Polenta Gratin with Bison and Mushroom Bolognese

I’m sorry, but this is not seasonally correct. And the pictures majorly suck. It’s supposed to be with wild mushrooms, but I used some dried morels (reconstituted first) and your run-of-the-mill-grocery-store-button-mushrooms, because it’s obviously not the season for fresh wild mushrooms. And polenta, to me, has always been associated with snowstorms, flannel, and re-runs of “Bones”. And bison – if ever there was an animal that just LOOKS like winter, it’s the woolly bison. Hanging around Old Faithful, breathing steam out their great heads, and giving me a look like, “I will gore you, girlie, if you take more step toward me.”

So don’t go all farmer’s market on me, ok??? I just needed some hearty fare, something that smelled this good, and would involve a hot skillet, a steamy pot, and some baking with cheese. I love all the spring recipes going around the bloggy world, but it’s still cold around here, and nothing much looks green and juicy. And, well, standing at the meat counter, looking at that package of organic, hormone free (it’s against the LAW in the US to even THINK about putting hormones into bison…maybe it’s because they have enough testosterone…), I just wanted some buffalo. And did I mention the pictures are horrid? That’s what you get when you get all close-upy on some meat and corn mush!




And this is Tom Colicchio’s recipe. From a book by some guy interviewing chefs about what their moms and grandmas would make for them. I found this at epicurious.com and did very little change with the exception of the addition of bison and messin’ with the mushrooms. This is what Tom’s grandmother would make. I like Tom. He’s wildly attractive (well, to me, at least…I like a guy with a shiny head!), and even though I want to strangle most of those Top Chef people, I think he’s a pretty good judge. I love his expressions when he asks those bozos if they’re “really going to do that?” It’s like he just saw them shoot heroin in their eye.


Polenta Gratin with Bison and Mushroom Bolognese

Serves 4

For the Bolognese Sauce:
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 pound fresh ground bison
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, peeled and diced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
8-12 ounces mixed wild and cultivated mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and diced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 cup chicken stock

For the Polenta:
Kosher salt
1 cup polenta (coarse yellow cornmeal)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese

1. To prepare the sauce: heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it moves easily across the pan. Add the bison meat, breaking up with a spoon and cooking until meat is beginning to brown. Remove with slotted spoon to plate and cover to keep warm.
Add the onion, carrot, celery, salt, and pepper to skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the mushrooms and thyme leaves. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mushroom are almost tender, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato, cook about 2 minutes more, then add the stock, 2 tablespoons at a time, bringing the pan to a simmer before each addition. Add the bison meat back into pan, and simmer the Bolognese until it is concentrated but not yet dry, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. To make the polenta: Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat.
Add a pinch of salt and gradually whisk in the polenta. Stirring constantly, bring the polenta to a boil, then adjust the heat to low. Cook the polenta, stirring occasionally, until it is no longer grainy, about 30 minutes. Whisk the oil and salt to taste into the polenta and remove it from heat.
3. Assemble the gratin: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spoon half the polenta into a medium baking dish (an 11 inch oval dish works well) and cover with half of the sauce. Spoon in the remaining polenta, spread it evenly, then sprinkle with the cheese. Transfer the remaining sauce to a small saucepan and reserve.
4. Bake the gratin until the top is golden, about 40 minutes. Just before serving, warm the reserved sauce over low heat. Divide the gratin and sauce among 4 plates, and top with sauce, and serve.




My Very Important Notes, so pay attention:
1. Too much olive oil in polenta – use about half of the recipe amount
2. Too many mushrooms with the meat that I added – if you do meat, half the mushrooms
3. Use more cheese. Always more cheese.