…. and the art of DSLR photography are basically the two things that have been occupying my mind for the last couple of weeks. Before that was smoked paprika, though I haven’t shared any recipes with it yet. I’d been baking up a storm of cookies and biscottis during the absence of a camera. Not having a camera, I should admit, had somehow taken away my enthusiasm for cooking, to be more precise, the creative and artistic cooking, because I didn’t have to worry about how the food looked, without a camera to record it. The only person who had benefited from my hibernation period was “K” since he didn’t have to sit at the table watching dinner getting cold while it being photographed.   Now that I’ve got a new camera which does more amazing tricks, there will be more nights of cold dinner in the days, months or years to come. *sorry*

Last week I cooked “Polenta” at home for the first time and I was very satisfied with how it turned out. I had initially planed to make ‘Polenta pancake with grilled fruit’ for breakfast before I was offered fruit salad by my generous flatmate. So I passed on breakfast and moved on to the option of savoury cheese and basil polenta. It was the best polenta dish I had ever tasted, and will probably be until I try one in the real land of polenta, Italy.

To accompany the fabulous polenta was grilled salt pepper prawn with watercress salad, which turned out to be a great combo all together. Bitterness of the radish and watercress is well-rounded in the sweetness of the pear and honey dressing.

<Cheese Basil Polenta with Grilled Prawns and Watercress Salad>

I think ‘K’ and I got through the amount of prawns that one would over a month. Behind the scene, we had a big plate full of grilled prawns both shelled and unshelled for the hope of getting well-needed calcium for my injured foot. We ended up overeating everything and couldn’t move afterwards. That’s one of the problems of my cooking; it’s so addictive that the moment you lay a finger on any of my food, you will have a lifetime spell cast upon your tongue and be enslaved to my cooking.

Grilled Cheese Basil Polenta, delizioso!

The polenta was fairly easy to cook as you will soon find out, yet, the taste was so comforting and satisfying. I don’t see why I shouldn’t be cooking it every night, at least once a week. It would make a healthy and exotic alternative to bread or chips, served with any main dish of meat or seafood.

<Grilled Cheese Basil Polenta>

Ingredients: serves 2

3 cups (750ml) water
1 cup (170g) instant polenta
60g butter, chopped
½ cup (40g) finely grated parmesan
sea salt and cracked black pepper
½ cup basil leaves
2 cups (200g) grated mozzarella – can be reduced by half or substitute for extra 1/2 cup of parmesan
olive oil, for brushing

Method

Place the water in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Gradually whisk in the polenta and cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir through the butter, parmesan, salt and pepper. Pour half of the polenta into a 20cm-square tin lined with non-stick baking paper and spread to smooth. Top with the basil, mozzarella and remaining polenta. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or until set. Cut into squares and brush with oil. Heat a char-grill pan or barbecue over high heat. Cook until golden and the cheese has melted.

<Watercress Salad>

Ingredients: serves 2

a bunch of watercress, sprigs picked
two red radishes, sliced
1 pear, sliced
avocado (optional)
walnuts (optional)

Dressing

1 glove of garlic (just give a couple stabs and put in the whole glove to infuse the flavour into the dressing )
2 tsp Dijon mustard
3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs white wine vinegar
2 tsp honey