December 8, 2014 Brussels sprouts casserole and Creamy Polenta and Rib eye steak

December 8, 2014  Brussels sprouts casserole and Creamy Polenta and Rib eye steak

I wanted to make a dish utilizing the newly purchased raw milk tallegio (Whole Foods, $19.99/lb.)

I checked the internet and found that it can be used in polenta and so I found a creamy polenta recipe using chicken stock and heavy cream that I liked.  Here is a similar one by 2010, Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?,

Creamy Polenta

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter

Directions

Place the chicken stock in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and cook over medium-high heat until the stock comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and very slowly whisk in the cornmeal, whisking constantly to make sure there are no lumps. Switch to a wooden spoon, add the salt and pepper, and simmer, stirring almost constantly, for 10 minutes, until thick. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan thoroughly while you're stirring. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, creme fraiche, and butter. Taste for seasonings and serve hot with extra Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.

We omitted the garlic because we were using Suzette’s preserved roasted garlic in olive oil to sauté the steak and used heavy cream instead of crème fraiche and used about ½ cup of tallegio instead of the 1 cup of parmesan.

I was meeting with a person at 5:00 and could not help Suzette, so Suzette cut up carrots and halved the Brussels sprouts and oiled a ceramic baking dish with olive oil and roasted the casserole in a 350˚ oven for 45 minutes.

When I finally arrived in the kitchen around 6:00 we started on the polenta.  Suzette decided to use the PPI clam stock and added water to it to make the 4 cups of liquid.  We added the 1 cup of polenta and started stirring.  I took about 20 minutes before the polenta lost its hard crunchy texture and seemed to become creamy.  Then we added the tallegio and Suzette added the heavy cream and butter.  The polenta lost its stiffness and became creamy, almost runny.  We then sliced the approximately ½ lb. of PPI rib eye steak into ¼ inch thin slices and sautéed it briefly in the heated skillet with 2 Tbsp. of Suzette’s roasted garlic and olive oil (that she keeps in a bottle in the fridge).

I went to the basement and fetched a bottle of Wellington 2008 Zinfandel.  We opened it and let it sit while we made the polenta.  When we tasted it, it was luscious, full bodied and yet soft, none of that harsh zinfandel peppery harshness, just a big fruity wine and a perfect complement to the creamy polenta and roasted vegetables.

We plated up and had one of the best meals in a long time, mainly because we had a meal in which both the wine and the food components were in balance and of highest quality, unlike the steak dinner last Friday night that was ruined by an inferior wine, even though we ate the same delicious heavy beef.

Bon  Appétit