Cornmeal is such a versatile ingredient that can be used for both sweet and savoury dishes. Whether baking, frying and boiling are all cooking techniques that can be applied to cornmeal. It is a staple in my kitchen.
Polenta is a dish of boiled cornmeal in Italian, French and Swiss cuisine. In Caribbean cuisine a dish of boiled, slow-cooked cornmeal is called Cou-cou or Fungi depending on which part of the region you are from. Of course we also boil cornmeal to make porridge/pap but that is for another time.
Over the just-concluded holidays, I decided to turn Cou-cou/Polenta into fries offering up a different starch – as a snack and as a side dish – by cooling and then cutting the cooked cornmeal in varying degrees of width and thickness. To make the fries extra special I added herbs that I cooked down until soft and fragrant as well as grated sharp cheddar cheese before baking them. The other thing about these ‘fries’ is that they are not fried at all; they are baked!
On each occasion that I made these Polenta Fries, I had to make 2 batches because they were gone in no time. Here’s how to make them.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
- 2 – 13 x 18 baking sheet, (1
brushed with oil and 1 lined with
parchment paper)
- Cooling/wire rack
- Microwave-safe bowl
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ½ cup finely minced onions
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh celery
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh
parsley
- Minced hot pepper to taste
- Butter, room temperature (salted
or unsalted)
- 1 cup fine cornmeal
- ½ teaspoon fine table salt
- 3 cups water
- 3 cups grated sharp cheddar
cheese
DIRECTIONS
- Add oil to a pan and place over medium until hot.
- Add the onions, garlic, herbs and pepper, along with a pinch of salt, stir to mix and reduce heat to low. Cook until the mixture is softened and fragrant, this will take about 10 – 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Generously butter the microwave-save dish.
- Mix together the cornmeal, salt and water and pour into the buttered dish. Transfer the dish to a microwave and cook for 6 minutes.
- Carefully remove the dish from the microwave, stir in the cooked herbs and cheese until smooth, and ensure there are no lumps. Add back the bowl to the microwave and cook for 4 minutes. Again, carefully remove the dish from the microwave and pour the cooked cornmeal onto the oiled pan. Smooth out the mixture to cover about 2-thirds of the pan. Place on a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Cut the cooled cooked polenta into the shape and size of fries and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet. Cook for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Serve at room temperature.
NOTE
- You can cook the cornmeal in the morning and bake it later in the day. If you make it the day ahead, bring the pan up to room temperature before cutting and baking.
