Acorn Polenta

I like corn polenta.  It's a comfort food to me.  Cheesy, creamy, I'll use it as a base for vegetables or even grill it.

I'm usually blessed with a fall abundance of acorns so this year I made acorn polenta.

If you can boil water, you can make polenta.  It just takes patience.  And there are a couple of rules.

Start with a rough acorn meal, not an acorn flour.  Also, make sure that you've cold processed the acorns to remove tannins.  Using a hot water method will destroy some of the delicate starches that are needed to make polenta the creamy dish that it is.  Make sure there is not a trace of tannins left in the meal.  This is very important.  Any tannins remaining will become more pronounced as the starches break down and leave you with a bitter dish.

Also, you must stir the polenta for one minute every ten minutes.  Use a heavy bottomed pot and a long wooden spoon.  You must scrape the bottom and sides during your one minute stir-a-thon.    If you don't, you'll end up with a burned pot.

Use 4 parts water to one part meal.  Add the salt prior to adding the meal.  It's too hard to get the salt distributed through the mass of starch otherwise.    Whisk the cornmeal into the boiling water and stir often for the first few minutes.  This will help avoid lumps.

Ready?

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a heavy pot.  (I used cast iron).  Add 1 teaspoon of salt.  When the pot is boiling hard, gradually whisk in 1 cup of acorn meal.  It's important to go slow when adding the meal and whisk well.  Once you've added all the meal, turn the heat down low.  At a hard boil, the bubbles rising to the surface will burn you with splatter.  You want a gentle heat, enough that the meal simmers, but not boils.  Stir frequently during the first 10 minutes.

Set the timer for 10 minutes.  At the end of 10 minutes, stir, scraping the bottom and sides for one full minute.  Set the time again and repeat for 1 hour to 1.5 hours.

When the polenta is creamy add 1-2 cups of your favorite shredded cheese and 4 tablespoons of butter.  .  I use parmigiana or Gorgonzola and quickly pour into a loaf pan.  Cool and slice.

Serve however you love to serve corn polenta.