Creamy Polenta

[dak]

This past weeek we were at Disney (FL) and and had dinner at the Restaurant in the Grand Floridian Nicosee---(?) I have never had a creamy polenta before, this was superb. Anyone know how to do it

[Alex]

I'm not sure what you mean by "creamy." If you use a ratio of 1:4 or 4½ cornmeal to water (plus some salt, of course), then stir in a good-sized glob of sweet butter just before serving (and some grated Parm-Reg, to make things even better), you'll be eating a soft, very rich, and very, very tasty polenta.

[Katherine]

This past weeek we were at Disney (FL) and and had dinner at the Restaurant in the Grand Floridian Nicosee---(?) I have never had a creamy polenta before, this was superb. Anyone know how to do it

Do you normally make it from scratch, or do you buy the tubes of rubbery polenta, ready for slicing?

[dano1]

4-1 to 5-1 ratio cormeal to liquid willk give you a nice consistency. I use stock or a stock and milk combo for the liquid. Finish with cheese and butter, fresh herbs, truffle oil, etc...

Loose is better especially if holding any length of time.

hth, danny

[tissue]

I agree with the stock, milk combo...

[dls]

I've always used a ratio for 1 cup cornmeal to 4 cups liquid for polenta. Though I've never tried it, I have seen reference to "soft" or "creamy" polenta with a 1 X 5 ratio.

[Jason Perlow]

A good person to ask about polenta would be Marco Canora, who is having a Q&A on eGullet this week. He serves one of the creamiest polentas in NYC.

[cjsadler]

A chef once showed me the simple secret to her famous creamy polenta: use half heavy cream and half whole milk. This makes incredibly creamy and delicious polenta (the stock/milk combo isn't as good). You may be nervous about adding that much heavy cream, but I know from taste that alot of restaurants use it in their grits and polenta (seems like heavy cream is often the 'secret' to restaurant dishes). Not healthy, of course, but it does make it really good.

Edit: Also, to get a 'creamy' texture, I've found that the double boiler method is best. Whisk the polenta into the simmering liquid of choice and then set-up in a double boiler. Cook for several hours, covered tight. Add more liquid as needed.

Edited February 16, 2004 by cjsadler (log)

[Betts]

I like the oven baked polenta 1:5 ratio that Paula Wolfert uses and a big knob of gorgonzola dolce added. It is still creamy when reheated the next day ( and the next after that, if you want to eat all the leftovers)

[Busboy]

The cookbook has disappeared, so the recipe is not exact, but Patrick O'Connel at the Inn at Little Washington sweats chopped garlic in butter, adds and brings to a boil a mixture of roughly euqal parts (guestimating here) cream, milk and water to a boil, with a couple of bay leaves and a dash of hot sauce. I'll defere to those above who knew the proper liquid-polenta ration, I just guess, but 5:1 sounds about right. He then adds polenta and a roughly equal portion of grated parmesan reggiano. Excellent stuff, and looks great served in the cast iron skillet you made it up in.

If you put in a little less liquid, and make it in advance and let it solidigy, it's great fried up just before dinner, and either way makes an excellent brekfast, again, fried up just before serving.

[stevea]

I recently purchased stone-ground, unbolted white corn grits. With about a 1:4 grits to liquid ratio, they took an hour to cook and were amazingly creamy.

The yellow corn grits (polenta) available to me locally are listed as stone-ground and degerminated. (not sure if "germination" or "boltedness" are related). With the same liquid to solid ratio, these grits soak up the liquid much quicker and become soft much quicker (10-15 minutes). However, even though soft, they retain a mealiness that is not as satisfying as the creamy white grits. To cook the yellow grits longer without setting up solid, I would have to add much more liquid. Being relatively impatient, I have not done this. (The white grits are basically inedible until they cook for an hour, so I have no choice.)

I have also found that using 100% milk or cream results in a "chalkiness" I find unpleasant. YMMV.

[Cookboy]

Polenta Disaster.

I was cooking dinner for my fiance's family and tried to shortcut the polenta with one of those tube products. Usually, I like to make it from scratch, but got rushed and...wow. It was a lumpy tasteless mass. I was able to correct it with the blender, white truffle oil, s&p, and some fresh parm. It wasn't the best, but it worked and I actually got a compliment on it. Go figure.

Bottom line. The tube sux, but if you get stuck with it, you can make it go.

That's just my two cents.

[chickenlady]

In the Balthazar cookbook, the recipe for creamy polenta calls for mascarpone cheese. Lots of it.

[Toasted]

A chef once showed me the simple secret to her famous creamy polenta: use half heavy cream and half whole milk. This makes incredibly creamy and delicious polenta (the stock/milk combo isn't as good). You may be nervous about adding that much heavy cream, but I know from taste that alot of restaurants use it in their grits and polenta (seems like heavy cream is often the 'secret' to restaurant dishes). Not healthy, of course, but it does make it really good.

Edit: Also, to get a 'creamy' texture, I've found that the double boiler method is best. Whisk the polenta into the simmering liquid of choice and then set-up in a double boiler. Cook for several hours, covered tight. Add more liquid as needed.

That's basically my recipe for soft polenta although I don't cook it that long. It's

always delicious. This weekend I went to what is "supposed to be" an upscale

Italian restaurant and had the most bland, tasteless polenta. I think they just

boiled up some cornmeal and water and dumped it into a mold hoping that the

mushroom puree would save it. It didn't. Very disappointing because polenta

isn't that hard to make.