italian comfort food
for the last couple of saturdays, i've had the chance to watch some tv while i ate my breakfast in the morning. it was a routine of sorts when i was young to eat my breakfast while i watched the cooking shows shown on PBS every saturday morning/afternoon. i hadn't done this in quite a while. since i wake up pretty late on weekends, i've been only able to catch one show before programming changes to something other than cooking. that show is lydia's italy. lydia bastinianich is a true italian chef. she had a show before this one, when she first came on tv, the difference with this new one is that each show focuses around a certain area of italy and that area's food and culture. (FYI - mario batali's show molto mario uses this same format) she reminds me a little bit of mario batali, in that she KNOWS what traditional italian food is like. AND since she really IS from italy, she can be trusted to show you the real deal. her demeanor and attitude reminds me of an italian grandmother. she's not super skinny and she's not super gorgeous, but she's down-to-earth, friendly, and really wants to share her culture and food with you. i love that you can SEE she loves food, which is why there are certain tv chefs out there that i love - those that really know how to enjoy cooking and enjoy eating.
the first episode i caught was all about polenta. polenta is cornmeal that has been cooked in boiling water. it's southern cousin, grits, is basically the same, except usually made with boiled milk, for a creamier texture and flavor. also, grits tend to accompany breakfast, whereas polenta is used for breakfast, lunch, dinner, basically at any meal. it can be made savory or sweet, although its main application is usually to accompany savory dishes. polenta can also come in various thicknesses. my prefer the "runny" polenta, which is almost like thick cream of wheat (which i also happen to love). polenta can also be baked: my mom does a baked polenta with gorgonzola cheese (you make the same runny polenta, then place in a baking dish, pour half on the bottom, layer your cheese, then cover with the rest of the polenta). there is also the over-popularized grilled polenta. cook the polenta, then spread into a dish, cool, then cut into triangles (or any other shape) then brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then grill (you also can pan-fry using this same stepped process). anyway, the first recipe she made on the show was italian sausage with beans and polenta. it looked great. it was so hearty and warm and i really wanted to make it. at the end of the show, they said you can find her recipes on her website. well, it lied. i tried looking for that recipe and i tried looking for the episode; i found the episode but not the recipe. unless i spent the $40 on the cookbook, i wasn't going to get it. so, instead, i decided to wing it. however, when it came down to actually COOKING the dish, i decided to go in a different direction.
every year the italian catholic federation holds their annual italian festival in san jose. there was a time when my family would go every single summer. they'd have music and games and tons and tons and TONS of food. it's kinda like the gilroy garlic festival, it's all about the food. any and every italian food service company would have their own station. there'd be pasta booths, sausage booths, wine booths, bread booths (garlic, of course), etc. my one and all-time favorite was the booth that provided fresh runny polenta covered with meat sauce and grated parmesan cheese. no matter how hungry i was, i could always eat my entire plate, and they served BIG portions. i just loved the simple flavors. it was the kind of meal that just screamed comfort food.
so, instead of trying to wing the beans and sausage recipe, i simply grabbed some tomato sauce out of the freezer, along with the italian sausages (fresh from baldalamente sausage in san jose), and set out to make the ultimate in italian comfort food. the sauce was already cooked and just needed to be heated up, so into the microwave it went. i used the recipe i found on lydia's website for basic polenta and cooked that (ended up being WAY too thick for my tastes, so i kept having to add hot water to the mixture to loosen it up, but the addition of the bay leaf added some GREAT flavor). the sausages were boiled for about 10 minutes, to almost fully cook the insides (fresh italian sausage is raw pork, instead of the smoke sausage, like kilbasa). i learned this tip from my friend's food blog: hunt the recipe (she's got some GREAT recipes on there). after they were done boiling, i put them in a fry pan with a little olive oil to brown the outsides. the plating was simple: pile of polenta, sausage in the middle and lots of sauce on top. i dug into this and all my troubles just melted away. visions of my childhood sitting at a picnic table in the middle of summer eating plate-fulls of polenta flooded back and i was simply at peace. it was the epitome of comfort food.
a question the other night in guild chat on WoW popped up (from a rather annoying member of our guild, unfortunately): if you could eat only one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? i think i can say with all honesty that THIS is what i would choose.
the first episode i caught was all about polenta. polenta is cornmeal that has been cooked in boiling water. it's southern cousin, grits, is basically the same, except usually made with boiled milk, for a creamier texture and flavor. also, grits tend to accompany breakfast, whereas polenta is used for breakfast, lunch, dinner, basically at any meal. it can be made savory or sweet, although its main application is usually to accompany savory dishes. polenta can also come in various thicknesses. my prefer the "runny" polenta, which is almost like thick cream of wheat (which i also happen to love). polenta can also be baked: my mom does a baked polenta with gorgonzola cheese (you make the same runny polenta, then place in a baking dish, pour half on the bottom, layer your cheese, then cover with the rest of the polenta). there is also the over-popularized grilled polenta. cook the polenta, then spread into a dish, cool, then cut into triangles (or any other shape) then brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then grill (you also can pan-fry using this same stepped process). anyway, the first recipe she made on the show was italian sausage with beans and polenta. it looked great. it was so hearty and warm and i really wanted to make it. at the end of the show, they said you can find her recipes on her website. well, it lied. i tried looking for that recipe and i tried looking for the episode; i found the episode but not the recipe. unless i spent the $40 on the cookbook, i wasn't going to get it. so, instead, i decided to wing it. however, when it came down to actually COOKING the dish, i decided to go in a different direction.
every year the italian catholic federation holds their annual italian festival in san jose. there was a time when my family would go every single summer. they'd have music and games and tons and tons and TONS of food. it's kinda like the gilroy garlic festival, it's all about the food. any and every italian food service company would have their own station. there'd be pasta booths, sausage booths, wine booths, bread booths (garlic, of course), etc. my one and all-time favorite was the booth that provided fresh runny polenta covered with meat sauce and grated parmesan cheese. no matter how hungry i was, i could always eat my entire plate, and they served BIG portions. i just loved the simple flavors. it was the kind of meal that just screamed comfort food.
so, instead of trying to wing the beans and sausage recipe, i simply grabbed some tomato sauce out of the freezer, along with the italian sausages (fresh from baldalamente sausage in san jose), and set out to make the ultimate in italian comfort food. the sauce was already cooked and just needed to be heated up, so into the microwave it went. i used the recipe i found on lydia's website for basic polenta and cooked that (ended up being WAY too thick for my tastes, so i kept having to add hot water to the mixture to loosen it up, but the addition of the bay leaf added some GREAT flavor). the sausages were boiled for about 10 minutes, to almost fully cook the insides (fresh italian sausage is raw pork, instead of the smoke sausage, like kilbasa). i learned this tip from my friend's food blog: hunt the recipe (she's got some GREAT recipes on there). after they were done boiling, i put them in a fry pan with a little olive oil to brown the outsides. the plating was simple: pile of polenta, sausage in the middle and lots of sauce on top. i dug into this and all my troubles just melted away. visions of my childhood sitting at a picnic table in the middle of summer eating plate-fulls of polenta flooded back and i was simply at peace. it was the epitome of comfort food.
a question the other night in guild chat on WoW popped up (from a rather annoying member of our guild, unfortunately): if you could eat only one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? i think i can say with all honesty that THIS is what i would choose.