Baked Polenta Fries with Smoked Tomato Dipping Sauce

My husband was smoking chicken thighs, to make pulled chicken for dinner and I was trying to come up with something to serve with it. I had no buns to make pulled chicken sandwhiches, no potatoes to make fries...and then it came to me...polenta fries!

Running with the idea, I cleaned out the fridge and found some shaved Parmesan, a small piece of soft goat cheese and about 3/4 cup of smoked tomato soup. The cheeses went into the polenta, and the soup was heated up and used as a dipping sauce.

Crunchy breadcrumbs on the outside and soft, creamy, cheesy polenta on the inside...Baking them also eliminated the need to deep fry, which is a healthier alternative, but it also allowed me to prepare them earlier in the day when I had the time. It then came down to popping them into the oven and heating the sauce.

The recipe also made enough for our lunch today...no complaints from either of us about that.

Start off by making a batch of polenta, spreading it into a plastic wrap lined 8" X 8" pan and allowing it to cool completely. This can be done earlier on in the day, or even the day before.

Follow the method in the link below to make the polenta. I used 1/2 cup of cornmeal : 1 1/2 cups of milk, and added in 1/3 cup of goat cheese and just under 1/4 cup of shaved Parmesan.

Basic Polenta Method

Turn the chilled polenta out onto a cutting board, unwrap it and cut it into 1" X 3" pieces.









Set up for breading the polenta: flour seasoned with salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne; an egg beaten with 1/4 cup milk, seasoned with salt and pepper; breadcrumbs.

Coat the polenta fries on all sides with the seasoned flour, and shake off the excess before moving on to the egg wash.

Place the floured polenta into the egg wash, make sure all sides are coated and allow the excess to drip off.

Lastly, place the polenta into the breadcrumbs, turning and coating all sides, gently pressing the breadcrumbs to make sure they stick.

Place the breaded polenta onto a parchment lined baking sheet, and place in the fridge to chill for
at least 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 400F.

Bake until the breadcrumbs are golden and crunchy, and the polenta is hot in the middle, about 20 minutes.

Serve immediately.







To serve the polenta fries, I stacked them on the plate, and poured the hot soup / dipping sauce into a ramekin. We had the pulled chicken, and a grape tomato and avocado salad with the fries, and it was a fun meal to eat, full of flavours and textures, and casual enough to eat while watching Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

• Polenta fries are usually breaded polenta sticks that are then deep fried. Baking them eliminates the need for all of that oil. The end result is not as crispy on the outside, but you still have a contrast of crunch and creaminess.
• Next time you are making a batch of polenta, make extra, chill it, cut it into fries and freeze them, well wrapped.
• Flavour can be added to the fries in any, or all of the steps: herbs, garlic, roasted red peppers, olives or cheeses added to the polenta itself; season the flour with cayenne pepper, garlic powder, lots of black pepper, seasoned salt; adding mustard or hot sauce to the milk; process the breadcrumbs with fresh or dried herbs, garlic, grated Parmesan or nuts.
• I used leftover smoked tomato soup as my dipping sauce. You can use any soup, hot sauce, pesto, mayonnaise based dip or salad dressing.
• Serve these as an appetizer or snack. They can be baked ahead of time and then popped into a 400F oven to reheat.

Grilled Romaine Hearts and Asparagus with Lemon Caper Dressing

This warm salad is another version of a wilted salad...grilling the lettuce chars the edges, slightly wilting the leaves, and adding a smoky flavour. Unlike a wilted salad, the centre of the romaine heart is still crisp and cool, which is a nice contrast to the warm, softer outside leaves.

Leaving the core on the romaine heart helps to hold the leaves together while grilling. I served a whole romaine heart per person, as this centre part of the lettuce is not very large. Plate the lettuce with the cut side up, so that the drizzled dressing gets in between the leaves.

My goal with this meal was to make a lemon caper dressing, using up the half zested lemon and the last teaspoon of capers, and to use it on a salad with grilled chicken and asparagus. Goal accomplished!

To make the dressing, combine the following in a medium sized bowl:

1/2 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon honey
zest of half a lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in:

1/2 cup olive o.il

As you whisk the oil into the rest of the ingredients it will start to emulsify, and you will have a chunky vinaigrette, thanks to the shallots.

Taste and adjust seasoning...pepper, lemon juice or honey. I added another 1/2 teaspoon of honey.

Whisk in:

1 teaspoon capers, drained and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Taste again, and now add salt if needed. I only added a small pinch as the capers and Parmesan added enough.




Set the dressing aside, if you will be continuing on and grilling the lettuce and asparagus right away. If the dressing was made well ahead of time, cover and refrigerate until needed.

Turn the grill on to heat. Before cooking the vegetables, lightly oil the cooking surface.

Cut the romaine hearts in half lengthwise, keeping the core in place to hold the leaves together.

Snap the asparagus spears to length.

Place both on a baking sheet, ready to grill.

Place the asparagus onto the hot grill first, as it takes slightly longer than the lettuce. When it is just about done, add the romaine.

Place the lettuce cut side down onto the hot grill, and leave until you have grill marks, and slightly charred outer edges on the leaves. This only takes a few seconds, so keep a close eye on it.

Remove the grilled romaine and asparagus from the barbecue, and serve immediately.








To serve, place 2 romaine heart halves on each plate, with the asparagus alongside. Drizzle with some of the lemon caper vinaigrette, and garnish with shaved Parmesan. Pass extra dressing at the table. I also served grilled chicken breast.

• This dressing is citrusy and tart, thanks to the lemon juice and capers. As mentioned above, I added a bit more honey to adjust it a bit more to our taste. 
• Vinegar can be used instead of, or for part of the lemon juice. Try red or white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar or white balsamic vinegar.
• The dressing can be made in a blender...the shallots will be pureed along with everything else, so the chunky texture will change. If you want to use a blender, but keep the texture, leave them out and mix them in along woth the capers, parsley and Parmesan.
• Add an egg yolk into the dressing to achieve a creamy dressing.
• To stop your mixing bowl from spinning around while whisking the oil in, place it onto a damp towel or cloth.
• Other lettuces that will hold up to grilling are radicchio and Belgian endive.
• I had leftover dressing, and used it in an orzo salad the next night, along with grape tomatoes, red pepper, cucumber, olives and feta cheese. It could also be used as a marinade.
• The outside leaves from the romaine will be turned into Caesar salad tomorrow night.

Pear and Pecan Salad with Blue Cheese Buttermilk Dressing

This was my way of using up the blue cheese buttermilk dressing I had made a few days ago. When thinking about what kind of salad I wanted to use it with the stalk of celery in the fridge and the last pear in the fruit bowl inspired this not-quite-Waldorf salad.

Waldorf salad is made with chopped apples, celery, grapes and walnuts, all dressed in a creamy mayonnaise dressing. For some reason, I have always added crumbled blue cheese to the salad, but that is not a classic Waldorf salad. It does, however, complement all of the ingredients in the salad, so I will continue doing it.

I did not have walnuts, as they are my least favourite nut, so I used pecans instead. I bought some red grapes which added colour, but green can also be used. I tossed the last couple of handfuls of mixed baby greens in the dressing and used them as a base for the salad when serving it.

The leftover dressing I was using was buttermilk, crumbled blue cheese, a spoonful of mayonnaise, salt and pepper and chopped fresh chives. Extra crumbled blue cheese added to the salad rounded out this fresh, tasty salad.

Combine:

1 pear, cored and chopped
1 stalk of celery, cut into 1/4" dice
1- 1 1/2 cups red grapes, halved

Add enough blue cheese dressing to coat the fruit and celery.

Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Add:

1/2 cup toasted, roughly chopped pecans
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese

Mix gently to combine.







To serve, toss a couple of handfuls of mixed baby greens with some of the buttermilk blue cheese dressing and portion onto the plates. Gently mound the pear and pecan salad in the centre.

• This salad is best served soon after it is made, as the pears tend to lose their colour and crispness, even if tossed with a bit of lemon juice beforehand. The nuts also lose the crunchiness that they bring to the salad.
• I peeled my pear, but you can leave the skin on for colour. Red skinned pears would be beautiful if left unpeeled. Any type of pear can be used as long as it is ripe, but still firm.
• As mentioned, Waldorf salad, which inspired this, uses apples, so switch out the pears if you want.
• Red or green grapes can be used. I cut mine in half, but they can be left whole. Raisins can also be used...they are technically grapes! They will bring a chewy element as well as some extra sweetness to the salad. Try golden raisins, dark raisins, sultanas.
• If you have walnuts, use those, however any nut can be used. Hazelnuts would go well with the flavours in the salad.
• Purchased blue cheese dressing can be used.
• I diced the celery small, as I find I prefer it that way, but you can cut larger dice, or slice the stalk for a different shape in your salad.

Double Chocolate Banana Cake

I have been trying to buy less bananas at a time, as they ripen way too fast in the heat. Somehow I still had 4 ripe bananas in the freezer...but we did not want banana bread again!

There was some buttermilk in the fridge, leftover from something else, and I did not want it to spoil, so I used that, along with the bananas for the liquid portion of this cake. I was afraid the batter was too runny, but the cake turned out perfectly, and was very moist.

I added cocoa to the batter, as well as chocolate chips, and did the same with a crumble topping. Why not? The last of the dark cocoa is now finished, but it added a rich, dark chocolate taste to this cake.

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 9" X 13" cake pan with parchment paper. Set aside while you make the cake batter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream until light and fluffy:

6 ounces soft butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

While the butter and sugar are creaming, sift together the dry ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Set aside until needed.

Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl down in between each addition:

3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add in the mashed ripe bananas:

1 1/3 cups (I pureed mine with a hand blender)

Mix to combine. Scrape the bowl down.

Add one third of the dry ingredients, and mix on low speed until just combined.

Add half of the buttermilk, and mix on low speed until combined. Scrape the bowl down.

You will need a total of:

1 1/2 cups buttermilk






Add the remaining dry ingredients, a third at a time, alternating with the remaining buttermilk.

Add:

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix until just combined. this can also be done by hand.

To make the topping combine the ingredients until you have a clumpy mixture:

2 1/2 ounces butter, melted and cooled
1 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Scrape the cake batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly.

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the cake batter.








Bake until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, about 45 - 50 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool completely before removing from the pan and cutting.

• As I mentioned, I was using dark cocoa, which added a really rich, dark chocolate taste to the cake. Any cocoa can be used; it can also be omitted, using flour instead and making a white banana cake.
• Mini chocolate chips can be exchanged for regular chocolate chips of any variety - try the salted caramel ones for something different. Shaved chocolate can also be used.
• I pureed the bananas with a hand blender, which gave me a very smooth puree. The bananas can be mashed with a fork, or grated, which will give a chunky texture, and add small pieces of banana to the cake batter.
• Sour cream or plain yoghurt can be substituted for the buttermilk; they can be thinned out with a bit of milk to achieve the same consistency or left thick. Milk can be soured with the addition of lemon juice, and used instead of buttermilk as well.
• The topping can be omitted and the cake can be eaten plain, or it can be iced with a cream cheese icing, or glazed with ganache.
• Nuts can be added to, or used instead of the chocolate chips, in the topping.
• This can be baked as 2 loaves, or turned into muffins. Adjust the cooking time accordingly.
• The cake freezes well.

Chick Pea and Feta Cakes with Tahini Yoghurt

Greek yoghurt, a half zested lemon, some chopped parsley, half a bunch of green onions and the newly purchased jar of tahini were the inspiration for this meal. I have to admit I was hesitant about making it, as my husband does not like tahini, and is hit and miss when it comes to chick peas that aren't turned into hummus!

I worried for nothing...he loved it and went back for seconds! I was making chicken shwarma and really wanted to serve it with these falafel inspired chick pea cakes, so I did. I also used the Greek yoghurt together with lemon juice and some of the tahini to make a sauce, which was a cool contrast to the spicy chicken, and a good fit with the cakes.

I rounded it out with grape tomatoes, more feta cheese and fresh basil, adding freshness, sweetness and juiciness. All in all, a success, and a perfect dinner for eating out on the deck.

To make the chick pea cakes, place the following into the bowl of a food processor:

1 can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
Zest of half a lemon
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon harissa infused olive oil

Process until the chick peas are small pieces, not a puree. you want to keep some of the texture.

Add:

4 green onions, roughly chopped

Process to combine. Remove from the food processor and place into a bowl.

Mix in:

1 egg
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Now taste and add salt and pepper if needed. My feta cheese was quite salty so I only need a small amount of salt.

Using wet hands, roll into 12 balls, and press them flat into cakes. Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate until you are ready to cook them.








While the chick pea cakes are chilling, make the tahini yoghurt, grill the chicken and chop the grape tomatoes and basil.

Mix together:

1 cup plain Greek yoghurt
2 - 3 teaspoons tahini
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Refrigerate if not using immediately.

To cook the chick pea cakes, preheat the oven to 400F.

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a non stick pan until very hot. Add the cakes and cook to brown and crisp both sides, removing to a sheet pan when done.

Place into the oven to finish cooking, about 10  minutes.




I served the chick pea cakes as a base for everything else on the plate, with chopped up chicken shwarma on top. I added the grape tomatoes, feta and basil as a topping and a dollop of the tahini yoghurt. The remaining yoghurt was passed at the table.

• These feta and chick pea cakes were inspired by falafel, which is a Middle Eastern chick pea cake, with spices such as ground cumin, coriander, parsley and chopped onions. I added in feta cheese, lemon zest to brighten the flavour and harissa infused olive oil for heat.
• The cakes can be made a day ahead. The mixture is soft, but if you work carefully with them, they are nice and moist and fluffy on the inside, and crispy on the outside.
• You can skip the step of browning the cakes in the pan and put them straight into the oven on a lightly oiled pan.
• Experiment with other types of beans...black beans, fava beans, edamame beans.
• Greek yoghurt is thicker than regular yoghurt, but if you don't have any simply place regular yoghurt into a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and place it into the fridge over night, allowing the extra liquid to drain out, and leaving you with a thicker yoghurt. This also works well when making tzatziki.
• Tahini is a sesame seed paste, similar to nut butters. It is creamy, and mild, but with it's own distinct flavour. I added 2 teaspoons to start and ended up adding another. Add as much as you want. If you do not have any, mix toasted sesame seeds to the yoghurt, or omit completely.

Pork Satay with Noodle salad and Peanut Sauce

Boneless, centre cut pork chops on a very hot day did not translate to something I really wanted to cook or eat. Cutting the chops into thin slices, using the last quarter cup of leftover dressing from the post Mango and Tamarind Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Asian Slaw as a marinade, and turning them into satay skewers was a much better option!

I made a simple noodle salad, using the remaining half bag of steam fried noodles, some vegetables and a simple dressing of kecap manis, lime juice, rice wine vinegar and oil. Last but not least, what is satay without peanut sauce?

The only things that were really used up were the dressing and noodles, but I did make good use of the bottle of kecap manis I had bought. Oh, and we have leftovers for lunch!

Cut the pork chops into slices as long and thin as you can.

I used:

3 centre cut boneless pork chops, just under 1lb.

Place the pork into a resealable plastic bag along with the marinade:

1/4 cup Asian dressing from the post

Mango and Tamarind Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Asian Slaw

Refrigerate for 4 - 6 hours. 

To make the salad combine the following in a large bowl:

4 ounces (raw weight) cooked, drained and cooled steam fried noodles

1 sweet red pepper, thinly sliced

1 medium carrot, grated

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

4 green onions, thinly sliced

To make the dressing, whisk together:

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons kecap manis

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Add the dressing to the salad and mix to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.

To make the peanut sauce, combine the ingredients in a small saucepan:

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons sriracha

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons kecap manis

Cook over a low heat, stirring frequently, until the peanut butter has melted and everything emulsifies. Remove from the heat if not using immediately, and reheat when needed, as the sauce will become thick very quickly.

While the barbecue heats, thread the pork onto skewers as shown. I put 4 thin pieces of pork on each skewer. 

 

Cook the pork skewers on a hot, oiled grill, turning often, until fully cooked.

This does not take long, as the meat is cut very thinly, so keep a close eye on it.

Serve the grilled skewers of pork on top of a portion of noodle salad, and drizzle with a bit of peanut sauce. Pass the remaining peanut sauce at the table; there is always someone who wants more!

• Try this using chicken breast or thinly sliced beef. If you have a hard time cutting very thin slices, cut the meat while it is still partially frozen. This makes it a lot easier to control the meat when cutting.
• I had previously made the Asian dressing from the post Mango and Tamarind Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Asian Slaw and had a bit leftover. You can use a purchased Asian dressing...something with garlic, ginger, sesame and maybe peanut butter.
• For the peanut sauce, I like to use crunchy peanut butter for the texture. Smooth is another option if that is all you have available.
• You can use chicken stock, for all of the liquid in the  sauce, or use it in combination with water or coconut milk. Coconut milk adds richness and a unique flavour to the sauce.
• Kecap manis is an Indonesian soy sauce, and is thicker and sweeter than other soy sauces. It has a palm sugar molasses added to it. If you don't have any, use regular soy, and adjust the sweetness to saltiness ration by taste, adding brown sugar or honey to achieve something you like.
• The dressing from the Mango and Tamarind Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Asian Slaw can be used to dress the noodles salad if you make a fresh batch and have enough. As I was using some up I made a simple dressing for my noodles.
• A salad like this is a great way to use extra cooked noodles or rice.
• Any vegetables can be used...cucumber, blanched broccoli, grean peas, edamamae beans, bean sprouts are some suggestions.
• The salad will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.
• Consider making extra meat slices and freezing them in the marinade to save time in the future.
• Toasted sesame seeds or chopped toasted peanuts would be a nice addition to the salad.