Polenta is an italian word for cooked corn meal. The dish is prepared by cooking either a fine or coarse corn meal in either a vegetable or chicken stock until it is thick and pasty. It is then cooled, sliced and either baked or pan seared and topped with a tomato or eaten as is.
In my family polenta was only made with a vegetable stock and often we added chopped broccoli into it making a very hearty dish. We did not add any toppings and ate it hot. As it cooled it would thicken and my brother and I would just run our spoons over the cooled surface, scoop it up and gobbled it down.
Yesterday all my child hood memories of this dish came rushing back. While spending the day with my my mom and dad, my mom went into her garden and picked fresh broccoli crowns and tender leaves from her organic garden and made polenta for diner. This of course was the cooked version and now I would like to create a raw version to enjoy.
Of course the raw version will require raw corn. Fresh or frozen is the question or shall I start using an organic corn meal?
Some research is needed here for I do not know if corn meal is heated or if it is prepared with naturally dried corn then cracked or ground.
I might have to prepare my own if I want to start with a dried corn meal rather than a mash.
Stay tuned...I'll post a raw polenta recipe as soon as I can!
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