Polenta Chips

These take a bit of time and effort but are so worth it. Ask anyone who's tried them.
The first time I had polenta chips was with Lynn and Sam. Lynn is an awesome and adventurous cook. She has introduced me to a number of recipes by Yotam Ottolenghi. Each one was a hit! If you haven’t heard of him, he’s an Israeli-British chef with some cookbooks that are worth checking out. Laura even has one in German.
Some general comments about these tasty little morsels:

• This dipping sauce is so good but in a pinch we have used plain guacamole.
• Be careful about adding salt, because if you are using chicken stock that isn’t homemade, there can already be a lot of salt present. Also the cheese has some salt so give it a taste while you are boiling the polenta. (Interesting and unrelated fact: auto correct wants to change polenta to tadpole. Definitely wouldn't want to use tadpoles in this recipe.)
• In the summer, when I have plenty of chives in the garden I add them. But in the winter I omit them and it’s all good.
• The original recipe calls for 1-1/4 cup of sunflower oil for frying and says to pour the oil to a depth of 3/8 inch in a saute pan. I did that the first time I made them. However this seems like a lot of oil to me, so now I tend to only add enough oil to get the outsides crispy. Of course they are better tasting deep fried, so feel free to go wild. I just like to reduce fat where possible.

Polenta chips

3½ cups chicken stock

1 cup cornmeal

3½ Tbsp chopped chives

30g Parmesan, grated (or similar like Asiago)

⅔ cup coarse semolina (ordinary flour will do)

Oil, for frying

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring the stock to a boil. 
2. Add polenta and cook for about 5 minutes over med heat. Stir constantly until mixture is thick.
3. Add chives and Parmesan and stir for 30 seconds.
4. Transfer to 2 wood cutting boards (10x16 inches). Use a spatula to spread the polenta thinly (1/8 inch). It’s ok to have it a little uneven. Just do your best.
5. Let set for 20 minutes.
6. Cut into small squares (2x3 inches) and remove from board with a spatula.
7. Dip in semolina on both sides.
8. Fry in large pan over medium high heat. If you don’t have a griddle, you’ll have to do it in batches.
9. Fry for about 5 minutes, turning once, so both sides are golden brown and the edges are a bit crispy but the middle is still soft.
10. Transfer to plate lined with paper towels to absorb the fat.

Serve hot. 
Serves 6-8 as a snack/appetizer.



Dipping Sauce


2 small avocados
½ c plain yoghurt

1½ Tbsp lime juice

1 tsp grated lime zest
¾ tsp olive

Scoop flesh out of avocados.
Process in a small food processor until it’s a paste. Yup. That’s it.

And now the pictures. Excuse the quality, I'm trying out a new camera and not quite used to all the settings. Even "point and shoot" cameras are getting complicated.

The first time I made these, I didn't believe I could just slop the polenta onto a wooden board and it would come off easily. Just trust. It works.

The recipe calls for 30 g of cheese, but I am pretty loose with this measurement. In this case I measured what I had grated: 47 g. I threw it all in.

Once you put the polenta in the boiling water it thickens up pretty quick. Cooking it for 5 minutes - while constantly stirring - is necessary.

Mix in the cheese and stir until it's all melted in.
Didn't have chives.

I use a rubber spatula to get all the polenta out of the pot.

Usually I use my bent icing knife but couldn't find it today. Used a spreading knife to get the polenta spread to the edges.

To do the final smoothing I used a pancake flipper. If you work quickly you can get a pretty even product. As the polenta cools it gets more difficult to smooth evenly.

Try to neaten up the edges a bit - but don't worry about it.
Let it sit for 20 minutes.

Cut the polenta into 2x2½ inch squares. Lift them off the wood and prepare to be amazed that they don't stick. 😋

OK, not the best picture. But wanted to show you that I don't fry them in a pool of oil. I just make sure there's enough oil to get them a nice golden brown.
Cook on both sides for a total of 5 minutes.

Since I used less oil than the recipe called for I didn't have to put them on paper towels.
One time I did fry them in lots of oil and in that case I highly recommend something to sop up the grease.