tsp EACH dried parsley and dried basil

Salt and pepper to taste

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DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring water and milk to a boil in a medium pot, then turn down to a simmer – watching closely so you don’t burn the milk.

2. Add cornmeal  into pot in a slow stream, stirring, then add dried basil and salt, and continuing to whisk for about 2-3 minutes.

3. Continue to simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes more – polenta will be gloppy and stiff, but try to keep stirring so the bottom does not burn, then remove from heat.

4. Mix in Parmesan cheese and butter, then plop into a greased 9×11 baking dish and cool for at least 30 minutes until completely solid.

5. While polenta is solidifying, in a large skillet heat oil over medium heat, and saute onions until translucent, then add in garlic and cook until garlic is fragrant and slighly browned (about 1-2 minute).

6. Add canned tomatoes and dried spices (and salt and pepper to taste), simmer for 5-7 minutes, then add in diced green beans and cook until tender – about another 5 min (simmer sauce on low until ready to use).

7.  Slice soild polenta into fingers, remove fro baking dish, and grill in a grill pan until heated and slightly browned (you could also broil in the oven, turning so all sides are browned).

8. Place grilled polenta fingers on a plate, and cover with sauce – sprinkle with parmessean and serve HOT!