A few weeks back, I began the strange and terrifying journey of Newsday's "Dinner Tonight" feature. There were sausage rolls. There were fabulous grilled cheese and apple sandwiches.

I had to skip the middle night's recipe. It was for pasta with clam sauce, and Lemonette isn't old enough to eat shellfish yet. Thus our third recipe: Polenta and Beef Casserole. Basically: You make polenta. You pour a ground beef and tomato mixture over it. You sprinkle it with cheese and bake it.

This recipe had all sorts of potential for the gut-busting heaviness I had feared in newspaper-derived cookery. But I made a commitment to you, gentle readers, and I intended to see it through to the end. Even if it took me weeks to report it.

First I had to make the polenta. I had never before made polenta. Moreover, my recipe called for fast-cooking polenta. Now, I had thought polenta was cornmeal. Michelle has pointed out to me that this is also the same thing as grits. I do not know what you can do to cornmeal to make it "fast-cooking," and so I purchased a special box thusly labeled despite the ten pounds of cornmeal in my cabinet, for fear of making, er, underdone polenta.

I prepared the polenta. It was lumpy. I spread it in the bottom of a dish and vowed to use a whisk next time.

The topping was a mixture of ground beef, chopped peppers and onions, and diced and crushed tomatoes. There was salt and pepper. There was garlic. I hadn't ever purchased crushed tomatoes before, either, and was surprised that it was basically just tomato sauce. I had always somehow thought it was a vaguely pulverized version of whole stewed tomatoes.

I diligently used the pan they told me to. This was somewhat against my better judgement. The beef and tomato mixture, as I suspected, turned into a massive quantity. I feared imminent waste and spillage. And indeed, when I spooned the mixture onto the polenta, there was at least a cup left over. Hrmph. I hate poorly calculated recipes.

On with the mozzarella, and into the oven. There was baking and tension and waiting. I am not generally a casserole-baker, and so I used this time to wonder why I was preparing this suspicious brew for my own family. Why? How could I be doing this? What if the recipe was actually... tasty? Would my aspirations of food snobbery be turned on its ear? Would it make me a philistine, because I enjoyed a beef casserole, or a gourmand, because I was using polenta, which is as we all know very fashionable?

Finally, dinner was served.

Well, it looked OK. And... I hate to say it, but it was quite tasty. Hearty, filling, with a pleasant mixture of textures, from the smoothness of the polenta to the toothsome tenderness of the peppers to the gooey melty cheese. You can't go wrong with baked cheese. In all, a nice winter dish. I am still suffering a crisis about what it means to have enjoyed it.

Also, although it claimed to serve four, the three of us ate about a third of the total casserole, and so the rest of it is lurking in my deep freezer. The recipe claims it freezes and reheats very well. We shall see.

Epilogue
Newsday announced this week that they will no longer be running the weekly feature, "Dinner Tonight." And so I am spared my philosophic turmoil, for using the newspaper's weekly menus is no longer an option available to me. Alas! If I had only known! As it turns out, it was a great feature, and I regret waiting until its last gasp to try it out.

Name:


Email Address:


URL:


Comments:


Remember info?

Please type the number into the box: