When I discovered Corzetti I began a search for a stamp and found Artisanal Pasta Tools. As I was browsing through all of the beautiful tools, my curiosity was piqued by the polenta boards. I’d never heard of a Polenta Board but once I saw Terry’s beautiful creations, I knew I had to have one.
I was quite excited when mine arrived but something wasn’t right. My long rectangular board couldn’t be in that square box, could it? There had been a mix-up and I’d been sent a round one. It’s just as beautiful but it doesn’t fit as well on my narrow dining room table. I contacted Terry, who went above and beyond to make it right. He VERY generously told me to keep the round one AND he sent my rectangular board.
So what is a polenta board and what do you do with it? It’s simply a beautiful tray crafted from wood. Polenta is spread on the board, topped with whatever you like, sliced and served. I did braised beef here, but I’ve got plans for tomato sauces, creamy sauces, sausage, vegetables and more. And, because polenta and grits are just about the same thing, how about grits and shrimp? It’s a gorgeous piece of craftsmanship, one that will have many uses besides polenta.
But what to do with the extra board? It’s going to one of YOU! How do you win? Just leave a comment and tell me how you’ll put it to use. A few rules:
- The winner will be chosen at random on March 6, 2011.
- The giveaway is open to US residents.
- The winner must respond within 7 days after being contacted or a new winner will be selected.
- No duplicate comments! But you can get an extra entry by tweeting about this giveaway and leaving a comment with the tweet’s URL.
This can be YOURS!
Now here’s what I did with mine:
- Stew Beef, a couple of pounds
- Diced Tomatoes, on large can
- Tomato Paste, a tablespoon or two
- Red Wine, one cup
- Beef Stock or Bouillon, two cups
- Onions, 2
- Garlic, 6 or 7 cloves
- Carrots, 6
- Red Bell Pepper
- Italian Parsley
- Rosemary
- Salt/Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Corn Meal, 2 cups
- Butter, 2 tablespoons
- Parmesan, one cup freshly grated
Mince the herbs and garlic. Slice the carrots, onion and pepper.
Heat just a little olive oil over medium-high heat. Season the meat with salt and pepper and cook it until it gets nice and brown. I used my roaster pan set over two burners but a big oven-proof saute pan would work.
Remove the meat from the pan and add the onions, garlic, tomato paste and herbs.
Cook over medium heat, stirring every now and then, until the onions start to get soft and brown.
Pour in the wine and let it simmer until it’s reduced a bit. Be sure to scrape up all the brown goodness from the bottom of the pan.
Add the beef stock, peppers and carrots.
Put the whole thing in the oven at 300 and just let it cook for 2 or 3 hours, basting occasionally.
When the meat is about done, it’s time to make polenta. Bring 7 cups of lightly-salted water to a full boil. Whisk in the corn meal and reduce the heat to medium. Continue whisking out all the lumps then let it cook over low heat until it’s nice and thick and creamy. It’s just like making Cream of Wheat or oatmeal or grits.
Stir in the butter and cheese.
Pour the polenta onto the board. You can see that I didn’t quite get all the lumps out.
Let it sit for a few minutes, until the polenta firms up.
Ladle the stew over the top and serve it up. Only after I poured it all on did I realize it was going to overflow. Next time I’ll pull the meat and veggies out and pass the gravy separately.
Enjoy!
{ 76 comments }
I think I’d do the EXACT same thing you did, my mouth is drooling, yum!
I would totally try the braised beef and polenta! But mostly I love the way food served family style makes our meals feel intimate and cozy. Our little family world. And what a beautiful way to encourage that family bonding over a delicious meal!
This board is absolutely gorgeous! Honestly, I’d never heard of a polenta board before, but I can see how great this would be piled up with fried catfish and cheese grits
Or grits with country ham and red-eye gravy. Yum!
I tweeted about this absolutely gorgeous polenta board and if I knew how to get the URL of that tweet I’d do it
Love it! I grew up in Maryland, and am no stranger to polenta, but I’ve never seen a polenta board. I was totally intrigued when you posted about it several months ago.
If I won, I’d make a breakfast-for-dinner polenta! Think: no bake, free form/deconstructed fritata… hold the potatoes. Polenta topped with mushrooms, spinach, onions, cheese (a nice smokey gouda, or fontina), scrambled eggs, and them topped with crispy bacon and scallions. Mmmmm my mouth is watering just thinking about it!
I would definitely use it for shrimp and grits…one of my favs, but I have to say your braised beef looks YUMMY. BTW, the board looks beautiful.
Wow, I’ve never heard of those before, but I love polenta and make it all the time. Thanks for sharing these!
Mmmm, looks amazing! I would love to make the braised beef here but also would like to do shrimp and grits, and maybe some other ideas…like maybe do some tomato-based creamy sauces to put on top with chicken or spinach.
I have some great memories of eating polenta with Nicholas, the 2 year old boy I nannied for several years while working on my undergrad and masters degrees in D.C. His parents had him eat whatever they were eating and it was always so much fun to eat really delicious food with a completely non-picky toddler!
Now that I’m looking at getting married, I’m looking forward to starting my own family and I would love to have a polenta board to show my own children how wonderful cooking and eating delicious food can be!
I retweeted your post about it too! http://twitter.com/#!/mjrofl
I’ve never made polenta before, so I think I’d keep it to polenta on its own as I experiment with pairings.
Can’t believe that I’ve never heard of a polenta board either and was most definitely intrigued by your post. I would serve wood grilled sea bass and steamed asparagus with a balsamic reduction over the polenta on the polenta board and would pair it with a nice bottle of Cabernet.
What a great board! I think this would be a great board to serve polenta for brunch! With a great poached egg on top! I’m already drooling thinking about all the options!
I have to be honest. I’ve never had polenta before. Shame on me, I know… but (if I won) what a PERFECT way to try something new! Plus, I PROMISE to share the results with you.
polenta cakes made w/ boursin cheese, roast pork tenderloin and oven roasted vegetables
I haven’t tried polenta either! I would certainly make your recipe above above because it looks delicious. Great presentation.
Mmmm, this looks delicious, and I love the board. I’m a sucker for braised short ribs, and would dress those puppies up with some blue or gorgonzola cheese. Is it dinner time yet??
Polenta topped with fresh shrimp, clams (in the shell), fresh scallops, bacon, onions, garlic, and roasted red peppers….(:*)
Yum! I’d make creamy corn polenta and top it with a nice chunky white fish, like halibut.
Probably make another batch of Anne Burrell’s braised chicken thighs and serve them over polenta like I did last week. Yum!
Oh! I have NEVER heard of a polenta board, and we eat enough polenta to keep a small country afloat! If I were lucky enough to win the board, I would be torn between 2 dishes…layering on the pan seared chicken parts that I finished in oven, roast asparagus, and pan gravy, or slices of cooked ham, very thin provalone, and spinach sauteed with garlic and red pepper flakes.
that looks delish! i absolutely love polenta.. and would use the board to serve my all time favorite- mustard marinated flank steak over the polenta… heaven!
If I won, I would give the board to my little brother. I’m currently away at college, and he has a fascination with cooking lately. He likes to try new things, and this is right up his alley!
I grew up with polenta served on many occasion but I have never seen anything like this. I think it is absolutely fantastic!
I have wanted a polenta board FOR YEARS!!! i want to have a polenta party like one i’d seen on a Michael Chiarello show years ago – PLEASE pick me!!!
Karen,
I would invite my Dad over to eat polenta just the way he did as a child growing up in a big Italian family. Polenta would be served with tomato sauce, and we’d create tunnels as we ate our way through it. Just like he and his siblings did as children. Dad would then regale us with funny stories about this family of 15 children gathering around the table to share a plain and simple meal. As my Dad likes to say, “just eating polenta before it became gourmet food.”
What a beautiful board! I’ve never seen or heard of a polenta board. :::hanging head:::I’ve never made polenta. I’d use it to teach my family about a new and wonderful food after I just sat and admired the board itself! Love your blog!
Chicken cacciatore and polenta…yummy! I just started making polenta and I’m in love with it’s versatility!
I would follow your recipe. that last pic is sublime.
I’ve never heard of a polenta board! What a fascinating device.
Let’s see… polenta with shredded citrus pork tenderloin.
polenta with roasted vegetables!
my mom’s been dying to try shrimp and grits, so that’s a given!
I wonder how this would work for presenting risotto…
I would use this board to try out this recipe!
There are so many uses for this. I would probably almost always serve my grains on it.
I’m picturing a plump round of polenta topped with fried green tomatoes, fried eggs, finished with a generous sprinkle of Parmesan, basil, and black pepper. That’s my favorite way to eat polenta.
@Alex…breakfast-for-dinner polenta sounds delicious!!!
This looks so delicious, I’d do exactly the same thing with it that you did! Thank you for the chance!
This looks so cool! I would make a shrimp and grits with bacon, mushrooms, green onions, and maybe some poached eggs.
Have been a fan for sometime. Love your dedication to food and allowing us to peek in and savor your dishes without even a hint of aroma. This dish rocks and so do you guys.
Ohhhh, lovely! (the board and the stew!) Thanks for the chance!!
I would have to try some braised winter vegetables over the polenta. Your meal looked yummy.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOt)com
I would use it to try Polenta. Never had it before.
misteedawnw at aol dot com
I would have a wonderful, creative serving experience with this!
tweet http://twitter.com/#!/paints12/status/39362651729571840
This is AWESOME! I never they knew there was such a thing as a polenta board and now (due to my near obsession with unique cooking tools) I’ve got to get one.
I’m a recent college graduate with a passion for cooking. It has always served as a bit of therapy after a long day at work. A new polenta board would be perfect for my family and me. We keep a gluten free diet due to celiac disease in the family and polenta is one of our favorite meals to make. I’ve never been brave enough to make it from scratch (we usually opt for the polenta in the tube) but with a polenta board I’d have the courage to make it myself.
Our favorite recipe is polenta caprese. We cook the polenta and make layer across a serving dish then top it with a caprese mix of chopped tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella. Then we finish it with a balsalmic reduction drizzled over everything. There are never leftovers anytime I make this recipe. I’ve also experimented with adding proscuitto or shrimp to the topping, but prefer the meatless variety. Thanks for all the wonderful ideas you post of your blog!
In addition to using this board for the purpose for which it’s designed (and I’ve got lots of ideas!) I would also use it to pose food on for photographing. It’s so beautiful!
First I would love to learn how to use it with the Polenta. I could see using it for appitizers, salad, veggies.
I’m from Texas and married a Louisiana boy… shrimp and grits definitely!
would make your recipe
I might actually get my family to finally try polenta!
I’ve never heard of a polenta board before, but they sure are beautiful!
I would love to make ratatouille with this polenta board. This board looks awesome!
I’d definitely use it with polenta as that’s its intended purpose, but I’d also probably try it with mashed potatoes or even mashed parsnips.
I would try your recipe-it looks delicious!
smchester at gmail dot com
That looks so good. Instead of going in the normal direction, I would put a version of huevos rancheros over it.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
I am in such awe over the whole idea of a polenta board that I haven’t even begun to think what I would use it for….. maybe a polenta with grilled veggies and topped with a nice marinara.
Yum! That dish looks fantastic.
Wow! I’d use this to entertain with, it looks so fancy schmancy impressive
nancymeyer1 at gmail dot com
I’d just have to try your braised beef recipe first, but I can see one of my favorite summertime meals of polenta with basil and tomatoes being served on this lovely board. Thanks for the chance to win it!
Beautiful board, thanks for the great giveaway. I’d love to try the recipe above or this would be nice to display a multi-layered round cake on
What a beautiful tray. It would look spectacular in my new kitchen with oak cupboards. Thanks for the chance
I’ve never made polenta, but your recipe sounds delicious and the board is gorgeous. That’s the first recipe I’d try.
that looks yummy – I’d like to try a similar meal with chicken or pork
I love polenta but have never prepared it that way using a polenta board before. I would love to try your recipe but I also love polenta with chicken as well as fish. Many different ways to prepare a meal with polenta!
Love to try the braised beef with Handcrafted polenta board
Too cool! Never heard of a polenta board before. I might just try your recipe first!!
I’d like some blue cheese chicken with veggies on it, yum!
I would try to make it just vegiterian
I love polenta! I think I’d go with something italian with red sauce. Yum!
I’d use it with a new polenta recipe that I’ve been dying to try out!
This would be used to make some exciting new recipes for the family.
first i would def try your variant
Hi! I wanted to say…I noticed, in the roasting pan that you browned the beef in…the juices burned
I would use a second pan, a saute pan. Brown the beef in the saute pan in batches to generate max browness, and put the browned beef in the roasting pan to await the rest of the beef. If at any time the fond was getting too dark, [it gets really bitter and loses it's sweetness at that point] I’d deglaze the pan, pour that on top of the already cooked beef, and then continue to brown. I never met a roasting pan that browned meat en masse well, so I just opted to use a saute pan for that. That said, I will go look at the polenta board. I am teased a bit for the frequency of which I serve polenta, I LOVE polenta :O) TY for the great recipe.
I would use it to serve fruits, cheese and meats when we have guests over.
I want to come to your house for dinner! LOL
I’d probably do what you did since it looks so yummy, plus I can see using it with just the polenta with some grilled meat (without sauce) and veggies on top. It’s a beautiful presentation. Thanks.
I would use it to make this recipe first and then become even more adventurous! That looks so fantastic.
I would use keep this polenta board on the top of our ~3X5 rolling butcher block table, that is in the center of our kitchen. I might use it when I gather dill or sage when the snow finally goes away and herbs can grow outside. We might use it to take condiments to the deck when eating outside would be pleasant. We would most certainly use it to make the delicious brazed beef recipe you have described.
Roasted veggies for sure.