30. April 2007

a mexican kick!

wasser aufsetzen für die polenta
hey there! it has been a while, hasn't it? just to give you a quick update: i am still alive and i still cook!

i told you about the texmex/austrian food swap with the lovely kate in america, right? well, the other day her parcel arrived at my doorstep and i almost hugged my postman, though it was only 6.30 in the morning and i am usually pretty grumpy when he wakes me up like that on a day i could sleep in ... i totally forgave him - can you imagine a more cheerful wakeup call than with a parcel full of goodies?

original mexikanisch (thank you kate!)
so for a few days now i have the salsas, the seasonings, the sweets, the beans and that chili covered pineapple that looks like a lolipop (how weird/interesting is that!) lined up on my kitchen counter with me going all *sigh* when i pass by! i figured it is time to stop gazing at the goodies and at least crack open one of the salsa cans to prepare a texmex-inspired dish!

how about polentaschnitten (roughly translated to "a slice of polenta")? though i never made them myself i've enjoyed them various times on my visits to styria and carinthia. polenta is not very common north of the alps, but they are definitely a staple in the southern regions of austria.

  1. in a saucepan, bring 500 ml of vegetable stock to a boil. whisk in 100 g of cornmeal (polenta) and immediately turn off the heat. stir in a handful of chopped basil, season with salt and pepper and set the saucepan aside for about 20 minutes (until the polenta is thick)
  2. spread the polenta evenly in a casserole (or a baking tray) and refrigerate until totally cold
  3. prehead oven to 220 °c
  4. cut the cold polenta into 4 large pieces, put them on a baking sheet and bake at 220 °c for 10 minutes
  5. spread a thin layer of your favorite salsa over the polenta (and this is where i used the mexican salsa kate sent), put two roughly chopped tomatoes, 125 g of diced goats cheese and another handfull of the chopped basil on top
  6. put in the oven again and bake for another 30 minutes.
  7. season with pepper, spoon over some more salsa and serve immediately!
polentaschnitten, ein bissi mexikanisch
whooooo, i tell you, that dish is hot! all the salsa spices up the rather subtle taste of the polenta a notch or two!

6 Kommentare:

Anonym hat gesagt…

wow, gerda!

that looks so good! i am going to have to try that myself. what a delicious idea!

i am so glad you are enjoying the (tex-)mexican goodies!

christianne hat gesagt…

That looks fantastic! I'm from California, so I'm pretty fond of the Tex-Mex...what else did your package contain?

Sara hat gesagt…

Yes that really looks great - I'll have to make this soon. Thanks!

Trig hat gesagt…

The tricolori are a wonderful combination of colours and flavours, and you've put them to perfect use here. I've never understood why a lot of people turn their nose up at polenta. You only need one or two ingredients to turn plain polenta into something bursting with flavour. I usually eat mine while it's still wet, I just love the grainy texture!

MyKitchenInHalfCups hat gesagt…

Yes, I love polenta this way! Great photo!

Joe hat gesagt…

What a great way to change up polenta!