- 6 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups polenta, coarse yellow corn meal
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons Acacia honey
- About 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls
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In medium pot, bring stock and milk to a low, rolling boil and whisk in a single direction while pouring polenta in slowly. Add pepper and a few grates of nutmeg, and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to a simmer to keep the mix at a delayed bubble, a burp every 2 seconds or so. Cook 45 minutes, whisking every 10 minutes or so. Stir in butter, honey and cheese, and remove from heat; season with salt to taste. Keep warm in a bain marie while you cook the mushrooms and make the salad.
To make a Bain Marie, use a pot that is wide enough to fit your polenta pot comfortably inside it, a wide pan a few inches deep will do. Place about 3/4 inch of water in the wider pan. Bring water to a gentle simmer and keep simmering over medium-low flame, adding more water if necessary until ready to serve.
For the mushrooms, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt butter into oil, add mushrooms and brown. Add thyme, salt, pepper, shallots and garlic, and stir 2-3 minutes more. Add sherry or Marsala and reduce until almost evaporated.
For the eggs, heat 3 inches or so of water in a deep skillet with the vinegar and bring to low, rolling simmer. Crack each egg into a ramekin then slide gently into water. Cover pan and cook 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon.
For the salad, combine greens and dress with juice of 1 lemon and EVOO, season with salt and pepper to taste.
To serve, place a pile of polenta on one side of a plate and nest the poached egg in the polenta. Scatter mushrooms to one side and a small pile of greens on the opposite side of the plate.