Recipe: Polenta with Blue Cheese, Grilled Fennel And Apples - Vegetarian

This was the entree we made for the recent Kavana Men Cook event. We've got a creamy polenta with lots of parmesan, topped with grilled fennel, grilled apples and blue cheese, and garnished with parsley, Maldon salt, fennel pollen, and a spectacular apple balsamic vinegar from ChefShop.com.

One small regret I had at the dinner was that the polenta had cooled a bit too much by the time we'd added all of the other ingredients and got them to the table. So I recommend you pre-warm the bowls to make sure it comes out hot and delicious.

Notice how we've got two apple flavors (grilled and balsamic) and two fennel flavors (grilled and pollen). This is a great trick for increasing the depth of flavor in a dish by using two facets of the same ingredient. The dish would still be fine without the vinegar and pollen but they definitely take it up a level.

For the blue cheese, I stopped by the Cheese Cellar near Seattle Center for a recommendation. They suggested St. Agour or Blue D'Auvergne, which are both creamy and melt well. Cambozola or Gorgonzola Dolce would be good options if you can't find the other two.

If you don't have 30 minutes to make the polenta, look for the De La Estancia brand of Argentinian cornmeal at Whole Foods or some gourmet retailers; it is so finely ground it cooks in minutes and tastes great too.

Leftover polenta can be stored in oiled cookie sheet overnight and then cut into squares and grilled or pan-fried the next day.

This recipe is vegetarian, and could be made vegan by omitting the cheeses.

Polenta With Grilled Fennel and Apples, Blue Cheese And Apple Jus
Vegetarian, not vegan
Serves 4 as an entree

• 1 1/4 c. polenta
• 5 c. water
• 5 oz. parmesan, grated
• 1 large or 2 small bulbs fennel
• 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 apple suitable for cooking (Rome, Grannysmith, Pink Lady)

For garnish:

• 4 T. Apfelbalsam Essig vinegar
• 6 oz. blue cheese (see note above)
• 2 T. minced parsley
   
• flaky salt (such as Maldon)
• fresh ground black pepper
• fennel pollen

1. Bring the water to a boil and whisk in the polenta. Reduce to a simmer and stir frequently for about 30 minutes, until quite smooth. Add more water if it gets too "tight". Stir in the parmesan cheese until melted. Taste and add salt if needed.
2. Put your serving bowls in a very low oven to warm.
3. While the polenta is cooking, discard the fennel tops, and slice the bulbs thickly in the vertical direction. Brush with olive oil and grill until thorougly tender and starting to get black spots. Allow to cool and then cut into medium dice.
4. Peel and slice the apples thickly, and grill as with the fennel, but leave in slices. You just want to get them somewhat tender.
5. When you are just about ready to serve, heat a saute pan over a high flame, add 2 T. of the olive oil, and give the the fennel a quick saute to reheat. Add a couple pinches of salt.
6. To serve, put 1 c. polenta in a warmed bowl, top with fennel and apples and blue cheese, drizzle 1 T of the apple vinegar, sprinkle on generous pinches of flaky salt and fennel pollen, and add a final grind of black pepper.

Recipe: Crostini with Spanish Green Olive Tapenade

Crostini with Spanish Green Olive Tapenade

This is the second of three crostini toppings I made for our Kavana Men Cook event. This one has straight ahead Spanish flavors with the green olives, orange zest, and smoked paprika. It goes together in just a minute in a food processor. This tapenade is on the thicker side and works better as a crostini or bruschetta topping than as a dip.

One small trick here is to soak the olives in hot water for a few minutes to remove some of the saltiness. You can do the same with black olives or capers in similar recipes.

Crostini with Spanish Green Olive Tapenade
Makes 1 c. for use as a crostini topping
Vegetarian and vegan

• 1 oz. roasted red peppers (or better, piquillo peppers) drained
• 1 c. high quality pitted green olives
• zest and juice of 1/2 orange
• 1/2 t. chili flakes
• 1/2 t. smoked paprika (like pimenton dolce)

1. Soak the olives in hot water for 5 minutes or so and then drain them.
2. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it holds together but is still somewhat coarse.
3. Taste and check seasoning.

 

Recipe: Citrus Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette

This is the salad course we did for the Kavana Men Cook event. We used a combination of arugula and mache, two very flavorful greens that have the slight bitterness to combine well with the bright citrus fruit. The blood oranges and grapefruit supremes looked great, and the sharp sherry vinaigrette brought the whole thing together. A few thin slices of red onion seal the deal.

When I use raw onions like this, I like to keep the slices in ice cold water until just before serving. The cold keeps the sulfur compounds from being as volatile, so the onion tastes sweeter. Just drain them well before plating.

Citrus Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette
Serves 4
Vegetarian and vegan

• 2 T. sherry vinegar
• 1/2 t. dijon mustard
• 6 T. olive oil
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 2 blood oranges or mandarins, cut into supremes
• 1 grapefruit, cut into supremes
• 1/2 small red onion, cut in to paper thin slices
• 4 handfuls of arugula and/or mache, trimmed, washed and thoroughly dried

1. Chill the serving plates in the refrigerator.
2. Combine the sherry vinegar and dijon mustard. Whisking continuously, add the olive oil drop-by-drop at first and then in a thin stream until it is emulsified. Add salt and pepper to taste. The dressing should be highly seasoned.
3. Prepare the citrus, onions, and greens.
4. To serve, toss the greens with the dressing and place them on a cold plate. Top with the citrus and onions, and a final sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper.