Creamy Polenta with Caramelized Mushrooms and Shallots

This caramelized mushroom and shallots over creamy polenta is easy, quick, only uses two pans, and features shiitakes from the Foraged Feast, but any mushrooms would work well in this dish.

The mushrooms

Ingredients

8 oz shiitake mushrooms

Fresh sage leaves (about 10 whole leaves)

3-4 Shallots

2-3 cloves of garlic (thinly sliced)

Olive oil

2 tbsp butter

Splash of white wine (about 1/4 cup)

Salt & Pepper

Directions

1. Set your oven to 400F.

2. Thinly slice the mushrooms and shallots into slivers.

3. Spread them out evenly across a large well-oiled sheet pan.

4. Evenly distribute the sage leaves across the pan.

5. Drizzle with more olive oil, toss everything to lubricate, and then spread everything out evenly again in the pan.

6. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Bake at 400F for 15 mins.

8. Remove from the oven and add the butter, a splash of white wine if you have it, and the sliced garlic. Toss, and spread evenly again in the pan.

9. Bake for another 10 minutes until fragrant and nicely caramelized.

The Polenta

Ingredients

3 cups whole milk

3 cups stock

1 cup of grated Provolone Picante

4 tbsp butter

1 cup of cornmeal

salt to taste

Directions

1. Bring the milk and stock to a low boil in a heavy duty pot.

2. Slowly add the cornmeal and stir in gradually. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.

3. This recipe requires a bit of constant attention, as you'll want to continually stir the polenta so it doesn't clump up and stick to the bottom of the pot.

4. After about 25 minutes, add the cheese, butter, and salt. You can adjust with more liquid if you find it too thick.

5. After another 5 minutes, the polenta should be nice and creamy. It will firm up as it cools down.

6. Remove from the heat.

The final plate

1. Ladle a big spoonful of polenta into each bowl.

2. Top with the mushrooms and shallots. The sage will now be wonderfully crispy and can be used as an edible garnish on each plate.

3. Finish each plate with fresh cracked pepper and more grated cheese of your choice.

Venison + Ramp Sausage with Creamy Polenta

We made it through another week. Tomorrow might be one of those days filled with dread and anxiety, but right now is filled with the simple comfort of a big plate of creamy polenta, venison + ramp sausage, and a fried farm egg. This dish transports me back to the table with my parents and grandparents and hits on all the nostalgic notes that you could ask for. Video of the process is below.

The Sausage

I use about 40% pork fat to mix with the ground venison in this recipe.

2.8 lbs freshly ground venison

1.1 lbs ground pork fat

10 grams dehydrated ramp powder (recipe can be found here)

Dried chili flakes to taste

15 grams salt

2 tsp fennel seeds

15 grams brown sugar

Natural hog casings

Instructions

1. Mix together, by hand, all of your filling ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Carefully slide the sausage casing up onto the stuffing tube. Insert whatever joke you want here. Leave the end untied to allow air to pass through. You’ll tie it off at the end.

3. On the slowest setting, carefully feed the sausage mixture down into the hopper. You’ll want to work slow and steady, and pause whenever you have any complications. The goal is to have a uniform filling all the way through the casing, without it being packed too tight where the casing will break apart or burst. If you’re attempting this recipe, you’ll likely have made your own sausages before.

4. When you’ve finished stuffing your sausage now it’s time to tie your links. I typically will make small batches, so I’ll tie each link individually, gently applying pressure with my fingers where I want there to be a break, and then twisting it around to create a nice clean break between links. There are much more elegant and efficient ways to do this and lots of great Youtube videos from professional butchers who can help visualize this process.

5. Heat up some olive oil in a skillet and brown the sausage on all sides. Transfer the sausage to a pot of simmering red sauce to continue cooking for another 20 minutes. My classic red sauce recipe can be found here.

Creamy Polenta

1 cup coarse cornmeal

1/2 stick Butter

1 cup cubed provolone cheese

1 cup whole milk

2 - 3 cups chicken stock

Salt

Instructions

1. Bring 1 cup of milk and 2 cups of stock to a simmer and add the cornmeal.

2. You’ll need to constantly stir the polenta to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

3. Add in the butter and cubed provolone and keep stirring until it melts. Add salt to taste.

4. If it starts to feel a little too thick, add some reserved stock to thin it out. Keep adding more stock to maintain the right creamy texture. In total it will take about 30 minutes start to finish.