Headache, Grain, Dairy, Egg, Comfort

Menu: Polenta with parmesan, mozzarella, fresh basil, and egg

Over the course of the afternoon, my head felt variously like it was being impaled on a spike, caught in a bear trap, and caught in an industrial vise. Needless to say, I was not up for giving the lamb chops I bought yesterday the attention they deserve. M, meanwhile, had set up come-buy-our-old-stuff-off-Craigslist appointments starting at 6:30.

The stone-ground coarse yellow cornmeal I use takes 5 minutes to polentaize. Three cups of water, 1 cup of corn. Boil water, dump in cornmeal, turn heat down to medium low, stir, set timer, stir, turn attention to eggs (below), stir. When the polenta has thickened, stir in a handful of parmesan shavings and 2 handfuls of reduced-fat mozzarella. Be sure to turn heat to lowest or off.

Meanwhile, in a non-stick pan sprayed with cooking spray, cook two eggs. Crack one egg at a time into pan; turn heat down to medium, medium-high. Turn attention to polenta. After whites have set, very gently roll eggs over and take off heat. Let eggs sit in hot pan while serving polenta.

Spoon hot polenta into bowls. Gently lay an egg on top. Sprinkle with fresh basil and grind sea salt over.

At table, break yolk; spoon a little polenta over. Let hot polenta cook the egg just a little as you eat. Try not to think about your headache. Look forward to bed with a full comfy tummy.

Pork, Vegs, Grain

Menu: herb-dijon marinated pork tenderloin * oven-roasted yellow squash * oven-roasted okra * polenta with mozzarella and basil

Bless the butchers at Central Market and their marinating team. Tonight’s tenderloin was as moist and flavorful as last night’s chicken. I turned the oven to 400 to start; it pre-heated to that, and I put in the tenderloin for 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes later, as I put in the oven sheet of okra (with salt and red pepper ground over) and the oven sheet of yellow squash (cut in half, placed face down on a drizzle of olive oil), I turned the heat down to 375 and set the timer for another 15 minutes.

When the timer went off, I peeked at the vegs, which were roasting nicely, and started the water boiling for the polenta. 3 cups water and a grind of salt; bring to a boil, add 1 c medium stone-ground yellow cornmeal. Stir in; reduce heat to medium-low; cook 5 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add handful skim mozzarella and 1 T butter; stir, remove from heat. Just before serving, stir in chiffonade of basil.

Remove everything from oven; slice and plate.