Christmas in September

OMG, I feel so lucky. Yesterday, FedEx delivered a wonderful gift, yes it felt like Christmas in September. My good friend, Liz, sent me her "Recipes From Home" cookbook. This is a 200+ page collection of her "cherished" recipes assembled in a large 3" white notebook with a very detailed index. You won't find this at your local Barnes & Noble, which is why I feel so fortunate to have a copy. As Liz states in her intro: "If you have received a copy, it really does mean that you are part of our "family"'". I again suggest you check Liz's blog "Never Trust a Skinny Cook" for some great stories and recipes and you can read her post about the Recipes from Home collection.
Liz was also kind enough to include one of my recipes in her collection, "Dick Simpson's Polenta" which follows:


Polenta with Walnuts, Rosemary, and Gruyere

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1-teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup chopped, toasted walnuts

2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary

¾ cup finely grated Gruyere cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

·      Bring stock to a boil in a large saucepan.

·      Using a whisk, slowly add the cornmeal, whisking constantly until dissolved.

·      Add 1-teaspoon salt.

·      Lower heat to medium-low and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes, whisking frequently, until mixture is thickened and all liquid is absorbed.

·      Stir in salt and pepper to taste and then add the butter, walnuts, rosemary and Gruyere cheese.

·      Spread polenta mixture into a greased 9-inch pie plate and chill.

·      To serve, cut into eight wedges. Preheat over to 350-degrees. Place wedges on backing sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until warmed through.

Serves 8

The other package I received yesterday, which added to the Christmas-like atmosphere, was my new illy Francis Francis Y1 espresso machine. What can I say, it is cute and make pretty good espresso for a capsule system. Six years or so ago, I didn't even drink coffee, let alone espresso. My, how times have changed.