Goats Cheese Polenta With Mushrooms Food

GOAT'S CHEESE POLENTA WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Place water and wine in a pan and bring to the boil.
• Add the salt and butter and once the butter is melted add the polenta in a steady stream. Whisk until cooked (for most brands, 2 minutes).
• Remove from the heat and stir in the goats cheese.
• In a fry pan heat 1 tbsp of the oil and fry the mushrooms for 2 minutes, remove and set aside.
• Split the spinach into 2 batches and fry in 1 tbsp oil for each batch. Fry until just wilted.
• Serve the polenta topped with the spinach and mushrooms and sprinkled with the cheddar.

BAKED POLENTA WITH SPINACH & GOAT'S CHEESE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and boil the kettle. In a bowl, mix the garlic and tomatoes with seasoning, then pour into a large baking dish. Place the spinach in a large colander and pour boiling water over until wilted. Rinse in cold water and squeeze out all the excess water you can with your hands. Roughly chop, season, and scatter on top of the tomatoes.
• Slice the polenta, then overlap on top of the spinach. Drizzle with the oil and bake in the oven for 10-15 mins. Scatter over the cheese and return to the oven for 5 mins more, or until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

POLENTA, GOAT CHEESE, AND MUSHROOM TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough into a 15-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and fit it into a 9-inch quiche dish. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch and fold toward center, pressing against side of dish. Chill shell until ready to use.
• In a skillet cook mushrooms with salt to taste in 2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat until golden and any liquid is evaporated. Spread mushrooms in shell and bake in middle of oven 20 minutes.
• While tart is baking, with back of a spoon force polenta through a coarse sieve into a bowl to break up lumps. Stir in sour cream and remaining 6 tablespoons butter until combined well. Force goat cheese through small teardrop-shaped holes of a grater and stir into polenta mixture with eggs and salt.
• Spread polenta mixture over mushrooms and sprinkle with thyme. Bake tart 35 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Cool tart on a rack until just warm.
• To make butter pastry dough:
• In a large bowl whisk together flour and salt and with a pastry blender or your fingertips blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork to incorporate, until mixture begins to form a dough. On a floured work surface smear dough in 3 or 4 forward motions with heel of hand to slightly develop gluten in flour and make dough easier to work with. Form dough into a ball and flatten to form a disk. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in 1 hour. Dough may be made 1 week ahead and chilled. Makes enough dough for a single-crust 9-inch tart.
• To make basic polenta:
• In a heavy saucepan bring water and salt to a boil and gradually whisk in cornmeal in a thin stream. Cook polenta over moderately low heat (it should be barely boiling), stirring constantly, until very thick and pulls away from side of pan, about 40 minutes for cornmeal and about 15 minutes for instant polenta. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm. Stir polenta just before using. Polenta will keep warm, covered, about 20 minutes. Makes about 3 cups.
• Note: In the traditional method of cooking polenta, forty minutes of constant stirring is required to achieve a lumpless texture and fragrant flavor. However, Italian-food expert Marcella Hazan has developed a method that involves very little stirring during this time. We believe it produces a very good polenta, one nearly as flavorful and smooth as the traditional procedure. To make satisfactory polenta in a real hurry, an imported instant polenta (precooked cornmeal) is available. This cooks in a mere fifteen minutes.