Polenta

Modern polenta is a thick porridge made with cornmeal. I used to find it bland and tasteless until I discovered that cooking it with milk instead of water, makes all the difference.

It is easy to make large quantities of polensa;  remember that when you cook 1 measure of polenta corn meal; you get 4 times the volume of the finished polenta.

Basic polenta serves 4:

• 100 gr fast cooking corn meal or polenta
• 250 ml milk
• 250ml water
• Salt, pepper
• 30 gr butter
• 50gr grated Parmesan cheese
  

Heat the water and milk together in a pan until it comes to a boil, pour in 100 gr approximately of polenta and stir vigorously to avoid lumps, the mass will start thickening very quickly. Mix the butter and Parmesan into the polenta; taste and add more milk, butter or salt to your requirements.

Cooking ideas:
Dry Polenta
Make a very thick polenta and spread it over a greased plate, leave it to cool completely, cut into segments and treat as you would gnocchi (see gnocchi) or shallow-fry to serve with steak.

Wet Polenta
Make a loose polenta with the consistency of mash by adding more milk or cream, and use it to serve with sausages or a meat sauce (see Meat ragú)

Pizza Polenta
For a different take on Pizza.
Cook 100gr Polenta to a fairly thick consistency, spread over a greased pizza sheet. Spoon 3 tbsp tomato sauce over the base; arrange mozzarella cheese and a few bacon rashers cut into strips on top of the tomato, add dried or fresh oregano; and bake for 20 minutes in the oven.

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

For leftover roast chicken. It works just as well with turkey or indeed, any other leftover meat.

Ingredients for 3-4 people:

• 400 g roast chicken meat
• 100 g mushrooms
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp flour
• 200 ml stock
• 200 ml milk
• 1tbsp Dijon mustard

For the pastry top:

• 200 gr bought puff pastry
• or 200 gr shortcrust pastry

Preheat the oven to 180ºCentigrade.

Fry the onion in a little butter for 5-6 minutes until it starts to brown. Add the mushrooms. Fry them for one or two minutes before adding the flour.

Cook the flour for 30 seconds and start adding the stock; stirring all the time to get a smooth sauce with no lumps.

Add the milk and season well. Add the mustard and the chicken. Bring the stew to the boil and turn off the heat.

Pour the stew into an ovenproof dish. Cover with the pastry and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.

** To make the pastry: Rub 80 gr. butter into 150 gr flour and a pinch of salt. Bring the pastry together or add a little milk if necessary.

Curried Cottage Pie

This is a variation on the traditional cottage pie.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 500 gr minced pork or lamb
• 300 gr spinach, chopped
• 1 can coconut cream
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 cm grated ginger
• 4 potatoes, boiled and mashed

Fry the onion in a little olive oil for 5-6 minutes until transparent. Add the minced meat and brown it for 6-7 minutes, breaking the meat with a fork or spoon. Now add the curry powder, salt and pepper, garlic and ginger. Stir it into the meat and add the rest of ingredients.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Check the seasoning.
Spread the meat sauce over the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Spoon the mashed potato over the meat.
Bake in a moderate oven (180ºC) for 20-30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the top is browned.

Vegetable Crumble

This is a Vegetarian dish that uses store cupboard ingredients. However, you can add cooked ham, sausages or bacon if you wish. For a Halloween theme, make it with pumpkin.
My sister and I used to make this when we were students in Palma and shared an apartment, it is really good and easy to make. It lends itself to many variations so give it a try.

Ingredients for 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish:

• 1 tbsp butter
  
• 1 tbsp olive oil
  
• 1 large onion, chopped finely
• 1 leek, chopped
• 500 gr mixed root vegetables (potatoes, carrots etc), diced.
• 200 gr mushrooms, sliced
• 150 ml milk
• 150ml white wine or stock
• Salt, pepper
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

For the crumble:

• 150 gr flour
• 75 gr butter
• 100 gr grated cheese
• pinch of salt
  

Heat the butter and the oil in a large pan, add 1 tablespoon of flour to make a very loose roux. cook this for 1 minute until it starts to brown. Now slowly add the milk and wine to make a sauce. As soon as this sauce comes together, add all of the vegetables. Season well, stir them for a minute and cover. Cook for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through. Check the seasoning.
When the vegetables are cooked, pour them into an ovenproof dish and leave them to stand while you make the crumble topping.

For the topping, place the butter and flour in a bowl. Break down the butter with the tips of your fingers until the mix resembles fine crumbs. Add the cheese and a pinch of salt. Cover the vegetables with the crumble topping.
Bake for 40 minutes at 180ºC until the crumble topping is browned and crunchy.

Spinach and Goats cheese Quiche

This pie is really delicious and can be eaten hot or cold.
Spinach grows wild and is in season all of Autumn and most of winter. If you don't have it just use fresh spinach from the supermarket. If using frozen spinach, you need to drain as much water out as posible before you mix it into the egg.

Ingredients for a 20cm base pie:
200 gr plain white flour
100 gr butter
good pinch of salt
a little milk

For the filling
3 eggs
400 ml milk
1 cooked potato, cut into slices
200 gr fresh spinach leafs
100 gr bacon, cut into thin strips
1 onion, sliced finely
150 gr goats cheese
salt and pepper, grated nutmeg
1 tomato to garnish

Make the pastry.
Put the flour in a bowl with a good pinch of salt, cut the butter into small dice and mix into the flour. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mix resembles fine crumbs. Add some milk, a tablespoon at a time, until the pastry comes together; do not overwork the pastry because you don’t want the gluten to develop and make the pastry rubbery. Wrap in a plastic bag or cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Take the pastry out of the fridge, roll it out on a floured surface, and line a well greased pie dish or plate.
I find that a metal pie plate will give best results, the pastry comes out perfectly cooked without the need to bake it blind.

In a pan without adding any water, cook the spinach for 2-3 minutes until just wilted. Drain and chop finely.
Arrange the potato slices on the bottom of the pie dish.
Gently fry the bacon with the onion for 4-5 minutes; sprinkle them over the potatoes.
Arrange the goats cheese over the onion and bacon.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Spoon in the spinach and pour the mixture over the cheese.

Bake in the oven at 180ºC for 35 minutes.
Serve hot or cold.
A good salad to go with this is coleslaw.

Gnocchi Bolognese

Prepare the basic potato gnocchi and place them on a baking dish.
Make an italian ragu sauce like the one below.
Cover the Gnocchi with the sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake in a moderate oven for 35-40 minutes.

Italian Ragú Bolognese
Here is a basic idea of how to make simple tomato based meat sauces to go with pasta or polenta. Make your own version by adapting it to your style.
You can make it with lamb, beef or pork. If you like hot and spicy, you can add chilli flakes. If you don’t want meat in it, make it with mushrooms for example.

1 onion, chopped finely
1 carrot, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
1 tbsp tomato concentrate (if you have it)
300 grs minced meat,
200ml white wine
200 ml tomato puree
1 tsp oregano, dry or fresh
salt and pepper to taste

Gently fry in 1 tablespoon of oil the onion, celery and carrot in a saucepan for 10 minutes, add some salt to help draw the water out of the onion. When the vegetables are soft and beginning to brown, add the meat and break it up with a fork as you brown it all over. Add the tomato concentrate if you are using it.

Now add the rest of ingredients and let it cook down for 30 to 50 minutes, until reduced.

Bacon and Onion Quiche

I never bother to bake the pastry blind, I find that in a fan oven the base of the pie comes out cooked through. It takes about 50 minutes to make from start to finish, less if you buy ready made pastry. And you can experiment with different fillings.

Ingredients for a 20cm base pie:
200 gr plain white flour
100 gr butter
good pinch of salt
a little milk

For the filling
3 eggs
500 ml milk
150 gr bacon, cut into thin strips
1 onion, sliced finely
150 gr grated cheese
salt and pepper, grated nutmeg
1 tomato to garnish

Make the pastry.
Put the flour in a bowl with a good pinch of salt, cut the butter into small dice and mix into the flour. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mix resembles fine crumbs. Add some milk, a tablespoon at a time, until the pastry comes together; do not overwork the pastry because you don’t want the gluten to develop and make the pastry rubbery. Wrap in a plastic bag or cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Take the pastry out of the fridge, roll it out on a floured surface, and line a well greased pie dish or plate.

To make the filling: turn the oven on at 180ºC
Gently fry the bacon and onion in a little butter for 5-6 minutes until the onion starts to brown. Spread over the pastry case. Sprinkle the cheese over the bacon and mushrooms.
Whisk the eggs with the milk; add salt, pepper and a good pinch of grated nutmeg. Pour the eggs over the cheese. Slice the tomato and arrange the slices over the custard.
Bake the pie in a moderate oven for 35-40 minutes. Do not worry if the custard looks wobbly when you take out of the oven, it will continue cooking for a few minutes. Serve warm or cold, with a green salad.

Melanzane Parmigiano

This is probably not the traditional recipe, but it is really lovely to eat as a side dish or as a light summer supper.
I had this dish for the first time in Nice many years ago, and I thought it was a great idea. Then I developed my own version. I like to use up any leftover ham, cooked meat, or small pieces of cheese that linger in the cheese box. I place them in between the layers of aubergine, with the mozzarella.
Because aubergines are so plentiful in the Majorcan summer, there are many dishes that we make here.

3 aubergines
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup white sauce
1 mozzarella ball
100 gr grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Slice the aubergines in 1cm rounds. Arrange the slices in a pan, 7-8 at a time, shallow fry them in olive oil mixed with water. Layer the cooked aubergines in an ovenproof dish. Seasoning each layer as you build up. When you have half of the aubergines cooked, place the mozzarella slices on top, continue with the aubergine layers.

Spoon the tomato sauce over the aubergines. Spread the white sauce on top of the tomato. Sprinkle the Parmesan on top of the dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 180ºC.