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Italian Polenta

From The New New Can Opener Cookbook (1834).

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A historical recipe

The New New Can Opener Cookbook, by Poppy Cannon (1834).

Italy

Known as an Italian recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.

Ingredients 6 ingredients

  1. 3 cups water
  2. 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  3. 1 teaspoon salt
  4. 1 cup cold water
  5. 3 tablespoons butter
  6. 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Oven and hot trays. Use dry oven gloves for trays and dishes: a hot tray looks just like a cold one. Open the oven door away from your face and let the first rush of heat out.
  • Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
  • Grill and open flame. Keep sleeves, hair and tea towels away from the flame, and stay with the grill while it's lit. Barbecue outdoors only, never in a closed space.

Method

  1. Popular brands of packaged yellow cornmeal cook in about 14 of the time that an old-time Italian cook would have devoted to making one of her country’s beloved national dishes.
  2. Polenta is nothing more than cornmeal mush combined with grated cheese.
  3. Ideal with stews, fish, or meat.
  4. water Parmesan cheese yellow cornmeal parsley (optional) butter Boil 3 cups water in a saucepan.
  5. Mix 1 cup yellow cornmeal and 1 teaspoon salt with 1 cup cold water.
  6. Pour into the boiling water, stirring constantly.
  7. Cook until thickened, stirring frequently.
  8. Cover and continue cooking over low heat 10 minutes or longer.
  9. Stir in 3 tablespoons butter, 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese.
  10. Season with a little freshly ground black pepper, mix thoroughly.
  11. Serve very hot.
  12. If desired, polenta may be poured into a buttered ring mold.
  13. Set in a warm place for 10 minutes, then unmold.
  14. The center may be filled with stew, chicken a la king, or any creamed mixture.
  15. Garnish or sprinkle with parsley if desired.
  16. Or if you’d rather not bother with a mold simply spoon the polenta around the dish making a casual kind of ring.
  17. VARIATION: Baked Polenta with Sausage Drain and brown canned cocktail or quick-frozen sausages.
  18. Place in a shallow oven-proof dish.
  19. Cover with polenta prepared as above.
  20. Bake 15 minutes in a hot oven, 400° F.
  21. If ingredients are already hot, sprinkle with grated cheese and set under the broiler until the cheese melts and browns.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Saucepan
  • Grill or grill pan
  • Baking dish
  • Grater
  • Wooden spoon
  • Colander
Source not stated by archive.org
Credit

From The New New Can Opener Cookbook (1834), printed page 57, digitised by the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/newnewcanopenerc0000popp_w2x4

What was changed: Read by machine from the book's scanned text into ingredients and method. The title's capitals were tidied; spelling and scanning errors are left as they are.