Polenta De' Juenelle Foster-- Happy Birthday Mush Recipe! LOL!

 Juenelle Foster was my first contact and friend here on Apsense. It was one of her blogs that got me back in the mood to write on a social network again, for better or worse! LOL! :)

 This recipe features a wonderful corncake called Polenta.  She will probably "Go Off" on me because, as you all know, Polenta is made with cooked corn meal, also known as "MUSH", which she HATES... I'm betting that she says that with a smile, though! :)

 Her Trinidadian roots led me to Carribean recipes that also use a lot of corn products, including her dreaded "MUSH ". Surely, with information like that, I'm more than happy to create a dish that is named after her. It will feature some fine seafoods, which are her favorites-- She can share this dish with Rambo Kitty, too! :)

Ingredients and Method-- Polenta: Two cups of coarse ground yellow cornmeal and one table spoon of salt, gets sifted into 8 cups of furiously boiling water. This mixture must be stirred or whisked vigorously to prevent lumping. Add one cup of Raw Sugar and a teaspoon of Vanilla Extract as you stir. Cook Polenta until all the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.

 You should have what looks like firm yellow grits... This gets transferred to a one inch deep baking sheet and spreaded out evenly. TIP! Keep this baking sheet in the refrigerator while you cook your Polenta-- This will help it to set up much faster.

Let Polenta cool for 2 hours at room temperature, or cover and refrigerate for one hour, if the room is too warm.

Seafood Trio: Chilean Sea Bass or Red Snapper, Prawns or Large Shrimp, Sea Scallops Or Monkfish Medallions.

 The seafoods for this dish get cooked as simply as possible-- Grilled after brushing them with some great Olive Oil and perhaps a little liquid smoke, sprinkling them with some semi-course seasalt, and cracked black pepper and fresh lemon zest... I like to brush seafood with a little extra Olive Oil after cooking, it adds beauty and flavour...

 Veggie Quattro: Slices of Green and Yellow Squash, Slivers of Red, Yellow and Green Bell Peppers, Crushed Fresh Garlic and Sweet Burmuda Onion, and Sliced Fennel Bulb or Chinese Cabbage.

 I love to grill Veggies quickly after brushing them with light oil and a sprinkle of fine seasalt, and a  dash of Hungarian Paprika... This whole meal, in fact can be made on a countertop grill.

 Heat: Pepper oils and fresh frying peppers are an option, I love hot spicy foods and I will use fresh peppers when ever I can find them... Oils are great to use because you can add them after cooking to suit everyone's tastes...

 Cutting and Grilling Your Polenta: A four or five inch inch round cookie mold will do the job..

 After the the polenta is cooled and firm, cut rounds of it and brush them with oil-- I like adding pepper oil to this, because of the contrast between the sweet corncake and the hot spices...

 Using your tabletop grill or grill pan set to High-- Grill your corncake for about two to three minutes on each side, until it's heated through, turning it often to preven burning and sticking... You should have some beautiful grill marks on it when it done...

 Set your dining plate with one or two corncakes in the middle ( On fresh flat leaf parsley leaves, if you like)

 Top your Polenta with a mix of your grilled seafoods and veggies, you can be as artistic as you wish, because the colors will all work together... Glaze this dish with a little more light Olive Oil and lemon zest, chop some fresh basil leave and scatter them around like a pro, and you are at the finish line! :)

 I have a "Dessert" Version of this dish that uses fresh fruits and veggies with a little rum and spice... But let's see if I survive Juenelle's rath for creating this dish for her Birthday which is on New Years Eve, by the way! :)

Have BIG FUN and many, many more! :)

 Thanks for the Inspiration, and please don't kill me! :) LOL!

http://www.caribbeaninspiration.com/

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