Polenta Pancakes with Cranberry Clementine Syrup

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I love weekend breakfasts.  Truly, breakfast is my favorite meal, and during the week I rotate through oatmeal, bowls of fruit with quinoa or wheat berries, and even the occasional fried egg with toast.  Weekend breakfasts are a whole other meal though.  The goal is no longer just to fuel you quickly on the way out the door.  Rather, weekend breakfasts for me are about relaxing, and taking the time in the morning to cook something delicious to start the day off on a happy note.  I like french toast and pancakes for my weekend breakfasts, but always with a … Continue reading

Polenta with Chanterelle Mushrooms and Kale

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I did not grow up with polenta.  I have no food memories of helping a grandmother stir the polenta with a wooden spoon that came over from Italy.  I’m Irish.  I have overly fond attachments to mashed potatoes.  And to Stove Top Stuffing (that’s the American heritage, I’m sure.)  So polenta is a fairly recent discovery for me, and I wasn’t really sold on the idea of it initially either.  Corn meal mush? sort of like corn grits?  I was skeptical. I’ve done grilled polenta cakes before, but I hadn’t experimented with just a bowl of polenta until this recipe.  … Continue reading

Fava and White Bean Salad over Polenta

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Yum! When the CSA box came last week, I was psyched to see fava beans.  I love fava beans, but they are so much work.  At the time, I was stalling because I was nervous about my scheduled workout.  So, in order to postpone the run a little further, I shelled, and then shelled again.  I’ve loved fava beans since I first bought the furry pods at the Union Square Farmers Market in Cambridge several years ago.  I didn’t know what they were when I bought them the first time, but chef Google answered my questions, and I carefully took … Continue reading