Natalie and I meet once a month to discuss future blog recipes and to make sure we are not cooking too many similar items (or exactly the same thing).  These little meet ups usually last about 4 hours in which we actually talk about the blog for about an hour.  We giggle and drink wine the rest of the time…  At our last meet up we both happened to be planning to cook with cornmeal.  I was planning these delectable polenta bars and Nat was planning her awesome jalapeño cheese grits.  We started to talk about the difference between grits and polenta, which are both made of cornmeal.  I had no answer for what the difference was and neither did Natalie so we decided to do a little research.    If you don’t care then please feel free to skip this part, but I promise ya’ll this is good stuff.  I mean come on.  It isn’t everyday you get to learn about cornmeal!!  Not to go all Alton Brown on you but this could change your whole way of thinking, much less cooking!!

The truth boils down to  – - pause for dramatic effect – -

Nothing!  Traditionally cornmeal is ground coarser for grits and teeny tiny for use as polenta.  Polenta has Italian origins and grits date back to the Native American’s.  Same basic process just two different sizes.  You can use instant gritz or slow cooking cornmeal and ultimately have the same results.  So when you are at the grocery store picking up the ingredients for these bars don’t get discouraged when you can’t find cornmeal.  Just buy the instant grits and follow the package directions.

Ingredients

Polenta:

4 cups veggie stock

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 cup cornmeal

1 shallot, sliced thin

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp. black pepper

4 tbls. unsalted butter

1 cup Italian blend cheese

2 fresh diced and de-seeded jalapeños

Mushroom Topping:

2 tbs olive oil

1 garlic clove, diced

1 quart white mushrooms, diced

1 large tomato, diced

3-4 tbs. Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp oregano

Polenta Bars:

In a large pot over medium heat, saute the sliced shallot, diced jalapeños, and garlic.  When the shallots are about clear, add the veggie stock, pepper, butter, and salt.  Turn your heat up to medium-high and bring to a boil.  Once the mixture comes to a boil, gradually add the cornmeal while continually whisking.  Do this very slowly so that the corn meal doesn’t clump.  Once all of the cornmeal has been incorporated, decrease the heat to low and cover.  Remove lid and whisk frequently, every 3 to 4 minutes, to prevent the polenta from sticking or forming lumps; make sure to get into corners of pot when whisking. Cook for about 20 minutes or until mixture is creamy.  *If the cornmeal is too wet the bars will not form correctly*  Add the cheese and stir to combine.  Grease a 9×13 baking dish and pour the polenta into the dish.  Spread the mixture evenly in the dish and refrigerate for at least one hour or up to one day.  Slice the polenta into bars appropriate for your grill.  Spray the grill down with a grilling non-stick spray really well.  These suckers like to stick! Grill each side of the polenta for about 8 min or until you have pretty grill marks and a nice crust.

Topping:

Dice the mushrooms and tomatoes evenly.  Pour about 2 tbs of olive oil in a skillet and heat the oil to medium.  Add the garlic to the skillet and allow the garlic to open up.  This will only take a minute.  Add the Worcester, mushrooms, tomatoes, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook the mixture for about 6-8 minutes.  You want the topping to still be a bit wet, so if you need to add a little Worcester Sauce at the end feel free.

Top each bar with the mushroom topping and enjoy!  These are perfect little appetizers with really great flavor and you can make them the night before to help save time.  Just grill and top the day of and you will have an easy appetizer.

2 Responses to “Grilled Polenta Bars”