Chili and Polenta: Two Days, Two Ways

DAY ONE:

Chili is one of my favorite things to make mostly because I don't think I make the same batch twice. My chili foundations, if you will, are meat, bell peppers, onions, canned tomatoes, beans, and spices. Pretty obvious. I usually will start with ground turkey because it's tender and low in fat. But I had some local grass fed ground beef leftover from our CSA. So last night I made this chili concoction...

The polenta is hiding underneath!

I used:

2 tablespoons of Canola oil
1 lb ground beef
2 red bell peppers
1 red onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 can chili style tomatoes
1 can black beans
About 1 cup of leftover pork shoulder stock, skimmed of fat
1 big glug of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
A heaping mound of the following spices in descending order:

• Adobo
• Cumin
• Hot Chili Powder
• Oregano
• Cinnamon

Get your garlic browned in the oil in a large pot. Add roughly chopped onions and peppers. Cook until softened. Scooch them out to the perimeter and brown the meat.

Add everything else. Turn the heat down, so that the chili is just bubbling. Simmer, uncovered for about 20 minutes, allowing it to thicken.

In the meantime I made a batch of polenta. I've heard a lot of smack talk about polenta, how it's hard to cook. Apart from a whisking work out, it could not be easier.

Start off with a medium sized pot. In my kitchen, there is no measuring with polenta! I use a quart of low sodium chicken broth. Bring it to a boil. When it's boiling turn the heat down to a simmer. Ground corn meal in it's jar in one hand and whisk in the other, I start to sprinkle in the corn meal. Whisk whisk whisk, until it's dissolved. I keep adding corn meal and whisking until I have to put the corn meal down and hold the pot handle in order to stir. It should be a pudding like consistency. At this point I add some salt, a glug of milk and generous helping of Parmesan cheese. Stir everything together. If you turn off the heat, the mixture will stiffen pretty quickly, so I make sure I make my polenta last, right before I'm ready to serve it up. If there is extra, like tonight, line a baking sheet with parchment and pour out the polenta. It will stiffen quickly. Let it cool and and refrigerate it for later.

Now for this dish, I poured a little polenta in the bottom of the bowl, ladled chili on top, and garnished with crumbled queso fresco and roughly chopped cilantro. When you dig in, it's kinda like a Mexican parfait. Creamy and mild polenta underneath the spicy and textured chili with the fragrant cilantro. Yum.

DAY TWO:

Here's a secret, leftover chili is the best. I guess because all the flavors have time to marinate with one another. Tonight I used leftover chili and polenta. Reheat the chili on the stove top. Start warming a griddle or pan with some oil or butter. I prefer a griddle whenever flipping is involved, gives me lots of space to work with. Take the leftover polenta out of the fridge and using a knife or pizza cutter, slice it up into squares, or pieces. Place the squares on the sizzly griddle and fry each side. The polenta will get more crumbly as it fries so be gentle when flipping. Get each side lightly browned.

Make some lime crema for extra zing. Just mix sour cream and lime juice, bazinga!

Poach the eggs. If you've never poached an egg, (like me!), I found these directions helpful. In the past I've put a fried egg on top, but a poached egg is much more sophisticated and appropriate for this meal. Plate, chili, polenta, egg. Garnish with roughly chopped cilantro and a drizzle of lime crema. Stab the yolky goodness and let it get all over the chili and polenta. Go ahead and just try not to lick the plate clean, impossible!

This would have have been better served in a bowl.