Polenta and Onion Relish

When people gather for many rounds of mahjong, food is usually one of the last thing on their minds. Perhaps this isn't true for some of you, but for my relatives and my mum, they would skip mealtimes if only hunger did not bug them enough to make them slightly distracted. I typically do not cook for my mum and her mahjong kakis if I can help it. But if I do, I would work out something terribly simple, that can be eaten from a bowl and with just a spoon.

So when my mum had a mahjong session yesterday, polenta came to mind. I had a bag of polenta sitting around my shelves just screaming to be slowly simmered into a creamy, corny mush. So I did just that, and made a pot of beef stew as well as some roasted vegetables to go with it. Unfortunately, I had grossly overestimated the amount of polenta that I needed, and ended up with an entire tray worth of polenta.

I find that the best way to save extra polenta is to spread it out on a tray, let it cool, harden, then slice it into 2 cm thick pieces. These can be fried with a little olive oil or frozen for future frying. Fried polenta becomes gratifyingly crisp, with incredibly soft middles. Arguably, they are better than their more viscous predecessors.

For a quick dinner tonight, I chose to cube and fry them in a touch of olive oil. Some halved white button mushrooms, a scoop of onion relish, a sprinkle of dried parsley and a splash of white wine vinegar later, I was stuffing myself with spoonfuls of this very, very comforting dish.

The great thing about this meal is that it can be prepared in a flash, on any worn-out weeknight of yours, when the last thing on your mind is having to wait for your onions to caramelise, or your polenta to soften. Just a little planning beforehand, and some leisurely cooking during the weekend, and you'd have created many instant 'TV-dinners' for whenever you really need it.