Pan-Grilled Polenta With Wild Mushroom Ragout
serves 2-4
Recipe from cookthink
Be sure to use the best quality wild mushrooms available for this simple mushroom ragout. You can crumble some gorgonzola over the top if you'd like.
ingredients
For the polenta:
3 cups water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup coarsely ground yellow
cornmeal
1 tablespoon olive oil
For the wild mushroom ragout:
1 pound sliced assorted wild mushrooms, such as Hen of the Woods (maitake), shitake, cremini, chanterelle or morel
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup roasted vegetable stock
timer
prep: 25 minutes
total: 1 hour
tools
medium saucepan
whisk
rectangular pan
plastic wrap
large sauté pan
wooden spoon
grill pan
brush
instructions
1. In a medium saucepan, bring the water and the sea salt to a boil over high heat.
2. While constantly whisking with one hand, slowly shake in the cornmeal in a thin stream with the other. Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the polenta thickens, about 15-30 minutes, depending on the coarseness of the grind. (Scrape the bottom and sides while cooking to prevent the polenta from sticking.)
3. Lightly grease a rectangular pan and stir the olive oil into the polenta. Turn the polenta out into the pan and spread into a smooth layer. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until set, 1 hour.
4. While the polenta is chilling, make the mushroom ragout: in a large sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter with the olive oil over medium heat until the butter's foam subsides. Add the the sliced mushrooms all at once and stir to coat with the olive oil and butter; add a light sprinkling of salt. The pan may look dry -- don't panic, just keep stirring.
5. When the mushrooms have released all of their liquid, about 8-10 minutes, and the pan begins to look dry, add the red wine and stir.
6. When the red wine has reduced to a glaze and the pan looks dry, about 5 minutes, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the roasted vegetable stock; stir and cook for another 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and swirl in the remaining tablespoon of butter. Cover and reserve while you grill the polenta.
7. Heat a grill (or sauté) pan over medium-high heat; you want the pan to be quite hot so that the polenta does not stick. Brush the grill pan with vegetable oil; if the pan is smoking, turn the heat down.
8. Remove the polenta from the refrigerator and slice into rectangles; grill the polenta rectangles until crisp and browned with visible grill pan marks, about 4-5 minutes per side. Serve immediately.
