Myfrenchkitchen

I have eaten polenta many ways, with lumps, without lumps, refrigerated and cut into slices, fried, grilled, sauteed, with sugar and milk, with a rich sauce…and I love them all. There is something about polenta that makes you want to dig deep into a comfy chair and watch a good movie, or read a nice book, or have deep conversations. It is my comfort food. Not that I feel very comfortable to get onto the scale the next day, but then again, the scale has never been a comfortable spot.

My husband is away for a month, in the States, so I feel it’s permitted to indulge in some polenta. I had this for dinner tonight. A while ago we had it as a starter. After you’ve served the portions and there is some leftover, pour it immediately into a flat dish, let it cool in the fridge, cut into pieces and use in a salad the next day. You could treat it as croutons, by lightly sprinkling with olive oil and toast it in the oven. Whichever way you have it, just enjoy it.

I adore mushrooms. There is nothing more wonderful than dropping some freshly picked mushrooms, still smelling of the woods, into a pan with some olive oil and a chopped shallot. You don’t need much more. Except maybe a good glass of wine. I didn’t pick these unfortunately, but they are fresh enough at the markets.

Creamy polenta with mushrooms

1 cup of polenta(medium or fine grain)
3 cups of water
big punch of salt
generous lump of butter
3/4 c grated parmesan cheese
1 shallot
a mixture of mushrooms of your choice and what is avalailable
olive oil
red wine for deglazing
salt and pepper
a lump of butter
about a TBS of fig balsamic vinegar
chopped parsley

Bring the water to the boil, add some salt.
Add the polenta slowly while stirring. Lower the heat and continue stirring while it simmers gently for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened and it pulls away from the sides. If you stop stirring and you stir later, it will form lumps. Remove from the heat and add the butter and parmesan cheese. If left standing it will eventually thicken, so I would suggest to make it not too long before eating, 30 minutes is sufficient time to make it and have it still soft and creamy at the table.
Clean the mushrooms with a soft brush or toweling paper.
Chop the shallot and sautee in some olive oil. Add the mushrooms and suatee over high heat just until limp. If you leave them longer, they will become rubbery and lose their fresh taste. season to taste. Remove to a dish.
Deglaze the mushroom pan with a little red wine and the tablespoon of fig balsamic vinegar. Whisk in a lump of butter, taste for seasoning and serve immediately.
To serve. Serve a helping of creamy polenta in a bowl, top with mushrooms and drizzle with the wine sauce. Finish off with a turn of the pepper mill and some chopped Italian parsley. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

I am back home from 2 months in SC, USA and I’m still slowing back into routine. It has been very quiet here on Myfrenckitchen front, but I hope that will change from now on…

It is rugby world cup time here in France. We watched the France/Ireland match last weekend with friends after sharing a simple dinner. Nothing gets you more in the mood than sharing a meal before moving on to some sports where, hopefully everybody won’t be cheering the same team!

I have to begin a meal with a starter, it enhances my appetite for the rest of the meal, it heightens the expectation around the table and it elates my tastebuds. Not forgetting that it stretches out a meal, gets everybody relaxed…it simply just sets the mood! It can be extravagant with truffels or simple with bread, I love it all ways and I enjoy making it. For this meal I made a simple polenta with wonderful wild mushrooms that fill our markets right now. I will do that in a next post.

And dessert I have to have too. It gives an exciting ending to any meal, much like an exclamation mark does to a sentence. I chose to end our meal with a simple, easy dessert as well. I don’t really know what to call it…maybe something like ” Caramelized apples with vanilla cream and pomegranate”….which will be presented in a next post too. Until then, here goes with the..

Salmon with brown rice and oven baked tomatoes.

4 salmon steaks
salt and pepper to taste
lemon juice
coconut oil
knob of butter
6 tomatoes, handful of cherry tomatoes, handful of grape tomatoes..or any kind of your choice, mix and match.
balsamic vinegar, sjerry vinegar, spoonful of Dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper
2 cup brown rice cooked in 4 cups of water
handful of rocket leaves(arugula)

Sautée the salmon steaks in the coconut oil: Place the salmon skin side down in the hot oil and sautee for 3 to5 minutes, or until the skin is crisp and the flesh has turned light pink from the bottom upwards, halfway through. Don’t cook on the other side. (Saumon à l’unilatéral) Turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper and some lemon juice. Top with the knob of butter. If you want your salmon more cooked, you can place it in the oven for a few minutes after sauteeing.
Cook the brown rice until just tender.
Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange in an oven dish, cut sides up. Season with salt and pepper.
Make a vinaigrette of the balsamic and sjerry vinegar, mustard, and olive oil. Pour over the tomatoes and bake for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees C.
Add all the smaller tomatoes whole and bake for 15 minutes longer at 200 degrees C, or until all the tomatoes are nice and caramelized and the small tomatoes have broken open.
To serve: Place a helping of brown rice in 4 bowls. Place a salmon steak on the rice. Top with a generous helping of tomatoes and drizzle the juice from the tomatoes over. Finish off with some rocket(arugula) and a twirl of fresh pepper.