Recipe Challenge: Beefy Polenta Bake

A few weeks ago, Jena, a fellow WW boardie, enlisted some boardie bloggers for a recipe challenge.  The challenge is similar to (or entirely based on, you pick) Food Network's Chopped.    On April 16th, Jena sent us a list of 4 ingredients and challenged us to create a recipe from those ingredients.  We had until May 1st to create and post the recipe.  Once all recipes were in, each of the "contestants," would check out each other's blogs and vote for the recipe we each think is the best.  The "judging" is supposed to be based on creativity, point-friendliness, and attractiveness.  (My best guess is that attractive means, would you make/eat this?)

As you can see, it's May 2nd, and I'm clearly late in posting.  Oops!  I was on vacation the week the list was sent out and completely forgot about it last week.  I remembered at the very last minute and yesterday was the only time I had to cook.  Luckily, I had an idea!

You know that Mexican dip that's served at almost any party? It's made by spreading cream cheese at the bottom of a pie pan, covering with a can of chili (Hormel's, no beans, duh!), and topping with Mexican blend cheese, then baking until it's all bubbly and melty and delicious.  It's pretty awesome.  Our ingredients for this challenge are kale, broth, cream cheese, and polenta.  The cream cheese immediately made me think of Mexican dip, but the polenta had an Italian feel.  I decided to make an Italian-inspired version of this dip on top of polenta.

(Of course, polenta is really just corn meal.  Corn meal is common in Mexican cuisine, so it's possible, I might try this with a Mexican flare soon.)

I gathered all my ingredients and set to cooking.  But by the time I started cooking it was after 8:30, and my dish wasn't out of the oven until 10:30.  I'd eaten dinner and was completely exhausted, so I wrapped it up, stuffed it in the fridge and decided I wouldn't have it until lunch today.

I was nervous.  I had to post this recipe as I had no time to try to doctor or re-create it.  I just hoped it would be good.  Well, I just had it for lunch and my only regret is that I didn't heat it up longer.  I was very happy with the flavor of the beef (or rather the gravy), especially mixed with the tanginess of the cream cheese.  I'm excited to have leftovers tomorrow, which I can reheat at home in the oven for extra cheese meltiness.  I will give credit where credit is due, and say that I was inspired to make the gravy based on 2 recent recipes I've made: Skinny Taste's Salisbury Steak and Martha Stewart's London Broil Marinade.

So, without further ado, I now present

Beefy Polenta Bake

8 Servings, 8P+ per serving

Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil

Add beef to skillet with veggies and cook until browned through.

Cook polenta.  Chop kale and add to cooked beef. Once kale cooks down, add sauce over beef.

Spray casserole dish with non stick spray.  Spread polenta in dish.  Top with cream cheese, saucy beef mixture, and cheese.  Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted and browned.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
1/2 lb 93/7 lean ground beef
2 stalks kale (about 3 cups, chopped)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 lb instant polenta
4 cups water
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup Kraft 2% 3-cheese Italian blend

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Heat olive oil in a small pan.  Once hot, add garlic and onion.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, until aromatic.  Then add beef and cook until browned.  When beef is cooked, add kale an cover so that the kale steams and cooks down.
3. Meanwhile, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.  Once water is boiling, reduce to a simmer and stir in polenta.  Mix constantly, until lumps and graininess disappear.  Polenta only needs to cook about 5 minutes.  Taste when done.  Polenta can be pretty bland, so feel free to season to your tastes.  
4. In a small bowl, whisk together flour and beef broth.  When flour is dissolved, add vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce.  Mix together and pour over meat and kale mixture, allowing to simmer for a few minutes.
5. While gravy is simmering, coat a casserole pan (I used 9x13) with non-stick spray.  Spread polenta over pan.  Now, this is the tricky part.  You're going to spread the cream cheese over the polenta.  Don't worry if it's not super soft yet, because the heat from the polenta will basically melt the cream cheese and help you spread it out.  Then top the cream cheese with the beef.  Finally, sprinkle with the shredded cheese.
6. Put dish in oven and bake 20-30 minutes (depending on your oven, I took mine out at 25, but that's because I was falling asleep on the couch and forgot to check at 20).  The cheese should be browned and and the beef and cream cheese should be bubbly.  Enjoy!

Another Childhood Favorite

I have fond memories of this dish.  It's so simple and delicious.  Bear with me when I suggest a pinch of this or a dash of that.  Here's what you should know: A pinch equals a pinch.  Pour a touch of salt in the palm of one hand.  Then with the other hand, use your thumb and forefinger to pinch the salt.  That's a pinch!  And a little salt goes a looong way.

This dish is called Picadillo.  Say it with me now, peeka - dee - yo.  Just like that.  Well, kinda.  It's basically ground beef with seasonings.  And serve over rice.  I grew up on this and whenever I make it these days, it brings a smile to my face.  I remember being in a Spanish class in high school (or maybe middle school) and there was a section on foods.  It defined picadillo as a stew.  My picadillo is in no way, shape, or form a stew.  (I was pretty offended by that definition, in fact.)

Picadillo
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small or 1/3-1/2 large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp olive oil
1 lb ground beef (I use 93/7 for pretty much anything)
pinch of salt
2-3 grinds black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1-2 Tbsp water
2-3 Tbsp Spanish olives with pimentos, sliced (optional)

Insturctions:

1. Cook up a sofrito of green peppers, onions, and garlic, sauteed in olive oil.

 2. Add ground beef and spices.  Break up into small pieces and cook until completed browned.

3. Add olives, and stir until they are warmed.  Serve picadillo over rice.



1.  Heat pan over medium-high heat.  When pan is hot, add just enough olive oil to coat pan.  (Tip: If you heat the pan first, you'll get more bang for your buck from your oil.)  Let oil heat, about 1-2 minutes, and chopped bell pepper.  Let cook over medium-low heat until pepper starts to brown, then add onion and garlic.  Cook 1-2 minutes more, until veggies start to soften.  Be careful not to let garlic burn. 

2. Add beef to pan and use wooden spoon to break it up into little pieces.  Season it with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and oregano.  Let cook 5-10 minutes, until call meat has turned dark brown.  Continue to break up into small pieces with spoon, as necessary.

3.  Add 1-2 Tbsp water and stir to get with meat.  This will create a bit of a sauce, but not so much that the dish is "saucy."  Add olives (if desired) and stir until olives are hot.  This should only take a few seconds.  Serve over rice and enjoy!

Cheeseburger Pizza with a Shiraz Cabernet

The cooking this week has not been what it should.  I would have loved to prepare things Sunday.  Instead, I made dinner for my boyfriend and I on Sunday, had it for lunch twice, but that was enough.  I still have leftovers, but I'm kinda over them.  Mostly, I've been eating out.  But when the boyfriend came over for our usual Wednesday night dinner at home date, I cooked.  I made Cheeseburger Pizza, which I adapted from one of my favorite food blogs, Emily Bites.


This is kind of a 2 step process.  Rather than using Laughing Cow, which I don't love, I made my own cheese sauce.  I'm going to list that as a separate recipe, because I ended up using only half.  The rest will go over macaroni or something tonight.

Mozzarella-Provolone Cheese Sauce
4 servings * 2 WW P+ per serving

Ingredients:
1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 c 1% milk
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 c Sargento Shredded Mozzarella & Provolone mix  (feel free to use other cheeses, I wanted a mild flavor for the pizza base, and this was awesome!)
2 tsp garlic powder

Start by melting the butter over medium heat.  Before it browns, add half of the milk and all of the  flour.  Whisk until it thickens, then add cheese.  Continue to whisk until cheese is mixed in.  It will be stringy.  Add the remaining milk in a slow stream, whisking constantly until it reaches a thinner, spreadable consistency.

Okay, so now let's put together this pizza.


Cheeseburger Pizza
6 servings * 8 WW P+ per serving


1/2 of above cheese sauce (i.e. 2 servings)
12 oz whole wheat pizza dough (I used fresh, from the refrigerated section of the grocery store)
1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup Vidalia onion, chopped
8 oz 93% lean ground beef
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
~ 1/2 Tbsp ketchup
~ 1/2 Tbsp mustard
1 scallion
1/2 cup shredded cheddar (I used Sargento, again.)


Preheat oven to 450*.




First, melt the butter in a pan.  When melted, add onions and cook until golden.  Add beef.  Season with garlic and Cajun seasoning.  Cook until brown, then add Worcestershire sauce.

When the beef is cooked, we need to move onto the dough.  I decided to use fresh this time because I didn't love the Boboli crust the few times I've used it.  Joke's on me.  The fresh tasted pretty similar to Boboli.  Next time I'll either have to find a really delicious dough, or just save the time and effort and use Boboli.  (I grew up in NJ, just outside NYC.  I'm verrrry particular about my pizza crust.)

Anyway, this is what the dough looked like when it came out of the bag.  I decided to set the pizza pan on the stove, and the dough on the pan, to let it warm up, for easier spreading.  Flattening it and spreading it out was still pretty tricky, so I can't imagine what it would have been like had I used it at refrigerator temp.

So, I spread the dough as best I could using a combination of my trusty rolling pin and my own two hands.  It didn't quite reach the edges of the pan, but I decided it was good enough to get to work.

Once your dough is spread on the pan (or if you're using ready-to-go crust), the fun begins.  Spread the dough with the cheese sauce.  I didn't want to thick of a base, so I went with a nice thin layer.  Then I dumped the beef on top.

Using that trusty spoon, spread the beef out to cover the cheese sauce.  (I'll admit, the rest of this may be out of order because I, um, forgot the CHEESE part of my CHEESEburger pizza.  In the end it was still delicious, so let's pretend this was done on purpose.)  Once the beef is spread out, grab your mustard and ketchup.  I went back and forth with each about 4 times.  You can do more or less based on your tastes, but I found I got a really good flavor from this.  Then top with scallions.

I criss-crossed the condiments because that's what Emily had told me to do the first time I made her pizza.  I wondered what the point of criss-crossing was, and decided it must be for looks.  Which is when I realized I'd left off the cheese and thus the pattern of the condiments didn't matter.  Eh, whatever.  Looks pretty here, right?

Then I topped it with 1/2 cup shredded cheddar and baked at 450* for about 20 minutes.  You want the cheese melted and browned and the crust golden.

And viola!  The finished product.

Would have been prettier with better lighting and the condiments on top, but whatreyagonnado?  I will tell you it tasted delicious!

Especially paired with

Because Shiraz Cabernet is delicious.  And who doesn't love little penguins?  (Plus a bargain price at the International Food Warehouse.)