3 hours? who the hell has 3 hours to make polenta? ummm, me? you see, i’m reading "" by bill buford. he’s the guy who was senior editor at ‘new yorker magazine‘ and left his job to work in batali’s kitchen at ‘babbo‘. there is a chapter in the book about a fund raising dinner that batali and his boys did here in nashville a few years ago – and he goes on about the polenta. but not just your everyday polenta, about perfect polenta and perfecting the art of making this batali perfected polenta. and well, perfection is my life…
anyway chapter 14 is all about buford’s quest to thoroughly understand not only how to make the dish, but the history behind it. buy the book. it’s a fun ride. lamb shanks i can make. you salt them and then brown them in some olive oil. remove the shanks from the pot and add some chopped onions, carrots – and celery if you like. you let the vegetables cook for a solid 10 minutes and then i added a can of san marzano tomatoes, a bottle of red wine, the last of my dried bottarga, the last of my thanksgiving turkey broth (goodbye for now, i will miss you) and a handful of fresh thyme, salt and pepper. i think that was it. no real recipe here.
i added the shanks back and let it all do its thing for 90 minutes or so. the shanks are then removed to prevent the meat from totally falling off the bone, the sauce is cooked down and then blended till smooth. it was quite good, most definitely in the "what’s not to like" category. unless you hate lamb and then well, we can’t be friends because there is something terribly wrong with you. but the polenta… it’s just 3 ingredients. as in salt and water – and the corn. and it seems that making good polenta is kind of like a metaphor for life. time improves it and it can’t be rushed. it will become what it needs to if you just tend the pot for about 20 minutes or so by constantly whisking and adding the necessary hot water until it can absorb no more – and then just leave it alone, coming by to give it a quick stir every 15 minutes or so.
whereas risotto is needy but faster, polenta just wants to do its own thing, letting the heat almost caramalize the corn, releasing the depth of flavor. or so buford says. and batali told him. and i’m just assuming that they really know. my polenta was moretti polenta – bramata, the coarsest grind. from an italian family that’s been grinding it since 1922 in the town of… yadda yadda yadda… and really? i dunno. it was good but even after 3 hours i didn’t think it was that different than other polenta i have made. the whole "perfect polenta experience" has evaded me but i am going to try again with a different brand. like next month.
but i must say, as you can see in the picture, our dinner could have really used a couple of brussels sprouts. if only for color.
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