Passionate about Polenta

I discovered polenta a while ago at a steak house while celebrating my birthday. I was perplexed by the glorious goodness that was being served under my steak. Was is mashed potatoes? Was it grits? Honestly, it kind of scared me. I didn't understand how you could take cornmeal and turn it into this amazing dish. I tried it once with a bad recipe and it, well, turned out bad. Finally, this summer I tried it again using Alton Brown's recipe. It. Was. Delici. Ous. Now, we have it weekly. Alton's recipe calls for parmesean cheese which is divine, but we were out of parmesean and were having steaks, so I tried blue cheese. It was perfect with the steaks....we licked the bowl clean!

Savory Blue Cheese Polenta, adapted from Alton Brown's recipe


2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for grilling or sauteing if desired
3/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 quart chicken stock or broth
1 cup coarse ground cornmeal
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces blue cheese crumbles (or parmesean or any other cheese I guess!)
 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large, oven-safe saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat. (I don't have a large enough oven safe saucepan, so I start it in a saucepan and then transfer to a glass baking dish for the oven). Add the red onion and salt and sweat until the onions begin to turn translucent, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add the garlic, and saute for 1 to 2 minutes, making sure the garlic does not burn.

Turn the heat up to high, add the chicken stock, bring to a boil. Gradually add the cornmeal while continually whisking. Once you have added all of the cornmeal, cover the pot and place it in the oven. Cook for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to prevent lumps. (I haven't been able to master making it without lumps, but am working on it!) Once the mixture is creamy, remove from the oven and add the butter, salt, and pepper. Once they are incorporated, gradually add the blue cheese.