Polenta is also known as corn meal, mush and grits. It depends really on the cut of the cornmeal. I love grits for breakfast like my Cheddar Cheese and Ham Grits. It is great as a porridge, firmed, molded then grilled or fried or served cold. It is a great base for many things, it’s up to your imagination really.
Here I paired it with roasted green chilies and corn for a Southwest flavor. You could even add some red bell peppers for a splash of color contrast. Eating is just as visual, right? I also love the plain version (no cheese or veggies). Just chill it, cut into squares, grilled and topped with maple syrup for breakfast. In this recipe I am serving it along side my Dry Rub Pork Ribs.
This is great the next day after it has set. Take a knife and cut into a serving and pan fry quickly.
Preheat oven to 400°.
Polenta with Corn and Green Chilies
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow polenta
- 2 crushed cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 cups low-fat milk
- 1 cups Chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups corn kernels
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 4.5 oz can chopped green chilies
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- In a large saucepan add the butter, garlic, chicken stock, milk, cumin and bring to a boil. Be careful this does not boil over, it's quite the mess. Slowly whisk in the cornmeal, stirring constantly. Bring back to a boil and reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 12 minutes, stirring constantly so as to not stick. This will sputter, be careful.
- Next, stir in the cheese, green chilies, corn, cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly to incorporate completely.
- Butter 8 x 8 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Pour polenta mixture in. At this point you can let cool down and refrigerate if prepping ahead for later use.
- Bake until polenta puffs up, about 25 minutes if not chilled, or 30 minutes if chilled. Cut into squares and sprinkle the chopped cilantro on top as garnish.
- Serve with roasted pork, grilled chicken or meat of your choice.
Delicious! I prepared this dish a day ahead. Because it was refrigerator cold, I baked it about 10 minutes longer than suggested. I substituted one cup of the low fat milk for half and half because that is what I had on hand. This recipe is a keeper!
Excellent, so glad you enjoyed this one!
I plan on making this dish today, but I don’t have low fat milk. I do have a small carton of whole milk (that I purchase occasionally to use for cooking), but we generally be stick to non dairy milk. Since the recipe calls for 2 cups of milk I’m debating between one cup of milk and the other cup water or instead 2 cups of chicken stalk instead of 1. Or using non dairy milk and the chicken stalk instead. From what I understand people sometimes use just water to make polenta, so I’m thinking either route I choose… Read more »
Sorry for the late reply Rachael, hopefully it turned out well. It sounds like you had a handle on the substitutions!