HHDD#28: The Round-Up

Parmesan & Polenta Tofu




Parmesan & Polenta Chicken>


(so sorry for the delay)

Going to keep this nice & short, for the sake of finally getting this posted.



Zaira showed up with something a little different, Fried Polenta with Vegetables & Cheese





Suzie got the kids on the way to salad fandom with her rendition.





Silvermoon Dragon had a bit more trouble convincing her little ones to dig in, but so long as Mom's happy...






J returned to blogging & HHDD just in time to run into me!





And of course the lovely lady behind all this, Denise, was pleasantly surprised by the salad.



Seems everyone liked this dish, & due to it's relatively easy prep time I hope it'll show up on your tables again!

Product Review: New West Knife Works Super Bread Knife

Because he takes slicing bread very seriously...for reasons you'll soon learn..Matt has taken on this review




Growing up in a household where bread was baked up to three times a week, the bread knife was an important object. You used the bread knife to cut bread and nothing else. If you just cut bread, it remained fairly clean. If you got it dirty by cutting something else (say, cheese or roast beef), it had to go through a full cleaning cycle, during which there could be no bread. And not being able to slice bread properly was unacceptable. That's so deeply ingrained that, for me, the most disturbing scene in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill had nothing to do with blood, dismemberment, or even Uma Thurman. It was the scene towards the end of the second part where David Caradine sliced some bread and then stuck that same knife INTO A JAR OF MAYO! HOW'S HE GOING TO SLICE BREAD NOW? HE'LL CROSS-CONTAMINATE! MANIAC!

So I regard bread knives as serious business. For the past couple of years, we've alternated between a cheap, flimsy, and easily replaced nondescript bread knife and a bow-shaped knife (a left-handed version special-ordered for me years ago, as a gesture of resistance against the revanchist forces of the running-dog dextrist hegemony). The bow knife cuts well, but it cuts slices in a very narrow range of thickness. The cheap blade is more versatile, but doesn't cut nearly as well. So we had a strong interest in how the New West Knifeworks bread knife would do. The blades we got from them a few months ago have become my go-to knives (sharpness comparable to our ceramics but without the fear factor about dropping them), but that weird curvy blade...

Turns out it's absolutely brilliant. In fact, it cut so well that it took some getting used to. The blade bites very deeply with each stroke, practically sinking into the loaf. It gets through the bread with surprising, even alarming, speed, so it requires a touch which is different from any other knife we own. However, once you've adjusted to that, it's outstanding. I was able to cut through a baguette with a single pull of the blade, no back-and-forth sawing. I was able to cut nearly transparent, perfectly even slices from Pullman-style loaves without the slightest suggestion of a slant (and equally even thick slices). I sliced a fresh croissant in half the long way without crushing the outer layers or smashing the inside. Yes, it doesn't look like a standard bread knife, but it's much better than a standard bread knife. If you buy only one bread knife this year...well, you know the drill.

HHDD#28: Polenta of Choices

With the shock of hearing from Chez Us that I'd won last month's HHDD came the realization I'd be hosting this month's event!

(photo to come soon; camera issues!)



The search for my many Donna Hay cookbooks, as well as the never-have-enough magazine collection, lead to 30 or more dishes I remembered I wanted to make, but it wasn't until I spied the recipe for Parmesan and Polenta Chicken that I knew I had this month's challenge.

A gorgeous salad on it's own, and one that can be easily adapted to personal preferences.

The greens can be changed to a favorite, or what's in season.

The chicken can be swapped out for tofu, for the vegetarians (raises hand).

And if the corn isn't growing just now where you are, try frozen or baby corn.

Ingredients that cannot be swapped out: the corn itself, in some form, & the polenta coating.

Complete rules can be found here


To enter, make the recipe below, do the usual photograph/blog etc.

To me (thehappysorceress at gmail dot com), send the following:

The Name & URL of your blog
Your Name
Your Location
Name of your recipe
The URL or the permalink to your entry
And a photo if you have it!

Be sure your post links back here & to Chez Us


Entries are due 20 September.




Parmesan and Polenta Chicken

2 cobs corn, husks and silks removed
olive oil for brushing
2 x 200g (7oz) chicken breasts
flour for dusting
2 eggs, lightly whisked
1/2 cup(100g/3 1/2 oz) polenta
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
100g (3 1/2 oz) baby spinach leaves
1/2 basil leaves
grated parmesan cheese, extra to serve
dressing
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons honey
sea salt and cracked black pepper




To make the dressing, place the mustard, lemon juice, garlic, oil, honey, salt & pepper in a bowl & whisk to combine. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 220 C (425 F. Brush the corn with oil, place in a baking dish & roast for 25 minutes or until golden. Slice the kernels from the corn & set aside.
Slice the chicken in half horizontally, dust with the flour, dip into the egg & press into the combined parmesan & polenta to coat. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat & cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes each side or until golden & cooked through. Arrange the chicken, corn, spinach & basil on plates & spoon over the dressing & grated parmesan to serve. Serves 4