I poached an egg!!!

Believe it or not, I have never poached an egg.  I know, right?  Well, today I did it. 
I had dinner with a friend at Marlowe the other night and had this amazing, decadent, rich like woah polenta dish.  It was intense - I could only eat half.  So today I figured I'd poach a couple of eggs, dump them on top and eat it like my name is Michael Dickerson.  It was perfection.  Rich like woah, decadent perfection.  But I just LOVE the combination of egg, truffle oil, parmesan and earthy something - either mushrooms or asparagus.  It is the best, and perfect for an ucky, rainy fall morning.
I can't take full credit, since you know, I only poached the eggs, but I bet I can make something similar.  I don't really like polenta though, so go figure.

For my eggs, I filled a small saucepan maybe 2/3 full of water, added 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp of white vinegar and maybe a teaspoon of salt and brought the water to a boil.  I cracked my eggs in a small bowl and gently eased them into the water.  I let them boil for a few minutes - 2?  3? til they looked set.  Voila!  Perfection.

You can go ahead and nestle your eggs into a bowl of soft polenta, just make a little nest for it in the middle.  The yolk all mixed into the polenta is divine.  Sautee up some wild mushrooms, Place them all around the outside, and sprinkle with arugula and some shaved Parmesan, then drizzle truffle oil all over.  Or maybe mix it into the polenta?    Eat a small portion, seriously.

Pizza - Self Style

I don't know how I feel about polenta crust.  I'm not a huge polenta fan, and I just don't get how it can be crispy, but I guess I'd be willing to try it out some time, you know, just in case it's awesome.

Pepperoni Polenta Pizza

Serves 6  

1/2 cup instant plain polenta

1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 cup thinly sliced onion1/4 cup diced red and/or green bell pepper 
2 teaspoons olive oil 
1/2 cup prepared marinara sauce 
10 slices reduced-fat pepperoni 
1/3 cup seeded and diced tomato 
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat (part skim) mozzarella

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. For crust, bring 2 1/4 cups water to a boil. Whisk in polenta and salt. Reduce heat and whisk 3 to 5 minutes or until thick. Pour into a 9" pie plate or cake tin, cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge to chill to room temperature. Meanwhile, sauté onion and pepper with oil in a nonstick skillet until onion is soft, about 2 minutes. Pour marinara sauce over crust. Add onion, pepper, pepperoni, tomato, and oregano; salt and pepper to taste. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top and cook 2 more minutes or until cheese melts. Cut into 6 slices; serve immediately.

the skinny

97 calories per serving, 3 g fat (1 g saturated), 13 g carbs, 5 g protein


And since I'm always searching for healthy crust options (I'm sorry, I know pizza isn't healthy, but I just can't give it up), maybe I'll give their dough recipe a whirl as well.

Makes 8 individual crusts  

1 tablespoon molasses 

1 package (1/4 oz) active dry yeast 

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt 

2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour 

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 

Vegetable-oil cooking spray

1. In a large bowl, combine molasses and yeast with 1 1/3 cups lukewarm water. Stir. Set aside until bubbly, about 5 minutes. Add salt and oil and stir. In a separate bowl, mix flours together. Add yeast mixture to flours and stir with a wooden spoon until dough forms. Divide dough into 8 portions. (Freeze any unused dough.) Using hands, roll dough into balls, coat fully with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Prepare a charcoal, gas or stovetop grill. Grill should be very hot. Position grilling rack 3 or 4 inches from heat source. Flour a baking sheet. With hands, flatten a ball of dough into an 8-inch circle on baking sheet. Using fingertips, gently lift dough, and set it on the grill. When dough puffs and underside stiffens (about 1 minute for gas or charcoal, several minutes for stovetop grill), flip crust with a spatula; move to the coolest part of the grill. Top according to the recipes above.

The skinny

252 calories per crust, 5 g fat (0.5 g saturated), 45 g carbs, 3.5 g fiber, 6 g protein