Cornmeal? How to use it?

Cornmeal can pretty much be likened to life if you come from a South American household. Why? Because arepas are the bomb.

An arepa is a small disc like cornmeal "bread" that you will usually slice in half and fill with your choice of fillings. I love to fill mine with shredded beef (carne mechada) or chicken (pollo machado), though if I can get my hands on some queso blanco, that is the best filling ever.

I was raised in Venezuela. My father worked in the oil field which brought us to Venezuela for five years. Due to having lived there, I have a love for Veuezuelan cuisine. Arepas have always been the easiest to make and fill, so I try to have either cornmeal or masa harina in my kitchen at all times. A great thing about corn meal or maseca, is that it is 100% gluten free, so your belly doesn't feel as heavy after eating it.

So, the other day I was looking high and low for polenta. I've purchased it once before since living here and bought it once back home too, however I was completely unable to find it anywhere in the city this time. Thankfully, the man of the house ventured over to our local organic market and spoke to a sales lady that said we can make polenta from cornmeal. I had no idea! I should have had more common sense, but I never connected the dots.

As a Venezuelan cuisine-loving woman, I definitely had my cornmeal in my kitchen. That meant that I could make polenta so we could enjoy a less carb-filled meal!

When I came home, I hopped to it and made some polenta. Our meal was easy. Ever since the man of the house decided that we should invest in an Instant Pot, most of our meals have been created at a much quicker speed. Thanks babe! So, I added some chicken thighs and marinara sauce to the instant pot and let that cook for 8 minutes. While that was being made I whipped up some polenta!

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Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 Cup cornmeal

• 6 cups chicken stock

• 3 tablespoons butter (I used 1 TBSP of Ghee)

Instructions:

1. Bring six cups of chicken stock to boil.

2. Once boiling, reduce heat to a low and gradually add cornmeal.

3. Whisk cornmeal constantly for about 15 minutes until it reaches desired thickness.

4. Allow to cool.

5. Once cooled, add butter and mix until melted.

6. Serve and enjoy!

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Polenta usually looks like thick soup unless you add more flour where you can cut it to make shapes for a side dish.

Once I was done the polenta, my Instant Pot was done with the chicken. I opened the pot and shredded the chicken. I was able to scoop some polenta into some bowl-plates and added the chicken and sauce to the polenta.

I decided to add some fresh parsley to the meal for garnish. The parsley tasted great with the chicken, so you could add more to the mixture if you choose.

We loved our meal! Plus, now I know of another way to use cornmeal. I have an additional recipe that uses cornmeal, but that will be for another day.

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!