Measure Free Hippie Cook

Bob’s Polenta Waffles

Whoever thought waffles could be made from straight polenta without eggs or anything. These gorgeous golden waffles are crunchy and chewy and homey and good. Thanks to Bob Goforth’s inventiveness on this one. It’s a great big wow of a winner in my kitchen.

Recipe Note

Spoon cooked polenta (freshly made or leftover) into an oiled waffle iron and bake. Enjoy with fresh fruit or check your pantry for a jar of home canned peaches. Or treat the waffle like toast and have it with scrambled tofu—or for lunch with soups and salads.

Details

~I use one part polenta to two parts salted water. My polenta usually turns out pretty thick but I’m firm with the waffle iron lid in order to work the pretty yellow porridge out to the circumference. The waffles bake beautifully and release easily from the oiled surface.

~If you’re using leftover polenta, stir enough water into it to get a batter you can pour into your iron.

On Polenta

Bob and his wife Beth cook like I do and break all the rules. In other words we’re busy working people and don’t have time to stir polenta the requisite thirty to forty minutes on which so many insist. To make his waffles Bob said he stirred the polenta five to ten minutes. That’s about what I do as well.

I suppose one reason I’m cavalier on polenta is because I lived ten years on the Navajo and Hopi reservations. By day I was a public school teacher, but by night I was in the kitchens of the local women where I stirred up my share of cornmeal.

So I think of polenta as simply the coarse ground meal it is, a grade that can take longer to cook than a fine grind if you want super creamy results, but one that works with shorter times as well.

Cottage Cream

This concoction is as smooth and splendid as its name. Spooned on breakfast cereals, cottage cream supplies more protein than milk or yogurt.

As the old timers used to say: It’s delicious. It’s nutritious. It will make you feel ambitious!

Recipe Note

In the blender add enough milk or water to a carton of cottage cheese to get things whirling. That’s it except for flavorings if you want. Vanilla, lemon juice, almond extract. Most anything, even plain, is nice.

Details

~The trick to making cottage cream is getting it thick enough, a process helped by a blender with some oomph. Most household blenders have three hundred fifty watts, enough power for smoothies and such but too flabby for thicker blends. I upgraded to five hundred watts without having to go a specialty store. Another approach is to work unplugged and use a spoon to force the cheese through a large sieve, a technique that yields superlative results.