An Ode to Polenta

Buttery Polenta with Parmesean and a Poached Egg, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.
Buttery Polenta <sigh> where have you been all my life?
The Little Kitchen has been sadly neglected and badly abused for the past several weeks as all of my creative and  physical energies have been needed elsewhere. Even though I've only been spending about 60 vertical minutes a day in my apartment, the kitchen looks like a whirling dervish of destruction has occurred in my absence or during the night. It's pretty sad if not downright scary.
So throughout all of the mayhem, one thing comes through. Buttery Polenta. Yum. Quick, easy versatile and in a very short period of time has become my favorite go-to comfort food. Up until six months ago I don't think I'd ever eaten polenta. All that changed when I got my hands on Melissa Clarks recent book. In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite was referenced in a couple of my favorite blogs and I immediately put in a library request and had it in my hot little hands a week later. I've raved about this book before but, here it is six months later and I'm still obsessed with it. Every day is a struggle not to go over to Amazon and click that button. For the time being I have sworn not to buy another cookbook. I'm now considering another dumpage to make room for Good Appetite and Dorie Greenspans Around My French Table...oh and Heidi Swansons two books Super Natual Cooking and Super Natural Every Day. There was a time when I figured that anything I'd want to make could be found on the internet and no need to clutter up the tiny shelf space. But these books all contain so much more than just recipes. The storytelling and photography make them more than just cookbooks. They are all inspiring.
Since I've fallen in love with polenta, I've made this dish, with a poached egg and parmesean more in the last  six months than all the other dishes I've made combined. I've also grilled the hardened polenta and topped it with sauteed mushrooms and parmesean.
So once I've gotten my time back, the kitchen will be back to exploring more ways to enhance my new favorite comfort food, though I'm pretty convinced I've already landed on perfection I will use my OCD for the greater good.