The Power of Polenta: Polenta with shrimp and tomato recipe

Shrimp Polenta with Heirloom tomatoes

Polenta is one of those great go to foods when you need to make something quick. It is a tasty porridge made from course cornmeal. At most basic, polenta is a simple creamy corn mash cooked with water and salt.

But this humble cornmeal does not have to be plan. It can be jazzed up using flavor variations like stocks, butter, cheese and herbs.

It is commonly served Italian style with a tomato sauce and sausage, but it can also be served with fish, shellfish, poultry, beef, pork or in a vegetarian meal.

Once a simple peasant staple, polenta has gained popularity as a gourmet food that can be seen on menus at upscale restaurants to college dorms alike.

There are a few ways to serve polenta beside for a hot mash.

The high starch content of cornmeal makes cooked polenta form into a solid mass when cooled.

Hot polenta porridge is spread onto a sheet pan and allowed to cooled. Once cooled, the firm polenta can then be cut into shapes and saute’, deep fried or grilled to provide a crisp outer texture.

Another way to serve polenta is in a casserole. Hot polenta is spread into a casserole dish then topped with sauce, vegetables, meat and cheese then baked.

Polenta is found in the bulk section in grocery stores, in instant mixes or in the refrigerated section of in precooked tubes. The cost is around $1.50 per pound, which measure about 2 3/4 cups or around $.20 per serving.

Basic Polenta Recipes: Serve Four

1 1/2 cup of Polenta cornmeal
4 1/2 cups of water
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of butter (optional)
*use Olive Oil for vegan option

Bring the water to a boil in a sauce pan. Add the polenta, salt and butter and stir in. Bring the heat down to a medium. Cover the top of the pan loosely with tin foil. Stir frequently to make sure the polenta does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook for 20 minutes.

Variations:

Cheese Polenta:
Substitute one cup of milk for water in the basic recipe and include the butter. Include 1-2 cups of a mixture of grated cheese like Cheddar, Jack, Parmesan and Fontina. Follow the instruction for the basic recipe then stir in the cheese during the last three minutes of cooking. Garnish with grated Parmesan.

Polenta with tomato sauce and sausage:
Use the basic or cheese polenta recipe. Cook a pound of your favorite sausage like sweet or hot Italian sausage and serve with about a third of a cup of your favorite heated tomato sauce per serving and top with grated Parmesan.

Mushroom Polenta: (Vegan)
Use the basic recipe and substitute olive oil for butter. Saute one finely chopped onion, two cloves of garlic and one and half pounds of your favorite mushrooms for seven minutes. Add a quarter teaspoon of dried thyme, and a quarter cup of white wine and cook down. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with fresh chopped parsley and divide a half cup of toasted pine nuts or almonds between four servings.

Polenta and Shrimp:
Use the basic or cheese polenta recipe and add the juice of one lemon, fresh cracked pepper and one teaspoon of smoked paprika when cooking the polenta . Peel and clean three quarters of a pound of shrimp and saute in butter or olive oil with two cloves of garlic till the shrimp is pink on booth sides.

Serve the polenta in a bowl. Divide the shrimp between four bowls and top with fresh chopped scallion.

Slider Buns Recipe

OK. I have to admit that I am a huge slider fan. Sliders are smaller sized hamburgers on smaller buns and 2oz patties.

But sliders do not have to be burgers. I made salmon sliders last night.

poached salmon w/tarter sauce slider

When thinking sliders, think of your favorite “bun” sandwich, but in miniature.

Slider sandwich ideas:
-Fry chicken breast with ranch dressing or white gravy
-Steak with crumpled blue cheese
-Buffalo Chicken Slider (chicken breast with Franks Redhot w/ranch or blue cheese dressing
-Shrimp Paw boys
-The Slider Club: Turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato (avocado optional)
-Corn beef Rueben
-Salmon Slider: poached salmon with cumber dill yogurt sauce
-Mini meatball sub slider: Turkey, beef or pork meatballs with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil
-Pulled Pork with hot slaw
-Grilled Mushrooms w/goat cheese and balsamic reduction
-Crab Cake with spicy mayo
-Fried Fish w/ tarter

Vegan Sliders:
-Baked tofu w/vegan slaw
-Grill mushrooms with teriyaki  sauce and pickled veggies
-Pan fried vegan risotto cakes with spicy vegan mayo
-Vegan sloppy Joes: Saute crumpled silken tofu w/thinned BBQ sauce
-Tempura Slider: Mix veggies tempura (sweet potato, potato, carrot, onion, mushroom) with asian dipping sauce. (1/3 miron, 1/3 tamari soy, lime juice and water or dashi both, minced ginger)
-Peanut butter, banana and maple (dust with cinnamon)

I have been thinking about offering slider buns at my both at the Westside Farmers Market to create a cross promotion with McLaughlin Farm who sells beef at the market.

So last night I tested a recipe that turned out well. Look for them at the Westside Market on Thursday 3:00-7:00PM while they last.

Slider Bun Recipe: Makes 16 slider buns (or 8 full size) 

3 1/2 cups AP Flour (King Arthur or Bob’s Redmill or use Bread Flour)
3/4 to 1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter (melted)
(For vegan option use olive oil or melted vegan shorten)
1 large egg
2 TBS sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast

Plus 2 TBS melted butter to brush
(For vegan use olive oil or melted vegan shorten)
Sesame seeds (optional)

Procedure:

Mix the yeast, flour, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl of a mixer with dough hook attachment. With the mixer running, add the egg, melted butter and slowly pour in the water. Mix in high for about eight minutes.

Place the dough in a bowl and coat little with olive oil. Cover with plastic or a damp towel and let set in a warm place for 2 hours or until the dough doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and place on a clean counter. Cut the dough into 16 equal pieces.

Mine dough came out to 28oz, which figured out to approximately 1.75oz (using a digital scale) per roll, which comes to 16 rolls.

Roll the dough into rounds balls and flatten them into disks. See below.

Place them on sheet pan lined with parchment and cover with a damp clothe and let them rise for about an hour. Don’t worry if the touch a little.

Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake at 375 degrees for 15-18  minutes.

My Vegan Baking Class

Sorry that there are no pics for this post. The yummy baked goods when so fast I did not have time to take a picture. Here are the recipes I used for my Vegan baking class at Hollanders. I made a dessert with chocolate biscuits which topped, a fresh local cherry fruit cobbler, and topped with coconut ice cream.

Feel free to comment on your favor vegan baked goods/desserts. I am collecting recipes.

Note: When baking vegan: Look for the V symbol on sugar to ensure a vegan product. Some brands of sugar may use animal products in processing.

Vegan Buttermilk biscuits

Make 10-12 biscuits Large biscuits 20-24 mini biscuits

2 cups of All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick of chilled vegan butter (8 tablespoons)
3/4 soy buttermilk (plus 3/4 tablespoons of vinegar) Combine and sit for 10 minutes

Preheat oven to 450

In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in food processor. Pulse to mix. Cube the vegan butter and add to the food processor. Pulse the processor until the vegan butter is combine to create a sandy mixture.

Pour the content into a bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Mix to form a sticky dough. Dump out the dough on a well floured surface. fold the dough a few time, but do not over work it. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a thickness of one inch. Using a biscuit cutter, in a straight up and down motion (do not twist the biscuit cutter) cut out biscuits, and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet so that they are close but not touching.

When you have cut out all of the biscuit you can with the first pass of rolled out dough reform the scrap pieces and roll out again and cut more biscuits until you use all of the dough. I find that there always a small piece left over that is too small to form a full biscuit. I usually roll that into a tube and cook it along with the rest for a taster biscuit.

These work great with a vegan biscuit pot pie.

Bake for 10-12 minutes

Chocolate Biscuits:

Follow the recipe above: and add 4 tablespoons of sugar, 3 tablespoons of coco powder, and 1/4-1/2 cups of vegan chocolate chips.

Sweet Potato Variation: Peel and boil till soft half of a sweet potato. Mash with a fork to have  about 1/2 cup. Follow the recipe above, and add sweet potato mash to the wet ingredients, and mix. These biscuits are very moist, and will require about 20-24 minutes to cook.

Brian’s super easy coconut ice cream recipe

1 16 once can of coconut milk
1/4 cup of agave syrup
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Mix all of the ingredients and place in a metal bowl. Cover tight with foil, and freeze over night. Set out for a few minutes before scooping. If you have an ice cream maker, add the mixture and follow manufacturers instructions.

For chocolate: Add 2-3 tablespoons of coco powder, and vegan chocolate chips
add a teaspoon of mint extract for a mint chocolate chip variation

Vegan Cornbread

1 cup of cornmeal
1 cup of AP flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups rice and soy milk (plus 1 1/3 tablespoons vinegar mix in to milk to set for at least 10 minutes)
2 tablespoons olive oil to grease pan

9 inch baking pan, pre heat oven 425

Combine the the cornmeal, flour baking soda, baking powders, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the soy “buttermilk” and mix. Pour batter into a grease 9 inch baking pan, and bake for 25 minutes.

Vegan Chocolate chip cookies:

4 1/2 teaspoons of Ener-G
6 Tablespoons of water
2 stick of vegan butter softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups AP Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cups of vegan choc. chips
1/2 cup raw chopped nuts (like hazelnuts)

preheat oven to 375

Blend the Ener-G and water in a food processor or blender. Cream both sugars and vanilla with the softened butter. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix. Add the flour mixture to the sugar and butter mixture. Add the chips, and nuts if using.

On a parchment lined baking sheet, scoop out cookies to desired size.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Cool, and enjoy.

Michigan Shrimp Recipe: Garlic shrimp w/pasta and peas

Shrimp with penne pasta and peas: Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 1/2-2 LBs medium (18-22 count) Shrimp (Michigan Farm Raise at Arbor Farms)
1 lb penne pasta
1lb frozen peas (organic) or fresh in season
1/3-1/2 cup of olive oil
5 cloves of minced garlic
1 lemon juiced
1/4 cup dry white wine
salt
pepper
1/4-1/2 cup of cream (optional)
2 pieced of bacon or pancetta crisped and crumbled as garnish (optional)
parm cheese garnish (optional)

Procedure:

In a large pot set to boil about 1-2 quarts of water with a little salt and a splash of olive oil. Rinse the frozen peas in some warm water to thaw. Then, shell, and de-vain shrimp. Peel, take out the sprout, and mince the garlic. Cook the pasta till aldente. It should have a little tooth to it when done. Place in a large serving bowl and add a little olive oil to prevent sticking, and add the full thawed peas. Add salt to tasted

Pat the shrimp dry with paper towel. Heat about half of the olive oil in a large saute pan. add half of the garlic and saute for a few seconds, then add the shrimp in one layer. Cook the for about a minute or so, and flip each one over with tongs. When done, pour into the pasta. Then add the second batch of shrimp and cook. Add those shrimp to the pasta, then deglaze the pan with the white wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan so all of the fond is removed (the brown tasty shrimp bits). Cook the wine for a few minutes to reduce a little, and add the cream is using. Then add the wine (and cream) to the pasta, peas, and shrimp. Add the lemon juice, and adjust the seasoning. Mix to combine the flavors. I like a lot of pepper and salt in this dish.

Garnish with bacon and/or a little parm if using.

Vegan Option: Omit the shrimp, and add a cup of little toasted pine nuts. Also saute 1-2 cans of artichoke hearts in the olive oil and garlic, white wine, and lemon.

Baked Tofu Steak Recipe

I have started using Tofu for an easy go to vegan protein course. Tofu does not have a lot of flavor on its own, but acts like a sponge for marinades. This recipe use smoked salt which gives it a “beefy” flavor. I prefer Rosewood Tofu, which is a local Ann Arbor company. It can be found at more local grocers. I suggest making more then you need because this makes for some great leftovers from sandwiches, stir fries, casseroles like vegan pot pie (recipe coming soon), and for a quick heat and eat snack.

Baked Tofu Steak Recipe: Serve 4-6

2 Blocks of extra firm tofu, pressed
marinade
2 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of liquid sugar (honey, maple, agave)
2 teaspoon of rice vinegar (or the juice of a lemon or a lime)
4 tablespoons of vegetable stock, or water
pinch of red pepper flakes
pinch smoked sea salt (or regular salt)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon sesame chili oil
fresh black pepper

Miso Option: Exchange the soy sauce for 1 tablespoon of miso and mixed with 3 tablespoons of water.

Procedure:

Take out the tofu from package and drain out the liquid. Press each block between two plates and add some weight like a can or two of beans and weigh down for 20 minutes. Drain the water from the plates that is released from pressing. Slice the tofu blocks into three roughly equal size pieces lengthwise, then score the top lightly (do not cut through) in a cross pattern. This will help the marinade to absorb better. Place the tofu in a casserole baking pan. Combine all of the marinade ingredients, and pour over the tofu. Let sit for a 20 minutes and flip a few times.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add the tofu and the marinade to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes then gently flip the tofu to allow the marinade to absorb both sides. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the tofu is firm. The trick I found was timing it perfect, so the tofu is firm, yet moist and does not stick to the pan. This may take some practice. I luck out with the batch shown in the picture.

Serve with your favorite veggies, and use leftovers for sandwiches the next day.

CB

Tofu Steak with roasted sweet potato, and Broccoli

Hot Cocoa Recipe: Snow Day Treat

I am the officially driveway shoveler on snow days for my house. Depending on the amount of snow fall, it can be a lot of work, so to treat myself with a job well done cup of hot cocoa. My recipe is pretty basic. I am not a whip cream on top of hot coco fan. If I have a few mini marshmallows, I would throw a few in.

Note to Self: Get some mini Marshmallows

Hot Cocoa: Serves one

8-12 ounces of milk
Vegan Option: Use Eden soy and rice milk blend (my preference)
1 tablespoon of good quality coco powder
1-2 tablespoons of sugar or less to tastes

Procedure:

Heat the milk in a small pan. Add the sugar and stir. In a small bowl, mix the coco with a little milk, until is forms a thick paste. Mix in the cocoa into the milk and heat till hot, but not boiling.

Serve with mini marchmallows

Enjoy

Chocolate Buttermilk Biscuits

I had a buttermilk biscuit cooking class coming up, and I wanted to offer something different. The idea of making a chocolate biscuit came to mind, so I started tweaking a recipe. The biscuits above is what I came up with. They have a chocolate coco taste with a subtle sweetness, and a flaky texture. They are good by themselves or served with ice cream, and sliced fruit or berries, or a fruit/berry sauce. This recipe is a work in progress. You might want to add less coco powder, or more chocolate chips. Note that the more chocolate chips you add the more dense and fudge like and less flaky your biscuits. My first batch doubled the amount of chips to create a tasty biscuit, brownie, scone like hybrid pastry. It did not know what it wanted to be, but it was good. enjoy. Vegan Option

Chocolate Biscuits: Make 10-12 large biscuits (or 20-24 minis)
(The recipe can be halved)

2 cups of All Purpose Flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoon coco powder
4 tablespoons of white sugar
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips about a 1/4 cup (chopped up) (I like Ghirardelli)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick of chilled butter (8 tablespoons)
3/4 chilled buttermilk plus 2 Tablespoons
1-2 tablespoons of melted butter from brushing(optional)

Preheat oven to 450

In a food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, coco powder and salt. Pulse to mix. Cube the butter and add to the food processor. Pulse the until the butter is combine to create a sandy mixture.

Pour the content from the food processor into a bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk, and the chopped chocolate chips. Mix to form a sticky dough. Dump out the dough on a well floured surface. Fold the dough a few time, but do not over work it.

Roll out the dough with a floured rolling pin to a thickness of one inch.

Using a biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits in a straight up and down motion. Do not twist when cutting out the biscuits. Twisting will seal the sides of your biscuits preventing your biscuits from rising and making for tough, flat biscuits. It seems natural to want to twist, but don’t do it.

Place the cut out biscuits on a parchment paper lined baking sheet so that they are close but not touching.

When you have cut out all of the biscuit you can on the first pass of rolled out dough, reform the scrap pieces and roll out again and cut more biscuits until you use all of the dough. I find that there always a small piece left over that is too small to form a full biscuit. I usually roll that into a tube and cook it along with the rest for a “first taste” biscuit.

Once all of the biscuits are on the pan, cook for 10-12 minutes in the center of the oven until golden brown. Brush with melted butter.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, strawberries or raspberries and sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

Vegan Option:

-Substitute shortening for the butter
-Use equal parts soy milk to buttermilk and squeeze some lemon juice in it and let it sit at room temp for  30 minutes till it curdles for vegan “buttermilk.”
-Substitute Vegan chocolate chips and Vegan Sugar (look for the “V” label on packaging.)
Note: Not all sugar is vegan.

-Serve with your favorite vegan ice “cream” such as coconut milk, soy, or rice cream varieties.

Enjoy

CB

Buffalo Hot wings(drums) with vegan option

This is my superbowl tribute meal. It is sweet potatoes, chicken drums with hot wing sauce, and collard. I used drums instead of wings because they are cheaper. Wings have become trendy because of the buffalo wing trend, so it is common to pay about $1 more per pound. If you prefer wings, they can be use in this recipe. I am a big fan of Frank Redhot brand sauce.

Buffalo Chicken Drum Sticks: Serves 6-8

12-18 large drum sticks (3-4 pounds)
1 large bottle of Franks Redhot brand sauce
olive oil or butter
soy sauce (optional)
salt

Procedure:

Preheat he oven to 450. Lay the drums on a large roasting pan with a rack. Brush the drums with olive oil of melted butter, and season with salt. Back for about an hour till golden brown.

For the sauce, in a sauce pan, pour about 3/4 of the bottle in to the pan and heat. Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and stir in. If using add a tablespoon of soy sauce. Alternatively, you can use butter instead of olive oil. Butter is more traditional than olive oil.

When the chicken is done, place in a bowl, and add the sauce. Stir to coat all of the drums. Pour some of the extra sauce on the bottom on top of the chicken.

Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing (optional)

Vegan Option: Tofu “buffalo wings”

I used to make this for potlucks when I was a vegan. The hot “wing” sauce can easily be made vegan, and paired with a vegan protein source like baked/fried tofu or seitan, this can make for a very tasted meat alternative.

Ingredients:

2-3 blocks of extra firm tofu, or a 2 pounds of seitan (wheat gluten)
Vegetable oil for frying
One recipe for hot sauce with olive oil option (above)

Procedure:

If using tofu, take each block and place it between two plates. Add some weight on top of the plates to like a can or two of beans to press down the tofu. This will result in liquid being released from the tofu blocks. Pour off the liquid from the plates. Cut the tofu (or seitan) in to long strips, and dry off. Heat the oil in a heavy pot to 350 degrees. I prefer peanut or safflower oil. Fry the tofu or seitan in batches until golden brown. Coat with the sauce and serve.

If you prefer, you can bake the tofu or seitan.

Black Eye Pea and Kale

Black Eye Peas, Squash and Kale: serves 4-6

3 cans of black eyed peas (or 1Lb dried cooked)
2 onion diced
1/2 large butternut squash 3-4 cups (peeled and diced)
1 bunch of Kale de-stemmed and ripped into small pieces
1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock
2 cloves of garlic minced
olive oil few tablespoon
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper

Scallion to garnish

Procedure:

In a large saute pan, heat a good amount olive oil and saute the onions for a few minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the squash, black eye peas, kale, stock, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Simmer until the squash and the kale are done, about 15 minutes. Add more salt to taste. I like to add a little extra olive oil to bean dishes to taste.

Chick Pea Minestrone

This recipe is my whatever-I-had-in-the-house version of a minestrone soup. I am using chick peas which are starchy so I did not include pasta, but feel free to add macaroni. If you add pasta, you will need to add more water and adjust the seasoning.

For a twist, I am included Miso which is a fermented soybean pasted use in sauce and soups and provides a salty, complex flavor. Miso and tomato pair perfectly. I am using a three year old barely miso, but you can use what ever miso you prefer. Miso can be found in most coops.

This is a completely vegan meal, which is a shot out to http://blissfulbellas.wordpress.com who featured their vegan Thanksgiving meal on their blog.

Chic Pea Minestrone: Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 can of chick peas
1 28 ounce can of dice tomatoes (I like fire roasted)
1 quart of water or veggie stock
2 onions diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 medium sweet potatoes Peel and small dice or 1-2 cup of dice winter squash
2 carrot peeled diced
2 ribs of celery diced
2 bay leafs
1-2 tablespoons of rice vinegar or some lemon juice
1-2 tablespoon miso (or to taste)
pinch of cayenne pepper or hot sauce to taste (options)
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
salt and pepper

Italian Parsley for garnish.
Olive oil drizzled on top of soup

Procedure:

In a large pot, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Saute the onion for five minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the celery, carrots and sweet potato. Cook for five more minute. Add the canned tomatoes and the tomato water, chick peas and one quart of water (or stock). Add the bay leaf and bring the soup to a boil, then simmer. When the sweet potatoes are done, turn off the heat.

Place the miso in a small bowl with some of the soup liquid and mash to a thin smooth paste then stir into the soup. Add salt, pepper, vinegar (or lemon) and hot sauce to taste.

Serve with crusty Italian bread and garnish soup with drops of olive oil, and a few sprigs of Italian parsley.