The Cooking Critic

Polenta inspires nothing in me. Basically, I think they’re glorified grits. But for whatever reason, the Polenta Fries in CHOW (a hip, new food magazine that you should check out) spoke to me. Actually, I think the cheese wine dipping sauce spoke to me, but I had to have something to dip into it, so I figured might as well make the fries too. And an excuse for a dinner party was born!

Maggie Flynn and Shahan Sanossian joined me for a little vegetarian antipasto feast. I let them be taste testers for the guacamole I’m entering in Guac Bowl ’06 (tremble in fear those competing against me). Then we ate our Polenta Fries with Fontina Fondue, and I provided two healthy dishes to prevent us from having massive coronaries: Roasted Eggplant & Peppers accompanied by Tomato Salad with Basil-Honey Vinaigrette (both from the Williams-Sonoma Complete Entertaining Cookbook.)

Also, I made an Apricot Brandy Pound Cake from the Junior League Open House cookbook. I don’t know why I keep trying to convince myself I like pound cake. It’s a homely little dessert. Nothing to it. If I’m going to add some fat to my body, I’d rather do it with something that’s creamy or rich or chocolately or something. Pound cake is too vanilla for me, which I feel is actually an insult to vanilla because it’s far more interesting than pound cake.

Adjustments: I bought pre-cooked polenta (instead of cooking up instant per the instructions,) and despite my last minute freak-out that it would be horrendous and inedible, and I wouldn’t have enough decent food to serve my guests, it turned out quite good. I cut the roll of polenta into discs, dipped them in flour, and fried away (actually, Shahan did the frying.) Really, what wouldn’t taste good like that? Also I served the pound cake with a couple strawberries and an easy Apricot Sauce (hit the link and scroll down to “Topping Ingredients.”) It helped gussy up the presentation and the taste.

Assessment: Polenta fries and fondue are really yummy, but not the easiest dinner party undertaking because you have to do two things last minute (fry polenta, make fondue). It helps to have laid-back dinner guests who don’t mind helping. (I recommend Shahan and Maggie.) Tomato Salad is really easy and flavorful, and you can’t screw it up. Roasted Eggplant isn’t a show-stopper but a respectable side all the same. It’s good too because you can make it in advance and it’s not hard–but peeling off the skins of the eggplant and peppers is kind of a pain. And I think I prefer it on toasted bread, which is how I’ve been eating the leftovers. The pound cake tastes like pound cake. And despite the fact that I’ve determined I’ll never make another pound cake as long as I live, I still find myself intrigued by this version of a Apricot Brandy Pound Cake, which I ran across after making my own. It incorporates dry whipped topping mix into the batter.

Say what you want about the Junior League, but don’t knock their recipe books. The Junior League of Murfreesboro, Tennessee fame has put together a fine book that I cook from regularly, Open House: A Culinary Tour. My latest cooking endeavor at their recommendation: Roasted Vegetables and Pasta, which suited me since I’m always looking for something new to do with eggplant. And all the vegetables (zucchini, mushrooms, carrots) made me feel healthy. I thought their marinade was ingenious, just onion soup mix, fresh thyme leaves and olive oil. It created some pretty flavorful veggies.

Adjustments: My only adjustment I wouldn’t recommend; I write it up as a warning of what not to do. To save time, I bought pre-sliced mushrooms instead of whole ones as suggested, which you’re instructed to cut in half. The sliced ones shriveled up to almost nothing during the roasting process, so don’t be lured by the ease of pre-sliced mushrooms. In the case, follow the directions.

Assessment: Pretty easy to execute, but chopping the veggies takes a while, and you have to time the various components well (toasting pine nuts, roasting vegetables, boiling pasta.) I like their suggestion to try it with chicken, though I didn’t. All in all, it wasn’t the most amazing dish I’ve ever had–I won’t dream about it or anything–but I could end up making it again. A friend who got a tupperware full of it and ate it the next day called it “delicious.”