Fried Polenta Cakes Recipes

FRIED POLENTA CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9x9 baking pan with cooking spray.
• In a medium sized bowl, whisk together cornmeal, baking powder, thyme, oregano, sugar, pepper, and salt. Then, stir in chicken broth until well combined.
• Pour mixture into prepared baking pan (mixture is very liquid, but it does firm up in the oven). Bake until top is golden brown, 33-34 minutes.
• Let cool for 30 minutes in pan, then turn pan over on cutting board. Transfer cake/cutting board to refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• After cake has cooled, cut into 9, 3-inch squares.
• Heat ~1 tablespoon of corn oil into pan over medium-high heat. Add as many cakes as you can fit into pan without the cakes touching. Let cook until side down is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Flip and repeat for other side.
• Remove cakes from pan and repeat with remaining cakes, adding oil as needed in pan.

FRIED POLENTA

Steps:

• Lightly oil an 11 by 7-inch baking dish. Transfer the hot polenta to the prepared baking dish, spreading evenly to 3/4-inch thick. Refrigerate until cold and firm, about 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• Cut the polenta into 2 by 1-inch pieces. Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, fry the polenta pieces until golden brown on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer the polenta pieces to paper towels and drain. Place the polenta pieces on a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining batches.
• Transfer the polenta pieces to a serving platter. Sprinkle the polenta with the Parmesan cheese and salt. Serve, passing the marinara sauce alongside.
• Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a heavy large saucepan. Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the butter, and stir until melted.

HARD POLENTA CAKES

Steps:

• In a saucepan combine the milk, water, bay and cayenne. Bring the mixture to a boil over low heat and season generously with salt. Take the seasoning to the edge of too salty. To do this you MUST taste as you go. Polenta acts as a salt eraser, if you don't season abundantly here you will never recover from it.
• Once the liquid is at a boil and is seasoned appropriately, sprinkle in the polenta whisking constantly. Once the polenta is combined switch over to a wooden spoon and stir frequently until the polenta has become thick. Taste the polenta to see if it has cooked through. If it still feels mealy and grainy, add some more milk or water and cook it to a thick consistency. Repeat this process, as needed, until the polenta feels smooth on your tongue, about 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and stir in the chopped sage and mascarpone.
• Line a 7 by 7-inch square pan with plastic wrap. Pour the polenta into the prepared pan. Cover the top with more plastic smoothed onto the surface of the polenta. Chill in the refrigerator until needed. (All of this can totally be done ahead of time, like yesterday! Cool!)
• When ready to use, remove the polenta from the pan and cut into desired shapes. Coat a nonstick saute pan with olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot and starting to smoke just a little, add the polenta shapes. Cook the polenta on both sides and finish by sprinkling with a little bit grated Parmigiano. Transfer to a serving platter and serve while hot.
• What a corncake!!!!

Steps:

• Fill a large cauldron with salted water and bring to boil.
• Once it is boiling add the polenta gradually stirring with a wooden spoon, making sure there are no lumps.
• Stir continuously for 50 minutes to 1 hour until the polenta detaches from the edges of the pot. If you lift the spoon it will stay attached.
• Pour the polenta over a large wooden base or over a large oven tin covered with greased foil. You can brush it with some olive oil.
• Spread flat and uniformly with a spoon.
• Wait for the polenta to cool down completely, about 1 hour.
• Cut the polenta into rectangular sticks (3'X1.5' - 8cm X 4cm)
• In a pan warm up olive oil and butter
• Place the polenta cakes and fry
• Turn onto the other side once the polenta gets a brown color
• Place on a serving plate
• Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese while still warm and serve immediately

FRIED POLENTA CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a 1 to 1 1/2 quart oven-safe container, stir together water, salt, pepper, and polenta
• Add butter to the mixture, cut up in chunks.
• Place container, uncovered, in center rack of oven and bake 40 minutes.
• Open oven, pull out rack, add parmesan, and any other ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes, olives, lemon zest, herbs, shallots, cilantro etc. and let bake another 10 minutes.
• Pull out of oven and let rest in refrigerator 20 minutes to over-night.
• In frying pan, on medium-high, heat oil.
• Spoon about half a cup of polenta into the pan at a time, fry until golden brown on each side.
• Let cakes rest about 3-5 minutes and serve.