[Sunday May 6th 2012 blog]
Vegan day 127: Creamy polenta with shitake mushrooms
I often wonder why there are not more pictures in many of these cookbooks I see. I started thinking about why it seems unnecessary to these authors. Personally, I need pictures! Pictures make a book sell! I guess it comes down to publishing costs- perhaps then they would really be photography books! Cooking is an art and so is the capturing of that– hence the food photography business.. hmmm. something to think about for me!
The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is a 300 page vegan cookbook with over 200 recipes- this was a much appreciated gift from a dear friend. It’s time that I chose a few recipes- but keep in mind- I’m doing the best I can! This book is laid out beautifully with it’s graphics, design and many pictures. Many is good for some– I’m still calling for ALL PICTURES! Please help those who are newbie cooks!
There are many exciting recipes in this book- today I chose
Creamy Polenta with Mushrooms:
Polenta:
6 cups of water
2 cups polenta or coarse cornmeal
1 cup of non dairy milk
1T earth balance vegan buttery spread
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1t salt
2T fresh basil
2T fresh parsley
1T fresh thyme
Mushrooms:
2lbs of assorted mushrooms: porcini, oyster, chanterelle, cremini and shitake (cleaned)
2T olive oil
1 small yellow onion
1T tamari
4-5T red wine (I used mirin cooking wine instead)
3-4T balsamic vinegar
2T earth balance
1T parsley garnish
Hopefully, whoever reads this, follows directions better than I. My polenta which I made for the first time ever didn’t come out right because I didn’t put it in after the water was boiling- I put it all in together like I was making rice. Oops! I also didn’t cook it right.. or whisk it.. or wait for it to thicken. I kind of made a soupy mess.Directions for the polenta:
Boil the water first! Then slowly add the polenta, stirring frequently or whisking over a lower heat. Once thickened a bit, add the nut milk slowly. Stir until the polenta is thick and creamy. Remove from the heat and add the earth balance, nutritional yeast and herbs.
Directions for the mushrooms:
Sauté the oil and onion. Then add the mushrooms and tamari. The recipe says to sauté the wine and vinegar as a final topping although I did make it all together. That theory didn’t work for me with the polenta but it definitely did for the mushrooms- they were incredibly flavorful- amazing!
Reference:
Patrick-Goudreau, C. (2009). The Vegan Table. Fair Winds Press: Beverly, MA.
Disclaimer: The information given here is for educational purposes only. You should not use this to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.
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