A couple weeks ago DR took a quick trip home to Indiana to deliver an irrigation motor to his brother for one of our fields that ironically was dry as a bone last year before we could get irrigation on it but flooded this year as the crew was trying to put in the irrigation rig!
Anyway, while DR was in Indiana he took a day to meet some friends and family at the Indiana State Fair. Of course he kept me up to date on all the great fair food I was missing! Rib eye Sandwiches!! Indiana State Fair Rib eye Sandwiches and Swiss Cheese Grilled Cheese on Rye were about the only thing I ate when I was in Indianapolis in August growing up! YUM!
Once, while bragging, DR texts me the following message;
"We need to try laoded plenta. Your dad likes it."
I responded, "Plenta? Perhaps a misspelling?"
"Yes. Its like mush with bacon and other stuff in it." Of course my dad likes it, he grew up eating mush!
"Polenta. I've made that, you've just never eaten it. (He's notorious for not eating new things that I make. But of course he'll eat it anywhere else!!) Bacon. Onions. Cheese. Sounds good!"
After he got home we experimented a couple times and came up with a recipe that we both really liked!
First dice up your veggies, I chose mushrooms and peppers but really anything will work.
Fry up a pound of ground sausage or a pound of bacon. When you are finished transfer your meat to a plate but DON'T drain the grease from your pan!!!
Next you need to saute your vegetables in that wonderful grease, maybe add a bit of butter or olive oil if your meat was a bit lean.
While your sausage/veggies are cooking you can put your broth in a saucepan. I didn't have any broth on hand so I dissolved some bouillon cubes in water...worked alright!
When your broth is ready and getting nice and warm melt your butter in the broth.
FYI - I use REAL butter for everything. Not margarine, nothing fake, nothing with weird chemicals on the labels. REAL BUTTER y'all isn't gonna kill ya! If you can't pronounce what's in it then you don't need to be a eatin' it!
Oh, yeah..add a bit of salt and pepper here...whatever looks good.
It's kind of hard to take a photo of this next part by myself but when your butter/broth is boiling a bit turn down the heat to medium low and SLOWLY start adding in the cornmeal and Parmesan cheese whisking it smooth until you've got it all incorporated and stir until it's thick.
Nice and smooth...ish. A few clumps but don't worry, they'll all even out in the end.
Then we add in all the sauteed veggies and sausage and mix it thoroughly into the cornmeal.
Finally pour it into a couple of bread pans and allow to cool. When they are cool you can remove them from the pans and wrap in aluminum foil. I put one loaf straight into the freezer and the other loaf in the fridge. For breakfast I slice up a couple of pieces and fry them in butter on medium high along side an egg in the morning. Mmm, mmm, good!
Loaded Mush
1 pound ground sausage or bacon
2 green peppers, diced
mushrooms, diced
2 1/2 quarts of chicken broth
1/2 cup real butter (not margarine)
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Brown sausage or bacon. Set aside but reserve grease in pan. Saute veggies in meat grease. Heat broth to boiling. Melt butter in broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Slowly whisk cornmeal and cheese into broth/butter mixture. Cook on low until thick. Stir in meat and veggies. Pour into greased bread pans and allow to cool. Slice and fry and eat and enjoy!
I combined a can of diced tomatoes, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of parsley. I sprinkled some shredded cheese on top of the polenta then added a spoonful of the tomato mixture on top.
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