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| Just 5 ingredients plus seasonings |
These are terms not usually associated
with food. But when applied to the
preparation of a dish, the result can indeed become extraordinary. While I am down with going on search and
seizure missions to find authentic file, (FEE-lay), powder when preparing my
friend Jeremiah’s gumbo or driving to where there’s water to buy the freshest
Opah, (Moonfish), for poaching, or putting out more than a few dollars to
purchase an electric raclette to cook up the traditional Swedish appetizer of
the same name, it is those dishes with
five ingredients or less that seem to appease the most ferocious of appetites,
the most sophisticated of palates and the most picky of eaters.
After a tough week of work, family matters
and fiscal responsibilities, the usual stress factors we all encounter during
the course of any given week, I yearn for uncomplicated food. For me Monday and Tuesday nights may be a
light meal I’ve prepared for myself in an earnest attempt to “nail it” as my
“Fitbit” encourages. By Wednesday or
Thursday I’ve resorted to my old stand-by of “Slam Eating.” A technique I honed while raising four
children. This minimalistic style of
meal preparation and consumption entails grabbing whatever is mold-less and
free of funny smells from the refrigerator then standing over the kitchen sink,
rapidly and without fanfare or etiquette, biting into and inhaling my
dinner. This tactic is also used when I
have to hurry home and get right back out the door to attend a meeting, class
or practice. Yes, memories of baseball
games, recitals, and back-to-school nights dance in my head as I shove a
variety of food items ranging from Boursin cheese smeared on crackers to pesto
aioli scooped into the two halves of a large avocado to left-over barbecued
chicken rolled into a flour tortilla . . . cold. But I am not a complete animal. To the right of my sink in a real glass, is a complex Pinot Noir,
perhaps an Argentinean Malbec or when eating tuna from the can with a bit of
garlic vinaigrette stirred in, a nice Sauvignon Blanc from northern
California. By Friday, I’m on the couch
with a bowl of cereal. No wine. While those meals are definitely simple they’re
hardly satisfying. But the weekend is here I am refreshed and enthusiastic
about preparing something wonderfully unpretentious for myself and my
friends.
I’ve prepared polenta. This adaptable and yielding cornmeal mixture,
(yellow or white), consoles and soothes the harried spirit. Without fail, I find myself embraced in
appreciation of the elegance this Italian staple expresses as it unfolds across
the platter when poured from the saucepot in full, round waves of
yellow-gold. Like a buxom woman who is
both beautiful and confident, polenta can arrive at your table as breakfast
fare, a side dish or the foundation upon which a rich Bolognese, steak au poivre
medallions or stuffed and seasoned pork chops are to be displayed and
embellished. Polenta is a combination of
only a few basic ingredients coming together and offering the best of simple
abundance.
My polenta arrived at the party as a side
dish. A swirling mixture of yellow and
white cornmeal loving whisked with chicken broth and seasonings. I am diligent
in my attendance to the saucepot, stirring with my wooden spoon adding more
liquid as the mixture thickens, careful to not allow clumping or excessive
sticking. At the end of cooking I add
grated Parmesan cheese and on occasion, a splash of half and half. Thick and creamy, our amalgamation is
festooned with roasted red bell peppers and poached eggs. Polenta truly is the manifestation of less
being more than enough.
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