[1] Comfort food: warm, creamy polenta topped with a fried egg and sautéed cherry tomatoes (photo © Good Eggs).

[2] Cherry tomatoes are sauteed into a jammy sauce, called “burst tomatoes” (photo © Barilla).

[3] Buy a box of polenta. You can use it at any meal of the day (photo © Delallo).

[4] An easy hack is to buy a tube of polenta, ready made. The difference is you’ll serve it sliced or diced, not in a creamy porridge form (photo © Ancient Harvest).

When was the last time you made polenta?

It’s such a warming comfort food, we’re surprised that we don’t make it more often. And it’s gluten-free*.

So for brunch this weekend, we’re making this yummy recipe from Good Eggs.
 
 
WHAT IS POLENTA

Polenta—which is both the Italian word for cornmeal and a cooked dish made from it—has become familiar in America through Italian and Continental restaurants.

But it’s not new to America. For the first two centuries on the continent, American diets contained much cornmeal: in bread, as breakfast porridge, as a side starch, and in other recipes.

Paradoxically, corn, which is native to the Americas, was shipped to Europe, where Italians turned it into polenta.

Back in the Americas, except for the Southern region, cornmeal was gradually replaced in American diets by refined wheat flour (note that while corn is a whole grain, milled polenta is not).
 
 
RECIPE: FRIED EGGS & POLENTA WITH BURST CHERRY TOMATOES

As with oatmeal, you can find instant polenta as well as long-cooking polenta.

You can also take a shortcut with this recipe by purchasing ready-made polenta in a roll form, and cooking slices instead of making porridge-style polenta from scratch.

Ingredients For 3 Servings

 
For The Basil Butter

*Polenta is naturally gluten-free (the only grains that do naturally contain gluten are barley, rye and wheat). Since so many other grains are processed in facilities that also handle these latter grains, however, some varieties of polenta may become contaminated with trace amounts of gluten. Some brands of polenta print “gluten-free” directly onto their product labels for easy identification. Others don’t.

If you’re looking for something to bake this weekend, how about Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread?

“This pumpkin bread is autumn in loaf form,” says Pete & Gerry’s, fourth-generation family farmers of organic eggs (see more about them below).

“Like any quick bread, it comes together in a flash and stays tender and moist right out of the oven and beyond.”

The recipe lets you choose any and all mix-in ingredients, from chocolate chips of any and all colors, nuts, crystallized ginger, toffee chips, whatever!

The recipe says “optional,” but we say they’re “necessary.”

Serve the pumpkin bread for brunch, coffee break, or dessert—with an optional scoop of ice cream.
 
 
RECIPE: CHOCOLATE CHIP PUMPKIN BREAD

This recipe makes two loaves. You can freeze the second loaf if you don’t plan to use it within a few days.

Prep time is 10 minutes, cook time is 75 minutes.

Ingredients For 2 Loves

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the oven rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease two 9” x 5” x 2.5” loaf pans, if using mix-ins. To make a plain loaf, 8” x 4” x 2.5” pans will work.

2. COMBINE all wet ingredients (pumpkin purée, melted butter, eggs, water, and vanilla) in a large bowl. Use a mixer on low speed until or whisk by hand until well blended. Then stir in both sugars until well combined.

3. MIX together in a separate bowl the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until the batter is well combined and smooth.

4. ADD the mix-ins, and stir until evenly distributed. Divide the mixture equally between the two loaf pans, and shake the pans to roughly level out the batter.

5. BAKE the loaves for 60-75 minutes, gently rotating the pans in the oven halfway through baking. The loaves are ready when the top cracks, the surface feels firm and set, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. (If the top begins to get too dark during baking, you can carefully tent it with foil to prevent further browning).

6. REMOVE the loaves from the oven, and allow them to cool for at least 15 minutes before turning them out on a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
 
 
ABOUT PETE & GERRY’S ORGANIC EGGS

Should your eggs come from small family farms, or from faceless factory farms?

With the news coverage of recent years about the horrible lives lived by caged hens, or even “cage free” hens crammed onto barn floors, so crowded that they can’t move, we switched to humanely produced eggs.

Pete & Gerry’s have been selling high-quality organic eggs for more than 60 years.

As pioneers of humane and environmentally sustainable egg production, Pete & Gerry’s produced many of the first organic and free-range eggs available in supermarkets. They were the first Certified Humane egg farm in the country.

The hens, and their eggs, are free of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, GMO feed or animal byproducts. So these eggs not only taste good: They make you feel good. No hens were mistreated.
 
Discover more at PeteAndGerrys.com.
 
 
> CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF EGGS. How many have you had?

________________

*Be sure to use pumpkin purée and not pumpkin pie filling, which contains added seasonings.

You can substitute another oil—coconut, corn, grapeseed or vegetable—if you prefer.

[1] Add chocolate chips and anything else you like to this pumpkin bread (photo © Pete & Gerry’s Eggs).

[2] You can use dark, milk or white chocolate chips, or a combination (photo © Bella Baker).

[3] If you want to add nuts, our favorite for this recipes is pecans (photo © American Pecan Council).

[4] Don’t want mix-ins? Bake a plain loaf (photo © Levain Bakery).

[5] Want to dress up a plain loaf? Add a meringue topping (photo © Tartine Bakery).

[1] Who can resist cheese fries? (photo © Idaho Potato Commission)

[2] Crinkle-cut fries are baked from frozen fries (photo © Walmart).

[3] Sharp cheddar from Wisconsin (photo © Wisconsin Cheese).

October is National American Cheese Month, so how about some cheese fries, made with a fine American cheddar*?

You don’t even have to fry the potatoes!

This easy-to-make dish uses frozen, baked Grown In Idaho crinkle-cut fries.

Once they’re golden brown in the oven, top them with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, bacon, scallions, and sour cream (or ranch dressing).

Some want theirs with a big squirt of ketchup, others as is.

But you may want to make a double batch. These fries will quickly disappear.

April 20th is National Cheddar Fries Day.
 
 
RECIPE: CHEESE FRIES WITH BACON & SCALLIONS

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F.

2. GREASE a rimmed baking sheet or a large cast-iron skillet with cooking spray. Spread out the crinkle-cut fries in an even layer on the sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until crispy and golden brown.

3. SPRINKLE the fries evenly with the shredded cheese. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the bacon.

4. DRIZZLE with the sour cream or ranch dressing, then sprinkle with the sliced green onions. Serve immediately with ketchup on the side.
 
 
> French Fries History

> The Different Types Of French Fries

> Potato History

> The Different Types Of Potatoes
 
________________

*Cabot Cheddar is a great choice, and comes in 10 varieties, so you can layer on more flavors: Chipotle, Cracked Peppercorn, Everything Bagel, Garlic & Dill, Habanero, Horseradish, Hot Buffalo Wing, Smoky Bacon, Spicy Jack, and Tuscan. See them here.

If you’re a true cheese lover, you know that there are “so many cheeses, so little time.”

But we can cut down on the list a bit, because it’s National American Cheese Month.

The American Cheese Society says that, “American Cheese Month is a celebration of North America’s delicious and diverse cheeses, and the farmers, cheesemakers, retailers, cheesemongers and chefs who bring them to your table.”

So how about trying a different new-to-you, made-in-America cheese for American Cheese Month?

How about trying something new?

There are so many great artisan cheesemakers. We don’t mean to exclude anyone, but check out the websites of:

 
 
HOW ABOUT CRESCENZA CHEESE?

Crescenza, sometimes known as stracchino, is a staple in the Italian kitchen.

Says Mozzarella Company of Dallas, “Crescenza is one of those cheeses that no one has ever heard of but everyone loves when they taste it. It is a soft, fresh Italian cheese with a tart, clean flavor.

It is similar recipe to stracchino. The difference is that crescenza is made from whole milk or semi-skimmed milk and aged for 5-10 days, while stracchino is made only from whole milk and it aged for 20 days.

“Whenever we serve Crescenza at cheese tastings, this is the cheese that people invariably buy to take home.”

O.K…we’re in, we said, and we placed an order. It is as promised: delicious.

While the cheese is Italian in origin, there are a number of American cheese makers who make it; both artisan and factory producers.

Crescenza (creh-SEN-za) is made from cow’s milk. It is a young, soft cheese, aged for just a couple of weeks before it is sold.

Eaten very young, it has no rind and a very creamy texture. It is typically square in shape.

It is a great cheese for expressing the natural flavor and aromatics of a good quality milk, a showcase for the wonderful fresh flavors and aromas of the milk.

The Crescenza from Mozzarella Company:

 
How To Serve Crescenza

Beyond antipasto and appetizers, focaccia, sandwiches, melting on grilled cheese or other recipes (casseroles, ravioli, whatever).

For snacking or a cheese plate, The cheese was first made in Lombardy, Italy and areas adjacent to this northern Italy city where it is commonly served as a snacking or appetizer cheese with fruit,
For a cheese plate, pair crescenza with bread and:

 

CRESCENZA CHEESE HISTORY

Crescenza and stracchino have long been made in Northern Italy, regions of Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Romagna and Veneto.

There’s a legend, of course.

Most cheeses are historically made in the spring and summer, when the pastures are lush and green, the days are long and the milk is as fresh as can be.

Crescenza and stracchino were traditionally made during the autumn and winter months, after the cows had descended from the mountain pastures.

The physical exertion of the hike increased the butterfat content of the milk, making a richer cheese.

The cows were tired after the long season and their descent; hence, tired cows.

For stracchino, the name of the cheese derives from the Lombard adjective stracco, meaning tired.

The origin of the name Crescenza comes from the Italian crescere, which means “to grow.” If kept in a warm place, the cheese tends to increase in size, just like rising bread!
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF CHEESE

[1] Humboldt Fog goat cheese from Cypress Grove Cheese, with the signature line of ash running through the center (photo © Cypress Grove Cheese).

[2] An assortment of cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery, from cows happily grazing in Marin and Sonoma Counties (photo © Cowgirl Creamery).

Crescenza Cheese[/caption]
[3] Artisan crescenza cheese, made in small batches by Mozzarella Company (photo © Mozzarella Company).

[4] Spread it on bread or crackers (photo © Wisconsin Cheese).

[5] Snack on it with raw vegetables (photo © Arrigoni Formaggi).

[6] An appetizer of prosciutto-wrapped crescenza cheese. Here’s the recipe (photo © BelGioioso Cheese).

[7] Crescenza and peach crostini. You can substitute apples, pears, even grapefruit and oranges Here’s the recipe (photo © BelGioioso Cheese).

[1] Boursin’s fall flavor, Fig Balsamic, makes a beautiful center for a snack plate with black mission figs and brown turkey figs (both photos © Gournay Cheese).

[2] There’s a lot of flavor in each little carton.

[3] You can make a Boursin-like spread from cream cheese. Here’s the recipe from Food.com (photo © Diana | Eating Richly). Also check out this recipe from The View From Great Island.

One of the nice parts of food reporting comes in the fall, when a number of brands release limited-edition fall flavors: chestnut, cinnamon, cranberry, eggnog, fig, gingerbread, peppermint and pumpkin, to name the more popular ones.

So it is with French cheese brand Boursin, with the launch of their newest seasonal flavor, Fig & Balsamic—available for a limited time only.

Boursin is a soft creamy cheese made in a variety of flavors, each as delicious as the next. Its flavor and recall a more sophisticated whipped cream cheese.

Fig and Balsamic joins Cranberry & Spice, also a seasonal flavor, and the line’s mainstays:

Fig & Balsamic (seasonal flavor, available starting this month)

 
The cheeses can be elevated from a toast or bagel spread to an hors d’oeuvre with fine crackers or baguette slices, or stuffed dates.

Check out Boursin’s recipes for more ideas.
 
 
WHERE TO FIND IT

Boursin Fig & Balsamic is now available in the deli section of major retailers nationwide, including AHOLD (Food Lion, Giant Food, Giant/Martin’s, Hannaford, Peapod, Stop & Shop), Albertsons, Kroger, Meijer and Publix. The suggested retail price of $5.99-$6.99.
 
 
BOURSIN CHEESE HISTORY

Boursin Garlic and Fine Herbs, sold in a little foil cup, was created in 1957 by François Boursin, a cheesemaker in the commune of Croisy-sur-Eure commune in Normandy, northern France.

The cheese was inspired by a traditional Normandy party dish of garnished fromage frais (French for “fresh cheese”); a fresh, unaged cheese intended to be eaten within days of its production.

In the case of Boursin, guests would take their portion of cheese and top it with herbs to add herbs for flavor.

Boursin thought: Why not sell the cheese with the herbs already blended in?

Voilà: Boursin Garlic and Fine Herbs, the first flavored cheese product to be sold nationally in France.

In 1990, the brand was acquired by Unilever, who sold it to Groupe Bel 2007 [source].

The original cheese, fromage frais, is simply drained, lactic set curd, lightly salted, that does not undergo a ripening period. It has a creamy, soft texture and fresh and a fresh, milky flavor.

Fromage frais differs from fromage blanc, another fresh, white French cheese, in that by law, fromage frais must contain live cultures when sold, whereas with fromage blanc, the fermentation has been halted [source].

It is often eaten for breakfast (we love it with toast), with fruit for dessert, or in cooking.
 
 
> Check Out The Different Types Of Cheeses In Our Cheese Glossary