Temari Rabbit 2-Tier Bento #45
This is a story of two meals. Dinner:
Polenta topped with sautéed spinach and mushrooms and blackened catfish filet.
Here is the thing about polenta. It is cheap, and requires few skills. I mean, cheap. You could make polenta for literal pennies per serving. And it's really yummy. A nice comfort food.
But if you make your own polenta (which, I do, generally, because how could I justify the markup!?), it is also really boring. One must stand at a stove stirring the cornmeal mush for half an hour. So you have to have a really, really good radio show going. Or make it with a friend. (It's probably better with a friend, but I had the radio.) So. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me it is.
If you make your own polenta--if you've gone to all the trouble--you should at least have the decency to put the leftovers spread relatively thinly in a shallow dish to cool, so you can have polenta squares the next day. Which I did. And that almost made up for that half hour of stirring.
This brings us to lunch: Some pumpkin tea cookies, strawberries, quartered grapes, orange chunks, blackberries, leftover polenta squares, leftover sautéed spinach and mushrooms, and leftover blackened catfish filet.
It's a nice change of pace from other grains one might eat. But be prepared: A half hour of stirring is longer than it seems it will be when you read the recipe!
Here is the thing about polenta. It is cheap, and requires few skills. I mean, cheap. You could make polenta for literal pennies per serving. And it's really yummy. A nice comfort food.
But if you make your own polenta (which, I do, generally, because how could I justify the markup!?), it is also really boring. One must stand at a stove stirring the cornmeal mush for half an hour. So you have to have a really, really good radio show going. Or make it with a friend. (It's probably better with a friend, but I had the radio.) So. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me it is.
If you make your own polenta--if you've gone to all the trouble--you should at least have the decency to put the leftovers spread relatively thinly in a shallow dish to cool, so you can have polenta squares the next day. Which I did. And that almost made up for that half hour of stirring.
It's a nice change of pace from other grains one might eat. But be prepared: A half hour of stirring is longer than it seems it will be when you read the recipe!
Love it. My kitchen would never have a thorough cleaning if it weren't for phone calls with my sister or Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I'll have to add in the Prairie Home Companion to get the place clean!
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