Category Archive

We have written before about northern Mexican roasted salsas, and here’s a practical application of the concept. While we’re at it, we’ll add chiles to everything and even grill the polenta. Serve as an entree with a vegetable and a salad or as a side to grilled meat or chicken.

Ingredients

For the Grilled Jalapeño Polenta:

• 3/4 cup coarse yellow cornmeal

• 1 ½ cups milk

• ½ cup grated cheddar or Asiago cheese

• 2 jalapeno chiles, stems and seeds removed, chopped

• 2 tablespoons grated onion

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• Salt to taste

For the Roasted Salsa Verde:

• 1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks left on

• 1 small onion, quartered

• 4 jalapeño chiles

• 2 tablespoons lime juice, fresh preferred

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

• Salt to taste

Instructions

For the Grilled Jalapeño Polenta:

Bring the milk and 1 ½ cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Slowly sprinkle the cornmeal into the liquid, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat, and continue to stir until the mixture is thick and starts to pull away from the pan. Quickly add the cheese, chiles, onion, garlic, salt to taste, stir well, and remove from the heat.

Pour the polenta into a lightly oiled 10-inch cake or pie pan and cool. Place in refrigerator for 3 hours to firm.

For the Roasted Salsa Verde:

Place tomatillos, onion, and chiles in a basket on the grill and roast until the vegetables are slightly blackened, shaking the basket often. Remove from the basket and peel, but don’t worry about removing all the peels from the chiles. Do remove stems and seeds from the chiles. Place the vegetables, juice, and sugar into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Season with salt and stir in the cilantro.

Clean the grill and brush it with oil. Slice the polenta into wedges, brush with the oil and grill over a medium fire until they begin to brown, about 8 to 12 minutes.

Place the wedges on a serving platter, top with the salsa and serve.