email me!  e-News Never Miss a Post! 
Jacqueline Church
New in the Rotation - Polenta PDF Print E-mail
Sunday, 21 February 2010 01:19
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

We got word of the second-to-last Winter Farmers' Market at Russell's Garden Center in Wayland (AKA Way-far-away-Wayland). We decided to add it to our list of Saturday stops. I've been itching to get a terrarium set up since I picked up Sunset Magazine (January 2010) in the airport last California trip. (See page 40) I love Sunset and pick it up every time we're out West.

We arrived at Russell's and were greeted with this cute piggy:

 

Guess who was there? Linsey makes wonderful treats that happen to be gluten-free - check them out!

That's Linsey (AKA Lula or AKA @CakeandCommerce on Twitter) and I'm kicking myself that I forgot to circle back for some goodies! Next week Linsey!

Others at the market included Springdell Farm ("Since 1931") who raise a Duroc-Hampshire cross and Red Fire Farm who had wonderful organic greens, including Claytonia which is completely new to me. Claytonia is sometimes called Winter Purslane, though it's not in the Portulaca family. Claytonia (AKA Miner's Lettuce) is a winter green that despite its very delicate feel and flavor is quite hardy. It was foraged by miners seeking to avoid scurvy and is rich in Vitamin C.

Here's the Polenta we picked up from Winter Moon Farm. We may never have had Polenta in our married lives. I love it but it always elicited an "enh" from Doc. To my surprise he picked this up while I was off scouting terrarium plants. Our friend Linda was off scouting and sampling.

As you can see, this heirloom polenta was very coarsley ground. I was hopeful that the chunky texture would win Doc over. I started it with three cups of cold water and one cup of organic, low sodium chicken broth, a glug of olive oil and a good pinch of sea salt.

This was one of three terrariums (terraria?) I put together when we got home. Here's all three.

 

And here's dinner: Winter Moon Farm's Organic Heirloom Polenta, sauté of chicken, porcini, onions, Claytonia leaves.

It was a great day, all in all and now we have a new "grain" in the rotation.

 

 

 

 

 

Trackback(0)
Comments (9)add
the result?
written by David Dadekian , February 21, 2010
So what happened? Did Doc love it? I'm betting a better question is, how much did Doc love it?
Oh my!
written by Viviane Bauquet Farre / Food and Style , February 21, 2010
Jacqueline... That heirloom polenta looks truly delicious... and so does your dinner! I can get locally grown, hand-milled polenta in my neck of the woods too. You cannot compare it to the commercial kind.

Great post! Thank you my dear...
...
written by adele , February 22, 2010
That polenta looks fantastic. I've never seen any that was quite so coarsely ground. How was the texture?
David
written by Jacqueline , February 25, 2010
Thanks for the vote of confidence - I'd say he liked it well enough that it's in the rotation but "loved" may be a stretch. I, however, love it!
Viviane
written by Jacqueline , February 25, 2010
Yes, very true, this hand-ground polenta beats the pants off store bought ones!

Adele
written by Jacqueline , February 25, 2010
It is quite toothsome. I started it first because I knew it would take longer. And it did. I like that it was heirloom corn, too. Going to see if I can find more out about.
Pedal Powered Polenta
written by Sarah , February 26, 2010
I got this polenta at Russell's on the same day, attracted by the words "Pedal Powered" on the label. The farmer grinds his corn using a converted bicycle. I cooked up a little today to serve with lentil stew. The result is much chewier - more "three dimensional" - than other polentas. I lucked onto this blog while trying to figure out what to do with the rest of it and very glad of it. Thanks for the ideas. I picked up some of that claytonia too.
Sarah
written by Jacqueline , February 27, 2010
Hey we're going again tomorrow. If you're there and you see me, please say hi! I made the polenta for lunch today stirring in half a leftover kabocha squash it was like a bowl of sunshine - so delicious. Glad you found me and please come back!
Last Wayland market
written by Sarah , February 27, 2010
Thanks for the welcome, Jacqueline. I'm having such a fine time exploring your site. The last Wayland winter market was a real occasion and I got some more of the pedal powered polenta to freeze and to share. For a transplanted southerner, it's a lot like grits (with true grit). I'm going to try it with cheese and greens next.
Write comment

security image
Write the displayed characters


busy
 
 

Copyright © 2008 Jacqueline Church. All Rights Reserved. Valid XHTML and CSS.
Sploggers and Scrapers Stop Here! Page protected by Copyscape. DO NOT COPY.
Website design and development by hopedesigns.