What do you know about polenta?

[looseseal]

We're having FIL and his gf over for supper later this week.  FIL's gf is gluten-free, and I was flipping through my cookbook and found a baked polenta recipe that sounds good. 

Is most cornmeal gluten-free?  (I will verify at the store, but it seems like it would just be corn.  Sometimes gluten is sneaky, though.) 

Is polenta good?  LOL, I've never had it, but the recipe sounds good!

Am I totally going to screw this up?  I am no chef, but generally do well when I have a recipe to follow.  How hard is this stuff to make?  Our families generally don't mind playing guinea pig when I try something new, but do I need to have some fries on backup or something?

[rupertpenny]

Polenta is good and easy. It is the same as grits really, just sounds fancier. As far as I know it is gluten free.

[Deleted]

It is delicious and easy. My mom makes them all the time at home. Love.

[hbear]

I actually have no idea if it's gf.

But it's very easy to make!!!

[Deleted]

Polenta is basically grits in solid form.

[BunnyMacDougal]

Never had ready-made polenta (which sounds to me like ready-made hummus - YUCK), but its very easy to make and tastes kinda like beefed up cream of wheat. I don't know about the gluten content....

[Deleted]

it's delicious and usually gluten free (i mean, polenta is, unless you're buying a mix or something that has a glutened ingredient).

[candreco]

I like soft polenta (similar to grits), especially if there's cheese involved. Pan-fried squares are good too. I've never found a brand of the pre-made tubes that you slice and cook that I actually like, which makes me sad.

Also, I usually just use regular cornmeal to make polenta, not anything specifically marked as polenta.

[karmasabiotch]

Love it

[looseseal]

Yeah, this recipe has me cooking onions, adding a broth/water solution, boiling, adding in a cornmeal/broth solution, thickening, then putting half in a casserole dish, adding gruyere & parm cheese, the remainder of the cornmeal mixture, topping with cream and baking. I didn't even know you could buy it in a tube, but I don't think that will work for this recipe. Okay, I'll give it a whirl. Thanks!

[VillainV]

Jan 22, 2013 13:53:29 GMT -5 looseseal said:

Yeah, this recipe has me cooking onions, adding a broth/water solution, boiling, adding in a cornmeal/broth solution, thickening, then putting half in a casserole dish, adding gruyere & parm cheese, the remainder of the cornmeal mixture, topping with cream and baking. I didn't even know you could buy it in a tube, but I don't think that will work for this recipe. Okay, I'll give it a whirl. Thanks!

That sounds amazing.  Just check the cornmeal you use to make sure it's completely gluten free.  It should be if it's 100% cornmeal, but it wouldn't surprise me if some brands mixed stuff in to keep it from clumping or something stupid like that.

[SKP82]

That recipe sounds awesome. Can you post a link?

[Bad Dingo]

I will be the sole dissenter and tell you that polenta is not good. I have an amazing GF salmon cake recipe if you are interested.

[Deleted]

I love Polenta, it is very nice of you to try to offer GF options for her!

[looseseal]

Jan 22, 2013 14:35:34 GMT -5 SKP82 said:

That recipe sounds awesome. Can you post a link?

I just found it in my Joy of Cooking cookbook, but I'll post it later on tonight when I'm at home.

[chalupabatman]

I buy the quick cooking Bob's Red Mill, then add butter, cheese, salt and pepper. It is GF