Sometimes, it’s easy to predict the dishes that will achieve cult status on restaurant menus.
They can be flashy, engineered around ingredients that have themselves achieved cult status — marrow bones, foie gras, kale.
Then there are the dishes that come in under the radar, composed of humble ingredients or made with under-appreciated techniques, and operate more like a restaurant’s secret handshake.
This is what the polenta at Union, Bruce Kalman’s restaurant in Pasadena, California, has become for locals.
It is a comforting dish, and here’s how to make it yourself.
Creamy polenta with mushrooms
POLENTA
1 pint heavy cream
1 quart milk
1 1/2 cups polenta
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (grated using a microplane and loosely packed)
Kosher sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
In a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the cream and milk and bring to a simmer. Slowly whisk in the polenta and reduce the heat to low. Cook, stirring every few minutes or so, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan so the polenta does not burn. Cook the polenta until it is creamy, about 30 minutes, adding additional milk if the polenta thickens too quickly before it is tender. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 20 to 30 minutes.
Whisk in the butter and grated cheese, then taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.
TOPPING
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
1 pound mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, shiitake, oyster and chanterelles
Kosher sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon thinly sliced garlic
Pinch red chile flakes
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, preferably Pedro Ximenez
Prepared polenta
in a large saute pan, heat the oil, butter and herbs over medium heat, cooking until the herbs are crisp and the butter begins to brown, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper, or to taste. Toss, coating the mushrooms with the fat and increase the heat to high, cooking until the mushrooms brown a little, 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium.
Make a well in the center of the pan and add the garlic and chile flakes. Stir the garlic until it is cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes, then combine it with the mushrooms. Add the wine and broth, then remove from heat and add the vinegar. Taste, adjusting the seasonings as desired.
To serve, fill a serving dish with polenta, then top with the mushrooms.
Adapted from a recipe from Bruce Kalman of Union restaurant in Pasadena.
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