Bacon Studded Polenta with Tomato Gravy - Ciao, Yawl!

Bacon Studded Polenta with Tomato Gravy~

Some of us were born to color outside the lines, inside the lines and sometimes draw our own lines.  Combining Italian Polenta with crispy bacon bits, then smothering it with a deep Southern Tomato Gravy is one of those meals where the lines between the countries get blurred.  What comes out of this marriage of "Ciao and Chow" is good country eating, no matter what country you're talking about.

And speaking of countries, this month the Lets Lunch Bunch (my virtual lunch buddies from all over the globe) are celebrating a very special debut of a new cookbook:

Cowgirl Chef: Texas Cooking with a French accent.

Ellise (Cowgirl Chef) is a true Texan who has been living, learning, teaching, growing and loving in Paris, France for the last few years.  Her story of how she embraced her authentic and true self, talents and dreams by meeting the challenge of a brand new environment is inspiring (and the recipes are down right "must-makes.")  Ellise is one of the original foodbloggers to start our unique monthly lunch meeting online several years ago.  I was there for the very first one and we all made our own versions of a BLT sandwich.  It's a great example of one of the good things that come from our tech-driven journey.

This month's challenge was to create and share a meal that represented our own past experiences and another country, too (ala: Texas and France.)  

Picking something Italian was a no-brainer for me.  I've been obsessed with all things Italian for many years and will be fortunate enough to be packing this week to visit our good friends in Cossignano, Italy and stay at their Organic Agriturismo (Fiorano.)  Paolo and Paola are part of the Slow Food Movement and are very active in Organic wines, foods and conservation. 

Agriturismo Fiorano in Le Marche

I speak a little Italian from years of studying and soaking it up, although it seems to be with a good ol' Southern twang no matter how hard I try to pretend.

My grandmothers in North Carolina made Tomato Gravy and poured it over biscuits, toast, rice and grits.  It's a poor man's marinara sauce and it's packed with tomato bits, bacon flavor and rich roux.

Polenta is ground corn meal and considered an Italian comfort food.  Depending on the region, it's served warm and loose like soupy grits, or thick and cut into sections or even baked.  If you've seen the pre-made tubes of something they call Polenta in grocery stores, please don't judge Polenta by that gross congealed yellow tube food product (smiling, but serious.)  

Making Polenta is as easy as rice. There are just a few tips for making it successfully:

1)  When the liquid begins to simmer, rain in the Polenta grains.  This means do NOT pour it all in (that makes it clump.)  Rain it in, sprinkling it gradually and stirring while it goes.

2)  Reduce heat and stir often so not to scorch the Polenta.

3)  Keep in mind, it's easy to add a little more liquid if it's too thick, but not so easy to make it thicker if you add too much liquid too quickly.

4)  Adding butter makes it a little bit looser, cheese will make it a bit thicker.

The liquid used in Polenta, like rice, can be water or stock, milk, or something in your imaginative recipe developing "coloring book."

When I made this Bacon Studded Polenta smothered in Tomato Gravy, I also ate almost the whole plate of it.  So, be careful. :D

Check below to see the many varied and delectable recipes of country fusion cooking from other Let's Lunch pals: 

Chery's Goin Pork Curry Tacos at Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
Eleanor‘s  Wok Picadillo at Wok Star
Ellise‘s Salty Lime Sablés (Margarita Cookies) at Cowgirl Chef
Emma‘s Kimchi Bulgogi Nachos at Dreaming of Pots And Pans
Felicia‘s Mexican-Lebanese Hummus at Burnt-Out Baker
Grace‘s Taiwanese Fried Chicken at HapaMama
Jill‘s Southern Pimento-Stuffed Knishes at Eating My Words
Joe‘s Grilled KimCheese Sandwich at Joe Yonan
Karen‘s Ukrainian-German Cabbage Rolls at GeoFooding
Leigh‘s Venezuelan-Italian Cachapas Con Queso at Leigh Nannini
Linda‘s Project Runway Pelau: Rice & Beans Trinidad-Style at Spicebox Travels
Linda‘s Edible Salad Totes at Free Range Cookies
Lisa‘s Sunday Night Jewish-Chinese Brisket at Monday Morning Cooking Club
Lucy‘s Coconut Rice Pudding with Mango at A Cook And Her Books
Nancie‘s Chili-Cheese Biscuits with Avocado Butter at Nancie McDermott
Rashda‘s Mango Cobbler at Hot Curries & Cold Beer
Renee‘s Asian-Spiced Quick Pickles at My Kitchen And I
Steff‘s Chicken Fried Steak at The Kitchen Trials
Vivian‘s Funky Fusion Linguini at Vivian Pei
*********

Recipe: Bacon Studded Italian Polenta-

3-4 pieces of Bacon

1 cup Nonfat Milk

1 cup Water

2 Tbls. Butter

salt, pepper

1)  In a skillet, cook the bacon on Med. until crispy, remove and chop into small pieces. Pour off the fat/grease and save for the Tomato Gravy.  Save the bacon coated skillet for cooking the gravy in also.

2)  In a deep saucepan, bring the water, milk, salt and pepper to a low simmer, stirring so the milk doesn't curdle.

3)  Rain in the Polenta, stirring constantly until the Polenta is creamy.  

4)  Reduce the heat to low, stir often so it doesn't scorch.  Now is when to add a bit more liquid if needed. Stir in the bacon pieces now.  Cook and stir often for about 15 minutes.  The Polenta should be thick for this recipe.

5)  Stir in the butter and turn out into a buttered 8x8 baking pan. Leave to room temp or chill for later.

Press into a buttered baking dish

6)  Before serving, cut into squares and triangles and broil or fry for just a couple minutes until crisp on the outside. *It can also be used without this step.

Recipe:  Tomato Gravy

1/4 cup Bacon fat (use butter if there's not enough bacon fat)

1/4 cup Flour

2-3 Tomatoes (peeled, chopped)

2 cups Stock (veggie or chicken) warmed

salt/pepper

1) Using the same pan the bacon was cooked in, add the bacon fat/butter and the flour, salt and pepper.  Cook and whisk on Med. until light brown and a nice roux has been created.

 

2)  Add the chopped tomatoes and any reserved juice from chopping.  Lower heat to Low/Med and Whisk together.

3)  Slowly whisk in the warmed stock and continue cooking on Low for about 15-20 minutes.  If it's too thick, add a little water or more stock a little at a time.  Season to taste.

4)  Serve poured over the Polenta or biscuits, rice or scrambled eggs. Mmmmm.

Congrats to Cowgirl Chef!  Hope to see you on tour!

Balsamic Prawns on Sweet Pepper Polenta w/Fennel & Shallot Jam AKA: Paper Chef #49 Winner Announced

What would you make with Prawns, Sweet Peppers, Fennel and the theme of Passion? Several extremely creative folks answered that question and generously gave us their recipes and how-to's. I am fortunate enough to have the difficult job, this month, of choosing a Paper Chef #49 winner. I'm really sincere when I say this: There is not a clunker in the bunch. These dishes could be their own site. I hope you'll bookmark this round-up and use it over and over!

Now, even though I'm not eligible for the challenge, I still wanted to play along, so I made a dish, too. I hope it's worthy to be with these other phenoms.

Balsamic Prawns on Red Pepper Polenta w/ Spicy Fennel & Shallot Jam

I have a PASSION for all things Italian, so I challenged myself to use the Paper Chef ingredients with other classic Italian ingredients and add a modern presentation to them.

The PRAWNS/White Tiger Shrimp were simply broiled after being drizzled with Balsamic Vinegar, Fiorano Olive Oil, salt and pepper.

The RED PEPPER POLENTA:

2 1/2 cups Vegetable Stock
1 cup Corn Polenta
1/2 cup Roasted Sweet Peppers (char roast, peel/seed and chop)
1 Tbls. Butter
salt/pepper

Heat the stock and the peppers in a sauce pan til simmering. Sprinkle in the Polenta, a little at a time, stirring constantly to avoid clumping. Cook on low for about 15 minutes or until creamy. Take off the heat and stir in butter, salt and pepper to taste.

SPICY FENNEL & SHALLOT JAM
(this is not a recipe for canning jam, just for immediate or refrigerator jam)

1/2 cup of Fennel bulb (cut in thin slivers)
1/4 cup of Shallot (chopped)
1 tsp. Red Pepper flakes
2 Tbls. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

In a sauce pan combine the fennel, shallots and red pepper flakes with 1/4 cup water. Heat on low to soften the fennel and shallots (for about 10 minutes). Add the sugar and lemon juice and increase the heat to Med/High. Stir often and boil til thickened (about 215F, or about 10 minutes.) Remove from heat and hold. Refrigerate any un-used jam (good for several weeks.)

To Plate:

Place an oiled circle mold on the plate and fill half way up with Polenta. Remove circle.
On top of polenta, place a Tbls. of Fennel & Shallot jam. Press 1-2 shrimp into the center of the jam and serve.

Quote from Teen-age son: (Nothing, but he handed me an empty plate after-wards. Sometimes words are not needed.)
And here is the Fabulous Passion-Peppers-Prawns & Fennel lineup:

Bill's Brew-B-Que
Using his passion for the grill, Bill made "Mothership Wit Superbowl Skewers". The picture of the beer made me want to reach up and grab/drink it. The marinaded shrimp sound delicious! His passion for cooking is contagious and a fun name for his blog.

Prospect: The Pantry created a cozy, inviting Seafood Pot-pie with Fennel and Peppers, even though she was snowed in (which played well into her passion that included resourcefulness and making the most of all things).

I Could Even Eat a Baby Deer has a really fun spirited post and a recipe for a Prawn Burger and Pineapple Salsa that looks very flavorful. Always a nice read, here, too.

Lucullian Delights created a beautiful dish of Grappa and Fennel seed infused Prawns on a bed of Chickpea Puree. As always, her pictures are amazing too. Ilva is the gracious and talented co-host of Paper Chef and we newbies are so thankful that she continues this fun food event.

Culinary Annotations has a colorful and hunger-provoking dish of Italian inspired Prawns and a burst of Cognac is introduced. I'm drooling just typing about it. I particularly loved the information that is shared in the post, also.

Spikey Mikey's wrapped these ingredients up in a Rice Paper wrapper where the stripes of the red pepper showing through are such a fun presentation. This also sounds like a dish you would eat and feel good about what you just did for your body. Mike is also a Co-host and has been extremely patient with my many questions.

I'm sure it's no coincidence that this is such a long running challenge AND the two hosts are so passionate and generous.

Oh, it's SO hard to pick only one. Sorry for rambling, but having entered a few of these online events in my "less that a year blogging" time, I just want to applaud ALL of these entries. My final decision is just a personal feeling (which has been said to me in the casting world a lot, too) and here goes:

The Paperchef #49 winner is: Prospect: The Pantry (the use of almost every morsel of everything: shells for stock, stems for flavor and the feelings of cold and warm coming across in this tasty looking flaky pie just played my heart strings on this one.)

Great job, and I'll be visiting all these blogs over and over!