Today’s inspiration is based on coarse polenta. We love the creamy/coarse texture that you get from slow-cooking coarsely ground cornmeal. To riff off the theme, we ground hard pretzels and sifted them, using a combination of the fine and rough crumbs to make a porridge. We used water as the liquid and enriched it at the end with butter, tarragon mustard, and Gabietou cheese. In order to continue the theme, we needed a bit more mustard to accent the pretzels; we chose mustard greens. Examining the mustard greens, we saw several parts: the frilly edges, the ridged center leaves, and the stems. The frilly edges are dead ringers for curly parsley, and we used them as such, an edible garnish to add a hint of heat and bitterness at the finish. (We have numerous ideas for using these mustard frills as parsley, but those are TK). The wild card in the dish is zested honey roasted peanuts. We used a microplane grater to zest them over the mustard green leaves and stems to add a nutty sweet saltiness. And as we all know, pretzels, cheese, mustard, and peanuts go very well together. We’ve taken the all-American ball game snacks and turned them into an elegant vegetarian preparation. Just open a cold beer (regular or non-alcoholic) to wash them down.
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