Weekend Cooking: The Kitchen Journal 3

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A few weeks ago one of the Weekend Cooking participants posted a photo of polenta and mushrooms, which made me immediately crave the same. I love polenta; it's one of my comfort foods.

A long while back, I shared my version of a microwave polenta recipe I use from What to Cook When You Think There's Nothing in the House to Eat by Arthur Schwartz. I use stone-ground corn meal for my dish, but many people like a finer grind.

For the mushroom-topped bowl of goodness pictured here, I stirred a cup of Parmesan cheese into the polenta when it finished cooking.

For the topping, I turned to Julia Child's The Way to Cook. A truly useful cookbook, worth every penny if you can find a copy. On page 314, Julia included a "Special Note," which is a recipe for mushrooms duxelles. Yummmmmmm. Here's her version, and the choices I made:

• 4 cups fresh mushrooms or mushroom stems, diced (I used a combo of portabella mushrooms and common white mushrooms)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots or scallions (I used the shallots)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons Port or Madeira (used the Port)

By handfuls, twist the mushrooms in the corner of a towel to extract their juices. Heat the butter to bubbling, and saute the mushrooms in hot butter over moderately high heat, stirring and tossing, until the pieces begin to separate from each other--3 to 4 minutes. Add the shallots or scallions and saute a moment more; season to taste. Add the wine, letting it boil down rapidly to nothing.

To serve, I spooned the polenta into a low bowl, topped it with a bit of warmed diced tomatoes, and then the mushrooms. Comfort food at its best.