Parmesan Truffle Polenta with Garlic Wild Mushrooms.

So of all the dishes I have made during the last fortnight, this has to be my absolute favourite. It's so packed with big flavour, indulgent, and elegant enough to be used for entertaining - or humble enough to eat on the sofa with a box-set.

Polenta can be a bit of a tricky ingredient to conquer,
but I promise you that it's worth the persistence. It's
temperamental but divine once you've cracked it - and
like most life-skills, once you've learned how to
do it, it becomes second nature. It's delicious with
chicken / guinea fowl and fabulous with casseroles
and stews. Be brave. 

Polenta is one of our family favourites, but there's no denying that it's a little bit of a tricky beast to master. We like ours soft, just slightly loser than the consistency of cream mashed potato. We also like it heavily loaded with butter and parmesan; so this isn't the best of the healthy eating recipes, although it is all natural ingredients and it is meat free, so it has that going for it. It's also fantastically economical as an entertaining / dinner party dish.

The trick is to fry your mushrooms longer than you think you need to and play Russian Roulette with your chopped garlic pieces so they are just on the cusp of burning. You need them to caramelise but not go bitter.

This is why I'm giving this recipe a MEDIUM-TRICKY level because it's very much about being confident to work organically with the recipe and the instructions, and also because quite a lot could go wrong with this recipe if you don't keep your eye on the ball. It all happens within a slightly hectic 8 minutes - but honestly, the results are more than worth it, and I promise you, the more you cook with polenta, the easier it gets.

If you've never cooked with polenta, I would save this recipe until you've got it down pat. The best way to do this is to cook polenta as a mashed potato replacement with big stews and ragu so that if it goes a little wonky, it doesn't matter too much. I cut my teeth making polenta for Sunday lunch to go with Chicken or Guinea fowl, as it makes a lovely Sunday lunch accompaniment.

LEVEL: MEDIUM-TRICKY (Polenta experience recommended)
COST: £ approx £2 a portion
VEGETARIAN
TIME: 10 minutes start to finish.

INGREDIENTS: (Serves 2-3)
3 cups of Polenta grains
Hot water approx 750ml
35g of butter
truffle oil
Standard Box of mixed wild / exotic mushrooms
3 large cloves of garlic
Good handful of grated parmesan

(I'd serve it with wilted spinach in future, although I served it with Salad this week, which was fine but wilted spinach or black kale would be nicer)

METHOD
Okay, hold your horses, you're going to have to multi-task.

• Each polenta grain mix has ever so slightly different properties so follow the ratios they recommend on the box. The ones I have given above are a rough guide and I sometimes add a little more water as I go along to thin it slightly. 

• Boil water in a sauce pan and add half the butter, then sprinkle the polenta over the top, stirring all the time. It will swell almost immediately, but it's still quite grainy. You need to cook it out until the grains split and it transforms from grainy to floury/ soft. It will thicken rapidly and that's fine just keep stirring. If it becomes so your spoon doesn't move easily through it, add a little more water. 

• Add in the parmesan and the other half of the butter (be as generous as your conscience will allow) turn down to a low heat and continue to stir with one hand - it will take around 8-10 minutes for it to change state. 

• Meanwhile, in a good heavy frying pan, melt a knob of butter and a splash of olive oil (to stop the butter burning) until it foaming. 

• Break the mushrooms apart with your fingers - and for the button mushrooms, slice into 1cm slices. 

• Roughly chop the garlic at least 3 cloves but more if you like. 

• Place the sliced button mushrooms in the butter first and let them start to get brown. Add the garlic at this point and give a good stir / toss of the pan. 

• Add the broken down softer mushrooms and cook out until they are golden brown and the garlic has started to caramelise. This may take a good 6-10 minutes. You don't want them soggy but golden.

• Add about 1-2tbsp of truffle oil to your polenta and spoon onto a warmed plate. It should just hold but sort of sag around the edges.

• Place the mushrooms on top 

Hot Veggie Burritos

Saturday night is a chance for us to properly veg out (in all ways). It's sofa and t.v dinner and ridiculously light entertainment t.v. But it's great to do that once a week when the rest of the week is so much more structured.

A super economical vegetarian meal, just
perfect for a t.v dinner. 

This week, I decided to cook something spicy and easy that would be perfect for a sofa dinner, and that we could drink alongside our Budweiser Prohibition beer (more on that later.)

We wanted a veggie option being that is part of our 2018 resolution and the idea of Mexican child bean burritos just seemed to hit all the sweet spots. Spicy, cheesy, fun food.

This is great for feeding a crowd on a budget, too. There's something quite joyful about this dish, which maybe comes from the spices.

LEVEL: EASY/MEDIUM
COST: $
VEGETARIAN
TIME: About 1 hour cooking and half an hour prepping.

INGREDIENTS: (serves 4 at two burritos each)
1 medium onion
1 tin of mixed beans
1 tin of kidney beans
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tbsp of oregano
1 tbsp mixed dried herbs.
2tbsp of hot smoked paprika (adjust to preference)
1 tbsp of cayenne (adjust to preference)
1 dried red chilli (omit for preference)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes, blended to a puree
Two handfuls of grated cheese
Fresh red chilli
Sour cream
8 soft tortilla breads

We served ours with sweet potato wedges, just wedged, oiled and baked in the oven with a dash of hot smoked paprika.

AS there was just the two of us, I split the bean mix and froze the other half portion, making it a super time economical meal.


METHOD:

• Sweat off onion in heavy based casserole dish. 
• Add in the oregano, paprika and cayenne and stir until well mixed. 
• Add the tinned beans and stir. 
• Add the tinned tomato puree
• a half pint of veggie stock 
• Cook down until most of the liquid has gone and the bean chilli is looking thick and good for filling approx 30-40 minutes on a medium to low heat. (Stir it occasionally as not to catch on the bottom) 
• Leave to cool a little and then in an oven proof dish, fill the tortillas down the middle, roll them into a wrap and flip onto the ovenproof dish so that the join is underneath. 
• Sprinkle with cheese and fresh chilli rings. 
• Return to oven for about 15-20 minutes until hot and the cheese has melted and started to brown. 

NOTES: We served it with Budweiser prohibition larger /beer - which I'm afraid to say, I took one mouthful and rejected the rest. It put me in mind of old fashioned toilet water. Was far too perfumed and flowery for my taste. Will not be buying again.