Breakfast Polenta

[flyinglentris]

Ok fellow CBers, help me out here. I've never used polenta for a breakfast meal before and have decided to do something different for breakfast without having to resort to cream of wheat. Yuk.

Tell me about your breakfast polenta concoctions. I have a couple bags of dried blueberries, dried strawberries and banana chips to play with and of course, I can top things off with eggs, bacon and other stuff as well, like tomato, onion and garlic. Garlic for breakfast? Why not?

Much appreciation in advance.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

Ok fellow CBers, help me out here. I've never used polenta for a breakfast meal before and have decided to do something different for breakfast without having to resort to cream of wheat. Yuk.

Tell me about your breakfast polenta concoctions. I have a couple bags of dried blueberries, dried strawberries and banana chips to play with and of course, I can top things off with eggs, bacon and other stuff as well, like tomato, onion and garlic. Garlic for breakfast? Why not?

Much appreciation in advance.

If I think of polenta for breakfast, my mind goes suddenly to the sweet version. Not sure you were referring to this though?
However, just to give you an idea if what I’m talking about, I sometimes make it with sugar addition, then fried or just eating as it is preferably cold then plunged in cold milk.
I usually make also polenta cake adding cocoa or dried fruit or choco chunks.
I’ll think to other alternatives and come back, but it’s lunch time now for me, I have a chicken to eat

 

[MypinchofItaly]

Could slicing and grilling polenta be a good alternative for you? Then drizzle with butter and garlic and some herbs?

 

[flyinglentris]

Could slicing and grilling polenta be a good alternative for you? Then drizzle with butter and garlic and some herbs?

It sounds interesting, but I have only dry polenta. I could make some cold paste.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

It sounds interesting, but I have only dry polenta. I could make some cold paste.

I'm not getting what dry polenta is
You mean the flour?

 

[flyinglentris]

I'm not getting what dry polenta is
You mean the flour?

Not flour, but yellow corn grits.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

Not flour, but yellow corn grits.

Ok got it. I think you can cook it as corn flour (i.e. polenta).

 

[TastyReuben]

It sounds interesting, but I have only dry polenta. I could make some cold paste.

Here's how I've done it:

Recipe - Broiled Polenta With Fennel Seeds

 

[flyinglentris]

Here's how I've done it:

Recipe - Broiled Polenta With Fennel Seeds

You use the term 'cornmeal' in the recipe and not polenta.

There are three things with corn, yellow or blue ...

Yellow:
1) Grits or Polenta
2) Cornmeal
3) Corn Flour or Harina for more fine ground.

Polenta or Yellow Corn Grits, Yellow Cornmeal and Yellow Corn Flour or Harina

Blue:
1) Grits
2) Blue Cornmeal
3) Blue Corn Flour or Harina.

Blue Corn Grits, Blue Cornmeal and Blue Corn Flour or Harina

They depend upon how coarsely or finely ground the corn grains are.

 

[TastyReuben]

You use the term 'cornmeal' in the recipe and not polenta.

Yep - I can't get "authentic" (there's that word again) polenta here unless I go some distance to a specialty market, and any recipe for polenta I've used treat them as interchangeable substitutes.

 

[flyinglentris]

Yep - I can't get "authentic" (there's that word again) polenta here unless I go some distance to a specialty market, and any recipe for polenta I've used treat them as interchangeable substitutes.

You can get polenta from Walmart or Bob's Red Mill online.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Polenta is made from a particular, medium grind of corn meal. In the same way that you can make a risotto from something other than arborio rice, you can make polenta from something other than “polenta cornmeal”.

But, absolutely, use something specifically labeled for polenta if that’s your goal. You just wouldn’t want to use cornmeal that’s too finely ground or too coarsely ground.

Now, to the point of the thread, I have never tried using polenta as part of breakfast. But, I think I would lean into it similarly to a huevos rancheros: the polenta takes the place of the tortilla chips. Dang, that sounds good. I’m going to have to try this sometime.

 

[flyinglentris]

Polenta is made from a particular, medium grind of corn meal. In the same way that you can make a risotto from something other than arborio rice, you can make polenta from something other than “polenta cornmeal”.

But, absolutely, use something specifically labeled for polenta if that’s your goal. You just wouldn’t want to use cornmeal that’s too finely ground or too coarsely ground.

Now, to the point of the thread, I have never tried using polenta as part of breakfast. But, I think I would lean into it similarly to a huevos rancheros: the polenta takes the place of the tortilla chips. Dang, that sounds good. I’m going to have to try this sometime.

I think polenta can be used with a great deal of versatility for breakfast and other meals. I am considering things as simple as a porridge type of use, to cakes and to the way it is used in tamales as casing. I'm going to try it as sort of a scramble with ingredients mixed in and baked or fried. I may try mixing it with things like cottage cheese, melted cheese and other imaginative concoctions.

 

[TastyReuben]

You can get polenta from Walmart or Bob's Red Mill online.

Walmart here doesn't have it (last time I checked) and I don't order groceries online.

 

[Burt Blank]

As a Polentone I eat a lot of savory polenta. In the winter when we visit Serbia I have Kacamak, cornmeal porridge. I like it with local wild strawberry jam. The link has American ingredients Kačamak/Cornmeal Porridge - The Balkan Hostess