December 28, 2014 PPI Dinner of Black and Green molés, string beans, black beans and a pumpkin and masa casserole

We had invited Melissa to dinner and we decided to heat up our Christmas Eve dishes.  I wanted to see if masa cooked the same as polenta, so I decided to make a polenta style casserole with PPI masa.

I added about a cup of chicken stock infused with the red chili to 1 1/2 cups of  masa and stirred it into solution.  Then I added 2 cups of pumpkin flavored with parsley and mint and then 1/2 cup of half and half and then 8 oz. of Comte and Manchego cheese.   Each ingredient made the emulsion thinner so we decided to put it into a casserole and baked it for about ½ hour at 375˚.

Melissa arrived at 6:00 with a bottle of 2013 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio Valdadige, which we opened immediately.  The pinot grigio was exquisitely smooth.   I loved it.  We sat in the living room and ate olives and spicy pecans and talked and sipped wine. 

The masa/polenta was still runny after baking for 30 minutes, although it had a slightly toughened crust.

We put a puddle of polenta into pasta bowls and then rice and then mole and beans and drank pinot grigio with dinner around our talbe in the TV room.  When the pinot grigio was finished, we opened a bottle of 2010 Leese-Fitch Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma County, California and drank it during and after dinner as we sat in the living room and talked.

I found that the clean tasting white wines went well with the mellow flavors of the Oaxacan food.

After one bowl each, we were stuffed on mole and did not want a dessert,  We only ate a few more pecans for dessert as we talked.

At 9:00 we said goodnight to Melissa and went to bed.

Bon Appétit