Hake? Snapper?

I agree entirely. Where I am from, it's "grits!" Why, when I was a young whippersnapper, we roamed the grit fields, and lounged beneath the spreading grit trees...

I've had guests, who would not touch the "mush" beneath their entree, thinking "grits, dreaded grits," until I told them that that was polenta!

Hunt

UC wrote

Wonderful! I don't know what San Giuseppe soup is, but polenta with ribs and asusages is one of my favorites. Congratulations!

Mike Tommasi wrote

ROTFL Probably this use of the "finocchio" (fennel) term is only italian. Let's see one thing: is there any place where the ear is associated with frou-frou-ness, as is in Italy with "ricchione" ("big-eared" in a sligthly modified version)? LOL

Actually, throughout the Deep South, there are almost as many ways to serve grits, as there are barbecue. I've had grits as cereal with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, plain, plain with butter, plain with red-eye gravey, fried into cakes (polenta-style), fried into pancakes (latke-like), fried in balls with powdered sugar, etc., etc.

I do enjoy most forms of polenta, also.

Hunt

I have never has a greasy Osso Bucco dish in my life, and it doesn't necessarily require red sauce. Maybe I'm fortunate to have such good restaurants in New England, as well as choosing good recipes. BTW great ploenta takes at least three hours to prepare. Read the book Heat, I highly recommend it.

I guess this cereal version is what we northerners call... "cream of wheat." Adele now occasionally prepares it from polenta.

I had a friend in Paris, a "gentleman of leisure" who was accompanying his wife for her work there for an airline. As a family member he flew any flight for $10, and having nothing but time on his hands he used to fly home to Oklahoma to grocery shop for things like grits that were "unavailable." One time a box of grits sprung a leak, and he walked through customs -- a burly ex college football type -- trailing a line of whitish granules. They opened his suitcase, saw it had only groceries, laughed and sent him on his way. I'm not sure they ever believed he did his shopping this way regularly.

-E

Yeah, sure...three hours. That includes taking it off the cob and grinding it...by hand.

Reka

No, no. I'm saying to make it great you stir the polenta every few minutes and keep adding fluid a little at a time, somewhat like the risotto procedure. Polenta can be glorious.

Hi

I agree that ossobuco goes best with whites. And normally I would stick to tradition and serve it with a saffron and bone marrow risotto...

Polenta OTOH does not take 3 hours, a good polenta takes about 40 minutes to make. After 3 hours your arm would fall off, and the polenta would not replensish the energy you used stirring it... ;-)

cheers

Believe me, I know polenta. I make it about once a week. But it's more like an hour, not three. And the best mix for me is coarse and medium grind, regular and whole-grain meal, about 50-50. You haven't had polenta until you have had whole-grain. And mackerel canned in olive oil and a good gooey Gorgonzola...yum! Nothing for dieters, however. And the best thing about polenta is frying the leftovers!

Which Italian would you drink with the menu above?

Reka

No, though the consistancy is somewhat similar. Cream of Wheat is smoother, with the granules much, much smaller. It is also made from wheat, while grits are from corn, that has been soaked in lye (creating hominey, i.e. hominey grits). The resulting now large kernels of corn are dried and ground into different coarsness levels. Some parts of the country (Ozarks, for instance) use a very coarse grind with stone wheels. Others, like the Deep South, usually go with a finer grind. Grits can be white to yellow, with several shades. I've also seen them with corn from the SW that are blue, or red.

The area around Tulsa is influenced by the Ozark grind, usually, and that is probably what he had picked up. We buy bags from a mill there, and have them shipped (beats customs and the TSA!). Most of ours are a finer, Deep South, grind, and prepared and served in various ways.

Hunt

The dinner was last night, and the polenta was a hit. I used the "herbed Polenta" recipe I found here: