I've watched this video so many times for making perfect polenta and getting it right every time, that it ended up in a short movie. I was just making polenta for dinner and my friend decided to shoot the whole process and make a film out of it. I'll be really glad if you could pass by and share some comments 🖤 I'm surely going to be back here for my next polenta dish 😁 m.ruclips.net/video/kwSldHhq8eQ/видео.html
I'm Romanian and I remember eating this as a child with milk or feta cheese. None of my family know how to make it now. The grandmothers have passed away. I've been searching for years to find a way to make it without clumps. I tried this and it came out perfectly. The taste transported me to when I was a child. Absolutely blissful. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Oh, Chef John, I am 72 years old, and I remember my grandmother and mother making polenta. My mother made it like you just did, but she also molded it, and would make thick slices, fried them with a little olive oil and served it with a delicious tomato sauce that would have dried mushrooms. And more parmezano on top. Memories.....
Every. Sunday. The men would stir huge pots of polenta while we sat drinking 7-up out of cold glass bottles. Crispy, fried slices of polenta...nothing goes better with over easy eggs...nothing!
I am Romanian, and we still regularly eat polenta. It is a part of our traditional dishes. And for me, the smell of burned polenta that would sometimes fly out of the pan onto the searing hot iron stove sends me straight back to my childhood. Pro tip from a Romanian: Cook the polenta in some sort of heavy bottom pan, this way it won't burn on the bottom. And to figure out when the polenta is done cooking, check the bottom. If you tilt the dish and it slides off the bottom without leaving much polenta behind. It's done cooking. It should be a thin coat of polenta left behind, but not much else.
Coarse grind yellow polenta is a staple grain in Haitian cooking. We cook it with red beans and half and half coconut milk and water with seasonings. It's so good. I'm cooking it right now with smoked salted herring. We call is mais moulu ak aronson and it is always served with sliced ripe avocado. It's also very popular in Haiti to cook it with spinach or plain like in this video but with poached red snapper fish on top. YUMMY.
I thought about Hatians when I saw this I actually prefer the coarse ground cornmeal. I'm jamaican once I had the Hatian version I was sold out it's the best.
there is no one better on you tube for an entertaining cooking show than Chef John. his light, easy going banter and ability to teach in the same breath is phenomenal!
My father made polenta for us and it is still one of my favorite meals. After cooking it, he added lots of fried chopped bacon and cubes of cheddar cheese. Then he popped it in the oven for 10 minutes until the cheese was melted. I could eat that every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of it.
I just bought polenta today and didn't know what to do with it. But then I discovered this recipe and made it. Delicious! Always buying unknown things and then looking what to do with it afterwards is always good for delicious surprises :D
Growing up, we called it "corn meal mush". During winter, my mom would make big batches without the cheese, let it cool and harden into like a cake, cut it into blocks, and freeze it. For breakfast you cut the block into slices and pan-fry slices in butter, then smother em in maple syrup. Yum. Very cheap, and very hearty.
I come from a small rural village in Northern Italy, where polenta is pivotal in our cuisine, and my father always says that polenta should be hard enough so that it can be cut with twine. Also my grandfathers used to eat it with their hands
Polenta is the best substitute for bread,more healthy because it doesn’t have gluten. I’ve done polenta since I was a kid making it hard for fish bait. I am always doing it in a cast iron,the very best for polenta,with butter and a bit milk and add over it the parmigiana for decoration and sometimes a bit parsley,and yes I use always a wooden spoon,it is a must. Not sure if this will ever be that popular in USA but definitely one of the best treats. This goes with so many dishes,diary and meats .my favorite is with sweet milk,I got this from my grandma,she was an amazing cook! She would always call me to come over and have some,great memories. There is so much to say about polenta,it will bring joy and happiness around the table like no other meal. I will make it today and have it with fish and garlic sauce,this is definitely the ultimate combination,fish and polenta.
I used to make very cheesy green chili garlic polenta when I lived in Tucson and had access to fresh roasted chili. I’d spread it in a pan and refrigerate it, then cut in triangles and egg wash it and bread with panko and fry it. It was always a big hit. Never a crumb left! I just saw one made with yellow lentils added, for the vegetarians.... with curry. The possibilities are endless.
I am Brazilian 🇧🇷 and we call it “angu” we love eating it with Rice, beans, chicken and okra! Try one day! It’s amazing 😋 Ps.:This was the first video I watched on your Channel and I love it! You’re so funny 😊
I remember my parents making this when I was a little kid (we don't have money for kid's food back then) without the butter and cheese and it taste so goooood! I can't imagine how it would taste with butter and cheese and meat. I bet it's heaven on earth. Oh my golly wow, my mouth is watering right now!
My parents came from Treviso Italy, where it gets real cold in winter and where they also eat polenta for breakfast (it's a cereal, so don't get excited!). Many northern Italians blend their polenta with semolina at a 50/50 ratio before adding to the water, as 100% polenta is very grainy and unforgiving if cooked wrong. The 50/50 mix is much softer, and some stores sell the stuff already mixed! But always make more than needed and pour the excess into a baking dish. Once set, cut the firm polenta into 1 inch thick rectangles and place on a buttered and oiled hot frypan and turn down to medium. Do not move them for about 10 minutes or you will tear off the crusty skin. After 10 mins', you a safe to flip them over and wait the same. Add more butter/oil as you go. Use this instead of mash-potato or rice. Great in winter!
Rob S In middle America, we eat Scrapple, which is similar to what you are describing. Ours looks like fried shit, but it's a delicious addition to breakfast.
I don't understand how someone screws up polenta tho! It's literally water, grits/cornmeal & salt - well, where I'm from, we can add more than that to it - even okra. But still, it's a hard dish to screw up.
My mom made this, she called it cornmeal mush. She didn't put any cheese in it either. What was leftover fried the next morning. It's been years since I had any. I'm going to have to try yours! Yummy
@@ericmiles6413I've never heard of polenta in Puerto Rico, but it's very common to eat creams for breakfast: avena (oatmeal), crema de maíz (cornmeal porridge), farina, maicena (corn starch porridge).
This has become a favorite go-to recipe, especially accompanying seared pork chops slowly simmered in a marinara sauce and topped with Parmesan - just like mom used to make! ❤️
Nice to know that polenta is popular in other countries as well. In Romania we cook polenta often . It’s part of our traditional food and we eat it with almost any food, : cheese , milk, meat, sauce ... replacing the bread
My mom, from puerto rico used to make this for us especially in the cold Chicago weather many years ago, now i make it down here in Guatemala where i retired wtith my wife, delicious!!!😊😋thanks chef for posting❤
Thanks Chef. This one was really an instructional one. Never made Polenta before (we're Rice people here...) and I always wanted to. I knew it must be simple being so basic a food - but like all "Simple" things, the little there is to know - is SO important, that not knowing it you'll make a disaster... So now I first feel confident enough to try my own Polenta.
That looks delicious and it's what's for dinner tonight - with left over taco fixings. It's cold outside and this just looks like comfort food. Thank you Chef John, I haven't had this in decades.
My mom used to make a big pot of this on weekends for breakfast. Served with a slice of butter and then she would pour milk on top. It was like a hot cereal. Loved it!
Wow 😮 after all of these years I have finally learned the secret to making polenta. The real stuff. And you’re right Chef John I would only eat polenta at a restaurant because I had no clue how to make this superb food. Thank you so much for sharing with us your family recipe!!
Oh man. Wonderful memories of waking up at my grandparents house as a kid. The amazing country smell of breakfast cooking wafting in from down the hall. Eggs, bacon and grits. Polenta as I now understand it to be (no grits here in Australia sadly.) climbing up and sitting at a big table with red and white checkered tablecloth and those ornate blue and white china plates with windmills and farmhouse landscapes painted in. The thing I remember best is the wonderful taste and texture of the polenta. I’d pour sugar all over mine and slap a large glob of butter on it. Great times!
Happy to say, I milled some organic popcorn and made polenta for the first time. It tasted so fresh better than store bought polenta. Thank you for your instructions.
How about the Balkan recipe: Take one part polenta and mix it with 4 parts of water. Then, add table spoon salt, around 100 grams of full-fat butter and cook it (the way you explained). Afterwards, when done, get some olive oil (around 5 table spoons) in a pan and heat it way up. Add some red pepper (paprika) and pour it over the polenta. At the end, add around 100 grams of feta cottage chesse. You can try it with yougurt as well.
I def know the above as mamalegia, a dish my Rumanian grandfather made for my mom in Canada and then she made it for me growing up in the states. I love it! I’ve made it for my kids but they’re not as impressed 🤣
My wife is from Romania and I have fun with mamaliga. She said people in Moldova eat it more than in Bihor. All I know is first time eating it was great because of how serious people were about it. Pace.
I just used this technique with cornmeal, and it came out great. Also, I didn't have parmesan (because I never do, because it's too expensive) so I used a handful of shredded cheddar I happened to have on hand.
In South Africa we have a similar dish with the ground maize meal, called mieliepap. You can have it as slap pap (runny texture, then eaten as a breakfast porridge usually with sugar, butter and milk) or stywe pap (stiffer consistency, usually either as a starchy base of a meal like in your video or a side dish with tomato and onion mix on it at a braai) or even as krummelpap (crumbly texture, often with whole corn kernels added while cooking). Very versatile, delicious and filling. 😋
Been seeing a lot of polenta recipes here lately. Amazing how each has its own twist. In Italy, my mom made polenta at least once a week. We had a marble kitchen table and she would just pour the polenta onto the table. We would cut away a portion for ourselves, and added our favorite topping, or ate it plain. My mom would add beans to the pot while it was cooking. I still make it that way. Back then it was called peasant food. Today it’s considered a very expensive appetizer? Go figure.
Nice! I was taught to make polenta grassa as a child. We made it with half milk/water & added sizzled, browned butter at the end with some cheese. I like to let it set in a bowl then cut into cubes & fry till browned in butter. Makes good dumplings in soups. 😄👍
In the South, we call this “cheese grits”.... we’d use a stock that went with the meat ..... or just plain! Sometime baked and cut into squares. You’re giving me a hankering, Chef John!
Yep - these are grits. Call it polenta and it's a chic dish - but it's grits. And shrimp and a great sauce are ideal with it - as is about anything else. But I like it best when cooked in chicken stock and a little cheese and cream (no, not cream cheese although that might be good) are added.
This is the polenta/grits I've been looking for. Never liked grits in the past (eating out at diners) and this recipe is what I wanted grits/polenta to be, taste great.
I make this at least twice a week. My mother in law who was born in Italy taught me how to make this simply. 1 C. Meal to 4 C H20. Instead of cooking it first, put all ingredients together in a bowl and let set. Stirring occasionally. You can even put it in fridge overnight. But let set at least 8 hours. Set on stove till it comes to a boil. Stirring constantly to a boil. Remove from heat. Cover and let set for 30 minutes. It’s done! No splashing on you for burns and believe me as it will stick to your skin. I will use or pour into mini loaf pans to slice and brown for use in the morning instead of toast. Great with over medium eggs. Depending on use. Main dishes I will add 2tbl. Butter and 3/4 C. Parmesan cheese. Yummy from table to tummy.
I always love your routine puns, on this one I told myself a few times "I am the Jason Borne of my ground corn" and then had a little chuckle. Love your stuff Chef John!
You are the Jason Bourne of your ground corn.... where do you come up with these jokes??? You are adorable! Thanks for your vids and your great personality. I'm hooked!
i think he gets inspiration from his commenters, people will sometimes carpet bomb the comments section with little suggested rhymes like that, but he'd still need to come up with his own new rhyme for new recipes. a rhyming dictionary/site helps, they use those for musicians and poets so it'd help with Chef John's little limericks.
folks, this is the single best video on all youtube database. I prepare polenta thanks to this to everyone, and also say “hey fun girl”, people then ask, and I just tell them to check the best single video on youtube
@Anthony Mars i dont get the "fun girl" one, the closest italian swears i've heard to that are close are "Vaffanculo" which is "go fuck yourself" or "figlio di puttana" which is "son of a bitch" (i knew the swears but had to check the spelling)
My grandmother (nonna) made it with tomato sauce on top. My father from the Midwest cooked it, put it in a loaf pan to chill then deep fried it. They tasted a little like Fritos...
I grew up eating Polenta, or as I called it, "Italian Grits". It just amazes me, this was a poor man's food, then the Yuppie's got a hold of it and now it's rich guy's food. Kind of like lobster in the old days .
Not just yuppies. There's all kinds of food from all over the world that started as food of the poor and got co-opted by the well to do, or even the middle class, and turned into fancy food. Like beef bourguignon and bouillabaisse.
@@marka4891 I was at this high end tea shop where the menu listed an item with the description "rice boiled until silky smooth" and realized it's "jook", a common rice porridge dish at Chinese restaurants.
That looks great, (minus the flesh of course) I'm one of "those people" so I will add a nice mixed roasted veggies on top with tahini sauce. Thanks for making this look so easy to do!
Y'all here in Tennessee this is grits. Yellow grits. There's also white grits and even purple/red grits from certain corn strains. We run a grist mill and its fantastic cooked down with milk and real butter. You can even cook them in a crock pot. You can either go savory or sweet with salt or sugar but I prefer savory with some parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of green onions as a side to pot roast, pork roast, or of course topped with shrimp or bacon. My daughter is doing shrimp and grit shooters and a bacon bar as her appetizers for her wedding lol.
Traditional in Romania. It is called ,, mamaliga,, and we eat with stuffed cabbage instead of bread, or we put crumbled feta mixed with sour cream on top of it, and 2 sunny side up eggs. Or with any meat and sauce.
I’ve been a fan for a decade , love your work , follow you, I’ve told all of my friends and relatives directing them to your site. Now, on the desktop computer, if I try to print ingredients for a recipe - it’s not allowed! To comment goes to a blog post - Everything looks flashy and clean - but at the expense of the intimacy you had cultivated. The new days are here: pay, pay, pay, go away.
in romania we do one part corn meal to three parts water, it comes out harder and you could eat it with your hand when it's chilled lol, we also like to believe that's a traditional romanian dish... we do it eat with sarmale (which are stuffed cabbage rolls)
Pamela Campbell We sure do! Do you add anything else? My mom is fond of making hers okra & smoked herring, which surprisingly, is pretty good, if you like smoked herring that is. 😁
I was always curious about what polenta was. I grew up in the Southern US. Imagine my surprise when I figured out Polenta is really Italian grits. 🤣 I've been eating them for most of my life. We serve it next to sausage, eggs, and biscuits for breakfast.
This recipe is absolutely priceless and easy to do, in the end you have a very tasty addition to your meal. Chef John, could you please share a recipe for grits dessert?
In South Africa we use the white corn and make it with salt only, we sometimes add butter sugar and milk for breakfast and any other times as a side dish for barbeques or main meal with atchar or sardines. Very versatile and a staple food.
Funny, because my Italian dad used to say "va fun gu" and I never knew what it meant either. But I just assumed it meant f*$#, and it appears from the other commenters that I was right! Anyway, thanks for showing me all the dirty little polenta secrets... I have never actually made this at home but now I'm planning all kinds of polenta toppings (which I will now lovingly refer to as "poloppings")!
In my country we call it mămăligă and we do it differently. If you leave it so much on the fire I've seen it tends to stick. We usually put a part of the polenta, let it boil really well and then put the rest of it. It takes less than 30 mins that way. Try a soft polenta over a soft boyled egg and with yougurt on top. yummy!
This video is 9 years old and RUclips, in its infinite wisdom, decided to recommend it. They must have been looking over my shoulder when I was at the grocery store yesterday. No kidding. I was there in the aisle, looking at the bulk organic polenta container and thinking to myself, "I really should learn to cook that stuff". So yes, RUclips doesn't only track your YT activity. They also read your thoughts when you're at the market. Okay, just kidding ... but really ... I'm also a vegetarian. So thanks for throwing me a bone! I'll definitely be making this recipe in the next few days!
Also scrumptious made slightly thicker with fried onion, chopped tomato and bacon stirred in. Can be eaten cold, sliced into wedges or pan fried next day. Versatile, delicious, filling.
Every culture that grows corn has some variation of cooked corn mush. The difference between polenta and grits (other than the name) is the liquid used. Polenta uses water and/or stock while grits uses water and/or milk.
I was always told grits uses a different type of corn as well. I can't spell it so don't laugh too hard. Homony? I may be wrong, but That's what I was told.
Hi! ☺ Thank you SO much for making this video on Polenta!!! 😛😛😛 I make mine with the exact same ingredients as yours. But, I do stand @ the stove & stir, srir, stir from beginning to end. I never timed it, but I know it doesn't take 30 minutes for mine? Maybe I have been under cooking it all these years 😄😄. I would guess less than 15 minutes & we don't eat it soft (Grandma did serve it soft or fried). I put it in a bread type loaf pan, let it sit all day or overnight (@ room temperature), then slice & fry it in olive oil. We like it with homemade Pasta sauce, sausage in a white gravy or for breakfast with maple syrup. This is Grandmas recipe. I hope that your Utube audience gives it a try, no doubt, they will luvluvluv it! ☺☺😎😎
Hot tip to whomever is still watching this clip after more than 5 years: cook the polenta a la Chef John (or take the pre-cooked one) but take half milk/half water ... or if you can afford it weight wise take full cream! Towards the end add a generous amount of chopped FRESH mint, stir well and enjoy the great taste. Ever since I made this once my hubby wants polenta no other way ;-).
Okay, so. This is EXACTLY how I have made grits my whole life. I have been googling the difference between grits and polenta and all i keep finding is "polenta is made with coarse-ground yellow corn whereas grits are made with finer-ground white corn". ..but I have always preferred course-ground yellow grits to fine-ground white grits. Have I essentially been eating polenta the whole time?
Actually southern grits are made from dried hominy, nixtamalized corn of any variety. When carpret baggers gained control of the South, they decided to save money and skipped the nixtamalize part of the process. If you get served the cornmeal mush sometimes sold as grits, just remember it's the yankee version!
Chef, I made this and used the leftover (beef) genovese on top. Of course, it was phenomenal. Your rigatoni/ziti alla genovese is our favorite meal and I serve it to company all the time. Truly a winner. Thanks so much.for all the fabulous recipes you share with us.
When I was growing up we called it corn meal mush. The day it was made we ate it with sugar and butter with a little milk. The left over mush was put in a loaf pan and put in the refrigerator. The next day Momma would slice and fry it, then serve it with butter and syrup. Yum!!!
When I was a boy my dad made this all the time. He used white meal. He would cook it and put in on a plate and then in the fridge over night. Next morning he would slice it about 1/2 “ thick. Then he’d get the black iron skillet, grease and fry it until it almost black. That’s the way we liked it. Then get some strawberries and cream or sometimes jelly and mix it with cream. The take the polenta and dip it in the strawberries and cream and eat it. Boy it was so good. I miss my mom and dad
Check out the recipe: www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/234933/How-to-Make-Perfect-Polenta/
Ak8ča47bč8ć
I've watched this video so many times for making perfect polenta and getting it right every time, that it ended up in a short movie. I was just making polenta for dinner and my friend decided to shoot the whole process and make a film out of it. I'll be really glad if you could pass by and share some comments 🖤 I'm surely going to be back here for my next polenta dish 😁 m.ruclips.net/video/kwSldHhq8eQ/видео.html
What that polenta needs is a big squirt of ketchup on top!
Your grandfather was likely saying va fangul, or affanculo 😂. They both are F word expletives 😁
@@jessstuart7495 NOOOOO!!!! 😱
I'm Romanian and I remember eating this as a child with milk or feta cheese. None of my family know how to make it now. The grandmothers have passed away. I've been searching for years to find a way to make it without clumps. I tried this and it came out perfectly. The taste transported me to when I was a child. Absolutely blissful. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Încearcă cu brânză de burduf și șuncă 😋
❤❤its amazing that he can reintroduce recipes to so many
Eu fac tot timpul din malai grişat
there is no corn. it is a legend
mamaliga
Oh, Chef John, I am 72 years old, and I remember my grandmother and mother making polenta. My mother made it like you just did, but she also molded it, and would make thick slices, fried them with a little olive oil and served it with a delicious tomato sauce that would have dried mushrooms. And more parmezano on top. Memories.....
Frying polenta is the ultimate test for a non-stick pan.
Oooh! YUM 😋!!
Okay, now I need the fried polenta/grits. Cause they make the best croutons for people like me with celiac. I miss wheat so bad
@@ririmuchan I miss wheat too 😔
Every. Sunday. The men would stir huge pots of polenta while we sat drinking 7-up out of cold glass bottles. Crispy, fried slices of polenta...nothing goes better with over easy eggs...nothing!
The best feeling is looking up a recipe and immediately finding a chef john video
I am Romanian, and we still regularly eat polenta. It is a part of our traditional dishes. And for me, the smell of burned polenta that would sometimes fly out of the pan onto the searing hot iron stove sends me straight back to my childhood.
Pro tip from a Romanian: Cook the polenta in some sort of heavy bottom pan, this way it won't burn on the bottom. And to figure out when the polenta is done cooking, check the bottom. If you tilt the dish and it slides off the bottom without leaving much polenta behind. It's done cooking. It should be a thin coat of polenta left behind, but not much else.
Polenta is the national dish of Northern Italy (alongside Risotto) . Almost unknown in the South. I love it.
The comedy on this channel is unparalleled lmao!!!! Food and laughter...what more do you need in life?!?!?! Thanx for this!
Reginald Rich II chef John = best
Coarse grind yellow polenta is a staple grain in Haitian cooking. We cook it with red beans and half and half coconut milk and water with seasonings. It's so good. I'm cooking it right now with smoked salted herring. We call is mais moulu ak aronson and it is always served with sliced ripe avocado. It's also very popular in Haiti to cook it with spinach or plain like in this video but with poached red snapper fish on top. YUMMY.
Thanks, luckyrabbit2! I'm off to look for a recipe of mais mouli...
Bruh! Seriously, I was like, "Mayi moulen blan" is not haitian!?
I thought about Hatians when I saw this I actually prefer the coarse ground cornmeal. I'm jamaican once I had the Hatian version I was sold out it's the best.
That sounds amazing
luckrabbit2 You definitely need your own RUclips channel! That sounds incredible - stuff I can barely visualise let alone taste! Do it!
there is no one better on you tube for an entertaining cooking show than Chef John. his light, easy going banter and ability to teach in the same breath is phenomenal!
My father made polenta for us and it is still one of my favorite meals. After cooking it, he added lots of fried chopped bacon and cubes of cheddar cheese. Then he popped it in the oven for 10 minutes until the cheese was melted. I could eat that every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of it.
I just bought polenta today and didn't know what to do with it. But then I discovered this recipe and made it. Delicious!
Always buying unknown things and then looking what to do with it afterwards is always good for delicious surprises :D
Growing up, we called it "corn meal mush". During winter, my mom would make big batches without the cheese, let it cool and harden into like a cake, cut it into blocks, and freeze it. For breakfast you cut the block into slices and pan-fry slices in butter, then smother em in maple syrup. Yum. Very cheap, and very hearty.
I’m so doing this
I pan fry it in homemade lard. That’s how people did it in old days.
I remember that meal. I was just thinking of the same thing myself.
@@catherinedurbin9298 sounds like a dish...🤤
My mother did this in Iowa. We ate it hot with butter for breakfast, but she always chilled the leftovers in a loaf tin, sliced and fried. Heavenly.
I come from a small rural village in Northern Italy, where polenta is pivotal in our cuisine, and my father always says that polenta should be hard enough so that it can be cut with twine. Also my grandfathers used to eat it with their hands
Polenta is the best substitute for bread,more healthy because it doesn’t have gluten. I’ve done polenta since I was a kid making it hard for fish bait. I am always doing it in a cast iron,the very best for polenta,with butter and a bit milk and add over it the parmigiana for decoration and sometimes a bit parsley,and yes I use always a wooden spoon,it is a must. Not sure if this will ever be that popular in USA but definitely one of the best treats.
This goes with so many dishes,diary and meats .my favorite is with sweet milk,I got this from my grandma,she was an amazing cook! She would always call me to come over and have some,great memories.
There is so much to say about polenta,it will bring joy and happiness around the table like no other meal. I will make it today and have it with fish and garlic sauce,this is definitely the ultimate combination,fish and polenta.
I used to make very cheesy green chili garlic polenta when I lived in Tucson and had access to fresh roasted chili. I’d spread it in a pan and refrigerate it, then cut in triangles and egg wash it and bread with panko and fry it. It was always a big hit. Never a crumb left!
I just saw one made with yellow lentils added, for the vegetarians.... with curry. The possibilities are endless.
I am Brazilian 🇧🇷 and we call it “angu” we love eating it with Rice, beans, chicken and okra! Try one day! It’s amazing 😋
Ps.:This was the first video I watched on your Channel and I love it! You’re so funny 😊
I remember my parents making this when I was a little kid (we don't have money for kid's food back then) without the butter and cheese and it taste so goooood! I can't imagine how it would taste with butter and cheese and meat. I bet it's heaven on earth. Oh my golly wow, my mouth is watering right now!
My parents came from Treviso Italy, where it gets real cold in winter and where they also eat polenta for breakfast (it's a cereal, so don't get excited!). Many northern Italians blend their polenta with semolina at a 50/50 ratio before adding to the water, as 100% polenta is very grainy and unforgiving if cooked wrong. The 50/50 mix is much softer, and some stores sell the stuff already mixed! But always make more than needed and pour the excess into a baking dish. Once set, cut the firm polenta into 1 inch thick rectangles and place on a buttered and oiled hot frypan and turn down to medium. Do not move them for about 10 minutes or you will tear off the crusty skin. After 10 mins', you a safe to flip them over and wait the same. Add more butter/oil as you go. Use this instead of mash-potato or rice. Great in winter!
Isn't that when u get pregnant and u eat it whatever something like that?
+Taralyn Duke
It's what you eat when you don't have a lot of money.
Taralyn Duke that's PLACENTA LMAOOOO
Rob S
In middle America, we eat Scrapple, which is similar to what you are describing. Ours looks like fried shit, but it's a delicious addition to breakfast.
I don't understand how someone screws up polenta tho! It's literally water, grits/cornmeal & salt - well, where I'm from, we can add more than that to it - even okra. But still, it's a hard dish to screw up.
My mom made this, she called it cornmeal mush. She didn't put any cheese in it either. What was leftover fried the next morning. It's been years since I had any. I'm going to have to try yours! Yummy
I have to adopt your narration technique when explaining recipes to my friends. It’s so weirdly satisfying
I am Puerto Rican and I've never eaten it this way. I am so excited to try this recipe. It looks delicious.Thank you so much!
How do you cook PR style polenta ? Thank-you
@@ericmiles6413I've never heard of polenta in Puerto Rico, but it's very common to eat creams for breakfast: avena (oatmeal), crema de maíz (cornmeal porridge), farina, maicena (corn starch porridge).
This has become a favorite go-to recipe, especially accompanying seared pork chops slowly simmered in a marinara sauce and topped with Parmesan - just like mom used to make! ❤️
My husband asked me to make polenta (which I’ve never done nor am I a huge fan)
Holy crap! This is super delicious!
Made it to go with my stew🥰🥰🥰🥰
Nice to know that polenta is popular in other countries as well. In Romania we cook polenta often . It’s part of our traditional food and we eat it with almost any food, : cheese , milk, meat, sauce ... replacing the bread
My mom, from puerto rico used to make this for us especially in the cold Chicago weather many years ago, now i make it down here in Guatemala where i retired wtith my wife, delicious!!!😊😋thanks chef for posting❤
Thanks Chef. This one was really an instructional one. Never made Polenta before (we're Rice people here...) and I always wanted to. I knew it must be simple being so basic a food - but like all "Simple" things, the little there is to know - is SO important, that not knowing it you'll make a disaster...
So now I first feel confident enough to try my own Polenta.
That looks delicious and it's what's for dinner tonight - with left over taco fixings. It's cold outside and this just looks like comfort food. Thank you Chef John, I haven't had this in decades.
My mom used to make a big pot of this on weekends for breakfast. Served with a slice of butter and then she would pour milk on top. It was like a hot cereal. Loved it!
Wow 😮 after all of these years I have finally learned the secret to making polenta. The real stuff. And you’re right Chef John I would only eat polenta at a restaurant because I had no clue how to make this superb food. Thank you so much for sharing with us your family recipe!!
A chef once asked," What's the difference between cornmeal mush and polenta?"..... about $20.00 lol.
Love this recipe! I make it with milk instead of water, but now I will mix in broth as well. Delicious 😋
Oh man. Wonderful memories of waking up at my grandparents house as a kid. The amazing country smell of breakfast cooking wafting in from down the hall. Eggs, bacon and grits. Polenta as I now understand it to be (no grits here in Australia sadly.) climbing up and sitting at a big table with red and white checkered tablecloth and those ornate blue and white china plates with windmills and farmhouse landscapes painted in. The thing I remember best is the wonderful taste and texture of the polenta. I’d pour sugar all over mine and slap a large glob of butter on it. Great times!
Happy to say, I milled some organic popcorn and made polenta for the first time. It tasted so fresh better than store bought polenta. Thank you for your instructions.
Chef Frank, is that you?
@@TD-ug4mg not Chef Frank, Chef Jen 😊
How about the Balkan recipe: Take one part polenta and mix it with 4 parts of water. Then, add table spoon salt, around 100 grams of full-fat butter and cook it (the way you explained). Afterwards, when done, get some olive oil (around 5 table spoons) in a pan and heat it way up. Add some red pepper (paprika) and pour it over the polenta. At the end, add around 100 grams of feta cottage chesse. You can try it with yougurt as well.
I like it with fruit jelly 😊
Yep, yum!
I def know the above as mamalegia, a dish my Rumanian grandfather made for my mom in Canada and then she made it for me growing up in the states. I love it! I’ve made it for my kids but they’re not as impressed 🤣
Yes burned butter with feta on top. Reminds me of my childhood
Njam njam
I love this! In my language we call this mãmãligã and it's so delicious I'm gonna go make this right now!!!!! Thanks Chef John!
My wife is from Romania and I have fun with mamaliga. She said people in Moldova eat it more than in Bihor. All I know is first time eating it was great because of how serious people were about it. Pace.
Mamaliga cu branza si smantana 🤤
I've never had polenta, but I'm really excited to try it! This looks great. I want to try it alone, and with some spiced lentils.
Thanks for this!
I just used this technique with cornmeal, and it came out great. Also, I didn't have parmesan (because I never do, because it's too expensive) so I used a handful of shredded cheddar I happened to have on hand.
“Throw vegetarians a bone” 🤣🤣🤣 that took me out
No!! "Let them eat cake"! Corn meal "cake"!! :D
I found that far funnier than I should have. 😂😂🙄
funny thing is that the recipe isn't even vegetarian as it uses Parmesan cheese that contains sheeps and baby cow stomachs
@@jburton7978 You can buy soy cheese!
@@luga718 Or flavored breadcrumbs.
when I grew up we called this corn meal mush!
Awesome stuff, sprinkled with bacon makes it extra special!
In South Africa we have a similar dish with the ground maize meal, called mieliepap. You can have it as slap pap (runny texture, then eaten as a breakfast porridge usually with sugar, butter and milk) or stywe pap (stiffer consistency, usually either as a starchy base of a meal like in your video or a side dish with tomato and onion mix on it at a braai) or even as krummelpap (crumbly texture, often with whole corn kernels added while cooking). Very versatile, delicious and filling. 😋
I was thinking the same thing.😊
I'm literally watching this video to see if pollenta can replace pap since I live in Thailand now, no mieliemeel here 😢
Been seeing a lot of polenta recipes here lately. Amazing how each has its own twist. In Italy, my mom made polenta at least once a week. We had a marble kitchen table and she would just pour the polenta onto the table. We would cut away a portion for ourselves, and added our favorite topping, or ate it plain. My mom would add beans to the pot while it was cooking. I still make it that way. Back then it was called peasant food. Today it’s considered a very expensive appetizer? Go figure.
Nice! I was taught to make polenta grassa as a child. We made it with half milk/water & added sizzled, browned butter at the end with some cheese. I like to let it set in a bowl then cut into cubes & fry till browned in butter. Makes good dumplings in soups. 😄👍
We call this “mush” when I was a kid. Daddy put it in a loaf pan over nite, the next morning he sliced and fried it with bacon and eggs! Sooo good!
Yes!!!!! I love it sliced and fried.🤗🤗
In the South, we call this “cheese grits”.... we’d use a stock that went with the meat ..... or just plain! Sometime baked and cut into squares.
You’re giving me a hankering, Chef John!
Yeah, it reminded me of thin grits.
Yep - these are grits. Call it polenta and it's a chic dish - but it's grits. And shrimp and a great sauce are ideal with it - as is about anything else. But I like it best when cooked in chicken stock and a little cheese and cream (no, not cream cheese although that might be good) are added.
The way you speak is like a narrator. So much life into your words 😅 I feel like I am listening to some kind of story.
you never seen his old videos have you?
Yes--I love how Chef John narrates. And yes, I would agree his voice, pitch, etc. does have a nice story-telling quality too!
Saditsha Dhungana i
He's not like a narrator he is actually narrating. Get a dictionary.
This guy gets it! The fabulous story of food; the main reason for,... and the cause of,...…. living!!
This is the polenta/grits I've been looking for. Never liked grits in the past (eating out at diners) and this recipe is what I wanted grits/polenta to be, taste great.
I love this with your Italian Peposo dell' Impruneta recipe. We've made it several times, always perfect and super easy.
This looks so good! I'm serving braised oxtails with my polenta.
Yum!
i need to stop watching these before i go to bed, im so hungry now..
I ONLY watch these before bed. Then I dine on the hunger, nourish myself on suffering.
Bro same here 🤤
@@lsb2623 ha!
This was the first time I tasted and made polenta, and it turned out just so delicious because of these instructions. Thank you Chef John!
I make this at least twice a week. My mother in law who was born in Italy taught me how to make this simply. 1 C. Meal to 4 C H20. Instead of cooking it first, put all ingredients together in a bowl and let set. Stirring occasionally. You can even put it in fridge overnight. But let set at least 8 hours. Set on stove till it comes to a boil. Stirring constantly to a boil. Remove from heat. Cover and let set for 30 minutes. It’s done! No splashing on you for burns and believe me as it will stick to your skin. I will use or pour into mini loaf pans to slice and brown for use in the morning instead of toast. Great with over medium eggs. Depending on use. Main dishes I will add 2tbl. Butter and 3/4 C. Parmesan cheese. Yummy from table to tummy.
I always love your routine puns, on this one I told myself a few times "I am the Jason Borne of my ground corn" and then had a little chuckle. Love your stuff Chef John!
How creamy 😍😍😍
You are the Jason Bourne of your ground corn.... where do you come up with these jokes??? You are adorable! Thanks for your vids and your great personality. I'm hooked!
He, like me, has an 'ear' for 'corny' jokes. :D
SS4Xanatos Bahaha I'm ashamed that I laughed at that one as hard as I did. Well done.
Thanks! Had it been potatoes, I would have said "eye" instead of "ear". Lol
i think he gets inspiration from his commenters, people will sometimes carpet bomb the comments section with little suggested rhymes like that, but he'd still need to come up with his own new rhyme for new recipes. a rhyming dictionary/site helps, they use those for musicians and poets so it'd help with Chef John's little limericks.
you had me at "you're the Jason Bourne of ground corn."
Jesus Christ, that's Jason Corn.
Badum Tshhh
Cruithne ba dum tsss*
lauren Leith I was about to make the dame comment😂
You lost me at the "...you had me."
Great video John, I love the way you explain the cooking process in a cheeky way👍
folks, this is the single best video on all youtube database. I prepare polenta thanks to this to everyone, and also say “hey fun girl”, people then ask, and I just tell them to check the best single video on youtube
I love to cook polenta in winter: You can add cheese and gravy, take the bowl with you to the sofa and eat by dipping pieces of toast in it. Yum!
The Italians say when burning themselves “fun girl” and the Germans say “shy sir” lol 😂
This sounds like my dating profile. I am a shy sir, looking for a fun girl.
@Anthony Mars shy sir sounds close to scheisse, which is just about the most common german swear word.
Vacconcole?
@Anthony Mars i dont get the "fun girl" one, the closest italian swears i've heard to that are close are "Vaffanculo" which is "go fuck yourself" or "figlio di puttana" which is "son of a bitch" (i knew the swears but had to check the spelling)
“Va fangul!” was probably what he was saying lol. He must’ve been a character too!
My grandmother (nonna) made it with tomato sauce on top. My father from the Midwest cooked it, put it in a loaf pan to chill then deep fried it. They tasted a little like Fritos...
Foolproof method - just what I've been looking for for years!
Thank you! your recipes never disappoint. I have the most amazing meals when I cook your recipes. 😊
I grew up eating Polenta, or as I called it, "Italian Grits". It just amazes me, this was a poor man's food, then the Yuppie's got a hold of it and now it's rich guy's food. Kind of like lobster in the old days .
Not just yuppies. There's all kinds of food from all over the world that started as food of the poor and got co-opted by the well to do, or even the middle class, and turned into fancy food. Like beef bourguignon and bouillabaisse.
Lol I see what u did there! 😆 🤣
@@marka4891 I was at this high end tea shop where the menu listed an item with the description "rice boiled until silky smooth" and realized it's "jook", a common rice porridge dish at Chinese restaurants.
That looks great, (minus the flesh of course) I'm one of "those people" so I will add a nice mixed roasted veggies on top with tahini sauce. Thanks for making this look so easy to do!
I'm doing beans and greens over it. Kale and pinto beans with garlic and chili flakes...mmm
In Romania we call this "mămăligă" and eat it almost every day, it works like bread basically:)))
How many times can one like this video!!! You’re my best friend in my head Chef John
Polenta has been a meal for my family for decades. The next day we would try the leftovers (cut into cubes) in butter and then top it with fried eggs.
Just a hint. Stir half a cup of polenta into the water first when it is COLD. This way you will never get lumps once the water heats up to a boil.
"Throw vegetarians a bone".
Hehe.
That made me laugh!
Btw, I'm a vegetarian!
Thanks, Chef.
Love from India.
Another meat eater converted to vegetarian from India. ✌️
Then he put butter and cheese in it .....hahahaha
@@wvcaver774 yeah. It’s vegetarian not vegan
Same
@@galaxygod5205 Parmesan is not vegetarian
I’ve never tried polenta, but I bought a bag, and I’m gonna try your method, looks AMAZING 😍
Y'all here in Tennessee this is grits. Yellow grits. There's also white grits and even purple/red grits from certain corn strains. We run a grist mill and its fantastic cooked down with milk and real butter. You can even cook them in a crock pot. You can either go savory or sweet with salt or sugar but I prefer savory with some parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of green onions as a side to pot roast, pork roast, or of course topped with shrimp or bacon. My daughter is doing shrimp and grit shooters and a bacon bar as her appetizers for her wedding lol.
I used to it that as a dessert, long time I never eat that anymore. Thank you for your recipe.
Braised beef cheeks in wine sauce on polenta. YUM!
vegasrenie Ooooh yum!! Never had it but I’ll definitely be trying it!
A stew of boar, garlic, tomatoes and onion...garlic.....omg
Oxtails!
Veal shank osso bucco 😋
In my youth this was a main meal many days a week.I am a Depression survivor.
Traditional in Romania. It is called ,, mamaliga,, and we eat with stuffed cabbage instead of bread, or we put crumbled feta mixed with sour cream on top of it, and 2 sunny side up eggs. Or with any meat and sauce.
I’ve been a fan for a decade , love your work , follow you, I’ve told all of my friends and relatives directing them to your site. Now, on the desktop computer, if I try to print ingredients for a recipe - it’s not allowed! To comment goes to a blog post - Everything looks flashy and clean - but at the expense of the intimacy you had cultivated. The new days are here: pay, pay, pay, go away.
I’m vegan and I absolutely love watching ur channel...bone fetched! ;)
in romania we do one part corn meal to three parts water, it comes out harder and you could eat it with your hand when it's chilled lol, we also like to believe that's a traditional romanian dish... we do it eat with sarmale (which are stuffed cabbage rolls)
Ileana Profeanu we in the Caribbean do it like yours also.
Pamela Campbell We sure do! Do you add anything else? My mom is fond of making hers okra & smoked herring, which surprisingly, is pretty good, if you like smoked herring that is. 😁
I was always curious about what polenta was. I grew up in the Southern US. Imagine my surprise when I figured out Polenta is really Italian grits. 🤣 I've been eating them for most of my life. We serve it next to sausage, eggs, and biscuits for breakfast.
Ive finally been watching Masterchef, and was like...what is that stuff. Ill have to add it to my menu....what is it served with(ideally)?
This recipe is absolutely priceless and easy to do, in the end you have a very tasty addition to your meal.
Chef John, could you please share a recipe for grits dessert?
Chef John! I just found you and I will never let you go. New subscriber.😊
In South Africa we use the white corn and make it with salt only, we sometimes add butter sugar and milk for breakfast and any other times as a side dish for barbeques or main meal with atchar or sardines. Very versatile and a staple food.
haha your granddad was saying VAFFANCULO! He was cursing being burned
I think Chef John is very aware of that!
T Verga But I wasn't! Thanks for the clarification Roz Sa
Funny, because my Italian dad used to say "va fun gu" and I never knew what it meant either. But I just assumed it meant f*$#, and it appears from the other commenters that I was right! Anyway, thanks for showing me all the dirty little polenta secrets... I have never actually made this at home but now I'm planning all kinds of polenta toppings (which I will now lovingly refer to as "poloppings")!
va fanculo is Italian dialect for up your ass - In full Italian it would be vai a fare in culo.
You are partly right but add to that the persons behind.
In my country we call it mămăligă and we do it differently. If you leave it so much on the fire I've seen it tends to stick. We usually put a part of the polenta, let it boil really well and then put the rest of it. It takes less than 30 mins that way. Try a soft polenta over a soft boyled egg and with yougurt on top. yummy!
Mamaliga! Ce pofta am:)
This video is 9 years old and RUclips, in its infinite wisdom, decided to recommend it. They must have been looking over my shoulder when I was at the grocery store yesterday. No kidding. I was there in the aisle, looking at the bulk organic polenta container and thinking to myself, "I really should learn to cook that stuff".
So yes, RUclips doesn't only track your YT activity. They also read your thoughts when you're at the market.
Okay, just kidding ... but really ... I'm also a vegetarian. So thanks for throwing me a bone! I'll definitely be making this recipe in the next few days!
Also scrumptious made slightly thicker with fried onion, chopped tomato and bacon stirred in. Can be eaten cold, sliced into wedges or pan fried next day. Versatile, delicious, filling.
Jason Bourne ALWAYS cooks his polenta the Chef John way.
Every culture that grows corn has some variation of cooked corn mush. The difference between polenta and grits (other than the name) is the liquid used. Polenta uses water and/or stock while grits uses water and/or milk.
There are recipes for polenta which use milk
I was always told grits uses a different type of corn as well. I can't spell it so don't laugh too hard. Homony? I may be wrong, but That's what I was told.
NoName ForMe hominy
janeyrevanescence12 Grits are ground up rice
Amaya McNeil the grits I'm thinking of are made from ground hominy corn, unless you're thinking of something else.
Hi! ☺ Thank you SO much for making this video on Polenta!!! 😛😛😛 I make mine with the exact same ingredients as yours. But, I do stand @ the stove & stir, srir, stir from beginning to end. I never timed it, but I know it doesn't take 30 minutes for mine? Maybe I have been under cooking it all these years 😄😄. I would guess less than 15 minutes & we don't eat it soft (Grandma did serve it soft or fried). I put it in a bread type loaf pan, let it sit all day or overnight (@ room temperature), then slice & fry it in olive oil. We like it with homemade Pasta sauce, sausage in a white gravy or for breakfast with maple syrup. This is Grandmas recipe. I hope that your Utube audience gives it a try, no doubt, they will luvluvluv it! ☺☺😎😎
I made this today, I followed the recipe and advice, absolutely perfect polenta, thank you.
Hot tip to whomever is still watching this clip after more than 5 years: cook the polenta a la Chef John (or take the pre-cooked one) but take half milk/half water ... or if you can afford it weight wise take full cream! Towards the end add a generous amount of chopped FRESH mint, stir well and enjoy the great taste. Ever since I made this once my hubby wants polenta no other way ;-).
hey other veggies, hows it going?
Better to be fruit than a vegetable - specially in the hospital.
Going great! Let's slap that guy with our bones haha
@@Anal0Avenger Better a red fatty meat than fruits. That's the healthier food they lie people about. I found out the hard way.
Okay, so. This is EXACTLY how I have made grits my whole life. I have been googling the difference between grits and polenta and all i keep finding is "polenta is made with coarse-ground yellow corn whereas grits are made with finer-ground white corn".
..but I have always preferred course-ground yellow grits to fine-ground white grits. Have I essentially been eating polenta the whole time?
Yusssss.
Actually southern grits are made from dried hominy, nixtamalized corn of any variety. When carpret baggers gained control of the South, they decided to save money and skipped the nixtamalize part of the process. If you get served the cornmeal mush sometimes sold as grits, just remember it's the yankee version!
I never cooked Polenta in my life I don’t know how is tasting, u are cooking is really good thank you I will cook one day to tasted
Chef, I made this and used the leftover (beef) genovese on top. Of course, it was phenomenal. Your rigatoni/ziti alla genovese is our favorite meal and I serve it to company all the time. Truly a winner. Thanks so much.for all the fabulous recipes you share with us.
Grits?
No ground yeilow corn, grits are ground homini.
Janet Anne I always wondered the difference
@@janetanne9413 what about yellow grits
Basically
@@janetanne9413 Its yellow grits
This is basically grits made with yellow corn as opposed to hominy like I'm used to. I'm pretty interested in trying this sometime though.
I just made this for dinner and put BBQ meatballs on top. Why didn't you tell me it was so filling.. I'm busting at the seams!
Travis Peterson lady. Add blacken shrimp. Delicioso.
When I was growing up we called it corn meal mush. The day it was made we ate it with sugar and butter with a little milk. The left over mush was put in a loaf pan and put in the refrigerator. The next day Momma would slice and fry it, then serve it with butter and syrup. Yum!!!
My mom did the same
When I was a boy my dad made this all the time. He used white meal. He would cook it and put in on a plate and then in the fridge over night. Next morning he would slice it about 1/2 “ thick. Then he’d get the black iron skillet, grease and fry it until it almost black. That’s the way we liked it. Then get some strawberries and cream or sometimes jelly and mix it with cream. The take the polenta and dip it in the strawberries and cream and eat it. Boy it was so good. I miss my mom and dad