I’ve had exactly four cups of coffee today. My hand is shaking (just slightly). And I really need to trim my bangs. But I’m scared. I think I have reason to be…
I also cannot stop thinking about homemade fish sticks. How will I do this?! How will I make homemade fish sticks? Huh?
Still not sure. But if you have ideas/thoughts/experiences of the fish stick variety, I’m all ears. Also, if you know secrets about cutting your own bangs, I’d like to hear those too.
These are important life things. Fish sticks. And haircuts.
I’m all about fish sticks right now, but really I should be convincing you how incredible these sticks made from polenta are. They really are. It’s just that I made these about a week ago when I was back home and now I’ve moved on to something else.
I often times feel like I have the attention span of Ellen Degeneres’s character in Finding Nemo. You know..like a goldfish.
(Weird how Ellen Degeneres is a fish and I was talking aobut fish sticks, right?! RIGHT?! Totally wasn’t planned.)
Back to polenta fries…I’m a huge proponent of fries that aren’t made from potatoes. You know this. Evidence: here, here, here, AND lastly, here.
I love everything about fries. I love their bite-sizeness. I love that I can gab and gossip while simultaneously eating an entire plate. They offer breaks in between. The dipping sauce situation that goes along with fries is always important.
These have everything I love about a French fry, actually. They’re crispy on the outside with a smooth center. In this case, their smoothness is helped by a heaping handful of shredded Parmesan. Add a bit more if you like (or another kind of cheese), and you’ll have Cheesy Baked Polenta Fries. HELLO DELICIOUSNESS!
They taste even better with this spicy lime mayo, which comes together with a dash of hot sauce, a squeeze of lime and a sprinkling of salt.
Baked Polenta Fries with Spicy Lime Mayo
Fries:
4 cups whole milk
1 cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 teaspoons kosher salt, and more for sprinkling
2 tablespoons olive oil
Chili Lime Mayo:
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 dashes Cholulua (or Tobasco)
1 teaspoon lime juice
Pinch salt
1. Spray non-stick cooking spray on a baking sheet (or casserole dish). Bring milk, 1 cup water and butter to boil in heavy large saucepan. Gradually whisk in cornmeal. Reduce heat to low and cook until polenta is very thick and starts to pull away from sides of pan, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Stir in cheese and salt. Add more salt if you like. Immediately transfer polenta to prepared baking sheet, spreading mixture to a 1-inch thickness. Mine filled up half of the baking sheet. No biggie. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool and firm, about 1 hour. (You can totally do this a day ahead. Just be sure to cover and keep refrigerated.)
3. Cut polenta lengthwise in pan into three-inch-wide rectangles. Cut each rectangle crosswise into 3/4-inch-wide strips. Set polenta strips aside.
4. Preheat oven to 450F. Transfer polenta fries to lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with about a teaspoon of kosher salt and some olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping the fries at the 10 minute mark. Fries, when done, will be slightly golden brown at the edges.
5. Meanwhile, mix together the mayo, hot sauce, lime juice and pinch of salt.
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit
Yields two and a half dozen fries
Just made these using Trader Joe’s packaged polenta loaf (for those who want a vegan option)…. SOOOO GOOD! Thank you for the recipe!
High five!
Can i substitute couscous for the polenta?
Unfortunately not. I doubt the couscous will stay together in the same way that polenta does. 🙁
I wonder if I can sub vegan ingredients for the non-vegan stuff.
This should work. I imagine if you used soy milk (non-sweetened) it should work the same. And I haven’t found a good meltable vegan cheese but if you have then that should be fine too.
I didn’t take the time to read the entire comment thread, but in case you need to cut your bangs again, I do have a tip for you! Gather up all of your bangs. Twist them together – all the way to the bottom. Now just cut (always less than you think you need) a straight line across this single strand that you have created. If a straight line is too blunt for you, then fan out the end a little and make a couple vertical snips into your bangs like they do at the salon. Try straight first though. Good luck! ((Might try the recipe this weekend))
I just took a shot at these, and my cornmeal got thick in about 8 SECONDS, not minutes! It looks all okay otherwise, but I wonder why mine got thick so quick! We’ll see how they bake tomorrow. I added a salt-less garlic spice mix in instead of the salt and they smell yummy.
8 seconds? So weird. Hmm…not sure. Hope they turn out awesome. 🙂
Yea, mine thickened in about 8 seconds also. I was like ok, do I keep cooking them. I took them off and spread them on the pan. Hopefully the turn out.
This is so strange/weird. Well I’ll put a note in the recipe, but it took me a a full 8 minutes. :/
made these over the weekend, and I discovered that I couldn’t be lazy and pan fry them===> holy disaster!….well, i mean the shape of the “fry” totally fell apart but i had a mound of crispy pan-friend polenta which I ate like a giant yummy cookie haha … but anyway, so I made the other half of the batch in the oven like you said and they came out super yummy goodness. I made them with coconut milk because the manfriend and I stopped drinking regular milk and I had to bake them somewhat longer to get the desired crispyness, but they still tasted fab! … so in summary, thanks!
Ahhh yes I’ve done this too actually. If you want to fry them, they definitely have to be a deep fry. So glad they worked out in the oven. And coconut milk? I dig it.
Yum! Will be giving these a try. Have you tried chickpea fries? Delicious! made from chickpea flour (besan) – they’re amazing!
I had polenta fries when I was in Oregon last year and they were amazing. I think they had a gorgonzola/butter dipping sauce…seriously they were amazing.
My mom used to put a piece of tape under the the area I wanted to keep….then she would cut along the top of the tape….not only did this give you a line to cut, but it kept all of the hair from flying away…I have no idea if that is a good/right way to do it, but it always seemed to work.
I’m totally obsessed with sweet potato fries, but this would be a nice change. I think I just might need to give these a try – thanks for the inspiration!
Polenta with cheese? YUM! Polenta fries? Yummier still!
BANGS – my no fail approach . . . gather bangs together at the tip of your nose with your thumb on/under your nose and your index finger on the other side of the bangs. Turn your hand so that the middle section of your index finger is now touching your nose and your thumb is on the outside. Use the scissors in your other hand to cut the bangs – below your index finger is you want then longer and above if you want them shorter. This should give you a face flattering /framing look – it has always worked for me. Good Luck!!
I made these today…. YU-MMY. Seriously delicious. Not as cute as yours because I´m horrible at the spreading evenly department, but still… YU-MMY!!!
Damn do these look good, Adrianna! I have always been scared to attempt polenta fries. First, I worry I would make them crumbly and bland and not nearly as nice as those you made. Second, I worry that if I could make them as beautiful and tasty as those beauties of yours, I would never stop scarfing;)
Happy New Year to you!
-Erin
Yummy! Just found you via Saveur. 🙂
When cutting bangs, after your horizontal cut, hold the scissors vertically and snip the edges so they don’t look so blunt. It makes it look less like you cut your own bangs!
This makes my life happy!!
50 comments bc this looks ridiculously yummy. I had some polenta fries the other day and I couldnt stop eating them. Total fatty alert. Totes gonna make this 🙂