Polenta Bouchees w/ Fig Balsamic Jam
I think I could just live on appetizers.
Tapas, antipasti, stuzzachini, cheese, bread, and little noshes would make me happy every night for dinner instead of a large meal.
With a nice bottle of red wine to go with, of course.
I recently attended the Taste of Nations Share our Strength dinner in Princeton, NJ, courtesy of Christo from Chez What, and I tasted these little polenta bites w/ fig jam.
I couldn't get them out of my mind. They were from Emily's Cafe in Pennington, and were out of this world.
Since I am certain that the chef would not part with his recipe for the fig marmalade, I made Thomas Keller's version from his Ad Hoc at Home
I made my polenta (1 cup of polenta to 5 cups liquid & some fresh herbs). When it reached the right consistency, I poured it into a greased 9" x 13" glass dish and cooled in the fridge until firm, about 20 minutes.
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I cut the polenta with a biscuit cutter into rounds and grilled them on an oiled grill.
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I have never had luck with frying polenta. It may be the brand I use, but it never seems to get a nice crispy exterior, so I decided to grill the rounds and they came out great.
Top with the fig balsamic jam and sprinkle with some fresh chives and life is good.
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Fig Balsamic Jam: (adapted from Ad Hoc)
1 lb. dried mission figs (or other dried figs), roughly chopped
1 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp black peppercorns tied in a sachet (optional)
Place the figs, sugar, balsamic and water in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat. Once it comes to a bubbling simmer, reduce the heat to low, add the sachet and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the figs have absorbed most of the cooking liquid.
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Remove from heat and carefully use a blender or food processor to puree the jam, pulsing only once or twice. I liked it chunky.
Stir in the lemon juice and let cool completely to room temperature. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Makes about 2 cups jam.
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(I am freezing the rest of the polenta bouchees (bites) to make other appetizers: polenta with caramelized onions and gorgonzola!).
Enjoy.
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Comments
I'm with you on the appetizer thing. Great idea here. Believe I'll just whip up a batch this weekend. Eat some and put some up for later.
Steve
http://www.myfavoriteflavours.com
p.s. Finally cut through to TasteSpotting with some posts. Hallelujah!
Hope he reads the blog today.
mil
Your fig jam is perfect with balsamic vinegar and I couldn't leave out the optional peppercorns. Somehow I knew you wouldn't be satisfied with store bought fig jam.
I'm sure you had a great time if Christo was there. I would love to be able to say hello in person one day and thank him for all of his help.
Sam
Great dish.