edible baked polenta ideas please

[Mitchy1nge]

well not just edible but Actually Tasty, ideally

historically mine has always been shit, but now I have a new oven there is no excuse

Watching. Have never had polenta success.

I am also shit at polenta, so I'm interested to see if anyone can come up with anything good.

I had polenta chips at Pizza Express recently and they were delicious.

I think polenta is just tasteless shit, all the flavour needs to be added to it, via a sauce or seasonings. I don't think it's worth the bother.

Polenta isn't exactly the tastiest thing in the word, you need to eat it with something more exciting.

Freshly made polenta (not too thick) goes well with hearty stew, or goulasch.

Or throw it over cheeses like gorgonzola, brie etc (even all together) until they melt. Grate parmesan, or cheddar.

Or you can make a thick polenta. Make a shape like a big salame. Let it cool. Cut it in slices. Fry them till they get really crunchy. Eat it with fried eggs on top and maybe some mushrooms.

Potatoes, rice and pasta don't taste of much either, except what is added to them.

mmmmm Gorgonzola, I think my tastiest memory of polenta is sort of baked (maybe fried?) with different cheeses

Yes Mitchy, you can make polenta and then cut it in slices and put it in the oven with the cheeses you prefer and white sauce

Agreed pasta rice and potatoes can be bland but they don't require 45 mins of constant stirring and then cooling down and then frying to get a decent texture.

thanks Franca

do you honestly have to stir constantly? I thought if you cooked v slowly for ages and just kept having a small look at it every now and then it would be ok?

I always have a bag of polenta in the cupboard but have never cooked it on its own. I use it to cook bread or pizza on (instead of oiling tray). Recently made a delicious rhubarb and polenta cake (using a Nigella recipe). My friend makes delicious cornbread muffins.

If you have a good non stick pan you might get aways with it but it catches and doesn't taste too pleasant burnt You could use the instant precooked stuff but that's even more tricky to make palatable.

I use mine to make bread, used to use it to stop pizza sticking to a stone, now I use parchment and bake on the oven shelf. Polenta cake is good too. Dh had great polenta at a restaurant on Friday night but it was a well regarded Italian but I still think it was a risky choice, it was served with sausages and the polenta was the star on the plate - we were both very impressed.

This rosemary polenta converted me to polenta forevermore. It's delicious and only a few minutes of stirring.

I cheat and use it as a coating . For example:

Cut chicken into small pieces/cubes/goujons/whatever.

Grab two bowls - put a beaten egg in one, and some polenta in the other. Put them close to each other.

Use one hand to grab a piece of chicken, dunk in the egg, and put in the polenta bowl.
Use the other hand to roll the chicken piece around in the polenta. Take out, jiggle (over polenta bowl) to shake off excess and put on a plate or straight onto the baking tray.

Whack in oven for apx 20mins.

Should result in yummy breadcrumb-style chicken pieces (but with way less salt).

This should also work with bigger pieces of chicken (or fish, or whatever else you want to use) if you want, but I haven't tried it.

I suggest using separate hands, for the separate bowls, as otherwise you quickly end up with sticky mess on both hands - and it is lumpy, wastes the polenta & hard to clean off.

Mitchy, yes, pretty much (this is why I rarely make polenta!). But I am sure you can find instant polenta in the UK too, it's only a 10 min stirring affair!