A Plethora of Polenta

So the other day at the market I told you we bought all these mushrooms, but I forgot to tell you what I did with them.... They became two very easy polenta dishes.  Forgive me for the lack of a clear and precise recipe, but this isn't really the type of thing you can eff up and I was just throwing stuff together.

Ok, first you need to make your polenta.  I used about 2 cups of cornmeal to about 4 cups of boiling water.  Pour in the cornmeal very slowly and whisk as you go breaking up all the clumps.  You'll probably want to turn the heat down a bit because it tends to go a bit like a bubbling volcano if you don't.  You may also choose to add more water if its getting too thick, I added a veggie stock cube as well just for a little extra flavor.  When it's ready, pour it into a baking dish, and place in the fridge so it will get solid.

It will take awhile, so give it an hour for best results.  Then you can make up a little sauce.  OK I made this up for Nick who thinks dairy is God's gift to mankind.  Please don't judge.  I took a handful of chantrelles, and a couple handfuls of basic button mushrooms, (sliced of course) and browned them with a white onion in some butter.  I then added a cup of cream, and a few tablespoons of blue cheese and flavored with salt and pepper.  Meanwhile, I had the polenta on a grill pan to get nice and crispy on the bottom and voila....

It was good, but a few minutes after eating it I got the Victoria's Secret swim suit advertisements in my email (probably my ultimate thinspiration) and I started to regret my decision to be so accommodating to my husband's dairy desires.

The next day we had left over polenta, and all those fabulous oyster mushrooms from the market.  I sliced the mushrooms lengthwise, sauteed them in a bit of butter until they were nice and brown, added some carmelized onions to the mix, and topped the whole thing off with store bought pesto (I'm a fraud I know).

This polenta dish was much tastier and probably much healthier than the last.  It was my first experience with oyster mushrooms, and they went down a treat!  A bit on the chewy side of things, but that was good because sometimes my carnivorous husband likes food he can sink his teeth into.  The pesto brought it all together and finished the dish off very nicely.