Hard Polenta Cakes Recipes

Steps:

• Combine the milk, salt and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and slowly whisk in the polenta. Cook, whisking constantly, until the polenta tightens and there are no lumps, about 4 minutes. Stir in the queso blanco, butter, cilantro, pepper and jalapeno. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
• Generously butter a 9-by-9-inch baking pan. Pour the polenta into the pan and set aside to cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, until firm.
• Preheat a griddle pan over medium heat. Invert the polenta onto a clean cutting board and slice it into nine 3-inch squares. Brush the squares on both sides with the olive oil, then griddle them until golden brown and warmed through, about 3 minutes per side. While warm, drizzle the polenta cakes with the honey and squeeze lime juice over the top. Serve.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Cut one long strip of parchment paper to line the sides of the pan so that the paper reaches all the way around the pan with no gap at the seam, and stands about 3-inches high.
• Place 1 cup/200 grams of the sugar in a saucepan with just enough water to cover, stir well and place over medium heat. When sugar turns the color of maple syrup, take off the heat and add 2 tablespoons/35 grams of the butter. Swirl to incorporate and pour into the cake pan. Place the fruit flesh-side down in a single layer all over the caramel, cutting a few pieces smaller if necessary to make it all fit. You can cram the fruit; it will shrink as it cooks.
• Add almonds and polenta to a food processor and process until fine, then set aside in a large bowl with the flour, salt, baking powder and lemon zest. In the same food processor, cream the remaining butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, making sure each is emulsified before adding the next. Scrape the mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and fold into the ingredients until smooth. Spoon the batter on top of the fruit and even out the top. Bake for about 2 hours, or until the the top is golden in color, crackled and firm to the touch. Set the cake pan on a rack to cool.
• Once the cake has completely cooled, loosen the sides with the tip of a knife and flip it over in one quick motion, directly onto a serving platter. Holding onto the upside down cake pan and the platter at the same time, shake and bump the pan a little, if necessary, to release the cake, before lifting the pan away. Gently peel away any parchment paper. Slice and serve as is, or with a little crème fraîche on the side.

Steps:

• Combine the milk, 1/2 cup water, the cayenne and bay leaf in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and season generously with salt. You want to take the seasoning to the edge of too salty in this case; to do this you MUST taste as you go! Polenta acts like a "salt eraser"; if you don't salt abundantly in this early step, you'll never recover.
• When the liquid comes to a boil, gradually sprinkle in the polenta, whisking constantly. Once the polenta is combined, IMMEDIATELY switch over to a wooden spoon and stir frequently until the polenta thickens, 30 to 35 minutes. Taste the polenta to see if it's cooked through. If it still feels mealy and grainy, add some more milk or water and continue to cook for another 10 minutes. Repeat this process as needed until the polenta feels smooth on your tongue. Remove the bay leaf and stir in the mascarpone and Parmigiano-Reggiano, then remove from the heat.
• Line a 7-inch square baking pan with plastic wrap. Pour the polenta into the pan and cover with plastic, pressing down so the plastic sits on the surface of the polenta. Chill until set, at least 45 minutes. (All of this can totally be done ahead of time, like yesterday!)
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cut the cooled polenta into 1-inch squares. Place the squares on a baking sheet and top each with a piece of taleggio. Put the cherry tomatoes on a separate baking sheet and toss them with olive oil. Bake both the polenta squares and the tomatoes for 10 minutes. The tomatoes should be hot, starting to relax and getting a little squishy, and the taleggio should be nicely melted. Place the polenta cakes on a serving dish, top each square with a tomato half, and garnish each with a little sprinkey-dink of coarse sea salt and chives.

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large saucepan on the grates of the grill. Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add chickpeas, stock and salt and pepper and cook until chickpeas are very soft. *Transfer mixture carefully, in batches, to a blender and blend until smooth. Return the mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Slowly whisk in the polenta, stirring constantly, and continue whisking until mixture begins to bubble. Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture is thickened and cooked, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Spread the mixture into a baking sheet, cover with plastic and place in the refrigerator until cold and very firm, about 4 hours. When the polenta is firm, remove from the refrigerator and, using a 2-inch ring mold, cut out circles of the polenta.
• Preheat a grill to medium-high.
• Season the polenta circles with salt and pepper on both sides, brush with oil and grill on both sides until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from grill, drizzle with chive oil and garnish with lemon zest and chives.
• Combine ingredients in a blender and blend for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Steps:

• Over a medium-high heat in a large saucepan that allows for stirring, heat milk, cornmeal and 2 cups water. Give it an initial stir to blend ingredients, then let cook until it thickens up a bit, about 5 minutes. At this point, stir continuously so that contents thicken up without sticking to saucepan, about 10 minutes. Add the mascarpone and Parmesan. Cook, stirring, until polenta is thick enough to pour out, another 5 minutes. Pour into individual muffin pans or one big pan. Let cool at room temperature for approximately 10 minutes. Refrigerate the polenta for later use.
• When you're ready to serve the polenta: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Top the polenta cake with the Sauteed Mushrooms and shredded mozzarella, if using, and bake 5 to 8 minutes. Enjoy!
• Over a medium-high heat, heat oil in a medium frying pan. Add garlic and let brown, approximately 1 minute. Throw in mushrooms and allow to brown and cook down, stirring, approximately 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Lower heat to low and let simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Steps:

• Bring water and salt to a boil in a large saucepan; pour polenta slowly into boiling water, whisking constantly until all polenta is stirred in and there are no lumps.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer, whisking often, until polenta starts to thicken, about 5 minutes. Polenta mixture should still be slightly loose. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, whisking every 5 to 6 minutes. When polenta is too thick to whisk, stir with a wooden spoon. Polenta is done when texture is creamy and the individual grains are tender.
• Turn off heat and gently stir 2 tablespoons butter into polenta until butter partially melts; mix 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into polenta until cheese has melted. Cover and let stand 5 minutes to thicken; stir and taste for salt before transferring to a serving bowl. Top polenta with remaining 1 tablespoon butter and about 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for garnish.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a 1 to 1 1/2 quart oven-safe container, stir together water, salt, pepper, and polenta
• Add butter to the mixture, cut up in chunks.
• Place container, uncovered, in center rack of oven and bake 40 minutes.
• Open oven, pull out rack, add parmesan, and any other ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes, olives, lemon zest, herbs, shallots, cilantro etc. and let bake another 10 minutes.
• Pull out of oven and let rest in refrigerator 20 minutes to over-night.
• In frying pan, on medium-high, heat oil.
• Spoon about half a cup of polenta into the pan at a time, fry until golden brown on each side.
• Let cakes rest about 3-5 minutes and serve.

Steps:

• Butter a shallow 2 1/2- to 3-quart baking dish, and set aside. Place stock or water and salt into a large saucepan, and bring to simmer. Remove pan from heat.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slowly pour polenta into stock, stirring rapidly with a wooden spoon. Place pan on medium heat. Slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly in same direction. Boil 5 minutes, continuing to stir.
• Pour polenta into buttered dish, and cover with buttered foil. Bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and serve.