Baked Polenta!!!!!

I decided to bake my last tube of polenta.

Oh! How I lament not baking slices of polenta in my past!

It was absolutely delicious! Crispy (not really crunchy) outer poofy skin, soft and gooey center...

I'm still pondering how that happens, actually. What causes a poofy skin to form on a uniform corn mixture? Why is the surface of the polenta all crispy, enrobing a poof of air and soft, creamy (but still hot) polenta filling? It's like gruyeres. Cheese puffs.

In terms of physics, I know that when the temperature increases, volume increases. Therefore, when you stick polenta in the oven, the pockets of air within the polenta, which get closed off by the crispy surface of the polenta, expand. The expansion causes the poofiness. However, I don't understand what causes the surface of the polenta to stick to form a crisp. I initially thought, hm, gluten. But, gluten isn't present in polenta, is it? In corn? so what causes the surfaces to stick? Water? Water soluble proteins forming a matrix? The Maillard reaction? Of course, the outside is exposed to a higher temperature, meaning that it has a higher chance of burning. I suppose this means that there is less moisture on the surface of the polenta. Because the temperature is so high (425 deg. F), there isn't enough time for the water within the polenta to diffuse down its concentration gradient to distribute itself to the surface of the polenta. With a low temperature, the polenta would cook more evenly. With high temperatures, the outside is crispy, and the inside is moist (not as cooked). I could be wrong, but this is what I've gathered from science. I suppose it would be cooler to be a food scientist rather than a molecular biologist.

It's very delicious... Next time I ought to make thinner slices (though, these were already hard to slice). 425 F for 15 minutes on one side, 15 minutes on the other. Bottom rack. It's like a chip... but not really. No oil, either. Just slice polenta from a tube (I know, I should make polenta from scratch.) Delicious!

Polenta.

I'm starting to be a hermit in my room. I really don't enjoy being around my apartment-mates (I guess I'm just antisocial) even though they're nice and all. I guess I'm just really self-conscious when I cook food in front of strangers, especially when it involves vegetables, because apparently my apartment-mates don't consume vegetables (at least, they don't store vegetables in the fridge.)

It's pretty awkward when your apartment-mate's boyfriend asks "What's that?" when I take out some (smallish, not globular) eggplants from the fridge and set them on the cutting board, while waiting for my apartment-mate to finish using the sink. It gets worse when he asks, "So what's that?", and points to one stalk (Yes. One.) of chard that's sitting in an empty glass, and I answer "It's chard...uhh... it's like spinach but it's got pink parts."

And then when they leave and I finally start smashing up the tube of polenta (I know, I should make polenta from scratch. I'll do that one day) in a saucepan, another apartment-mate comes down and sticks one plate and one fork into the dishwasher and starts the cycle. She glances at my food and perhaps thinks, "woah, what is that?! It's like pink mashed potatoes!"

It turns out that pink (actually, "rainbow") chard and eggplant turns polenta a grungy shade of pink. It also appears that eggplant ought to be diced, rather than chunks, when on a stove with lumps of polenta. Over time, though, the polenta got thick and smooth, while the eggplant just... didn't fully cook :(.

Unfortunately, adding an ounce of cheese did nothing to make the polenta taste cheesy. I should've just eaten the cheese by itself!

My mum asked me to incorporate juniper berries in my cooking so I added a few. I couldn't really taste a difference, but I didn't really enjoy the taste of it when I chewed one by itself.

On the bright side, TVP pairs very well with polenta! My second batch of polenta included bak choi and curry powder, although I don't think I added enough curry powder. However, it looks more appetizing, and I decided to cook earlier (while everyone was asleep).

Good times to be in the kitchen:

Weekdays:

Before 8:30am, from 5pm to 6:30pm (any later, and they are cooking/drinking with friends)

Weekends:

Before 11am, not 12pm to 2pm (Any other time is unknown territory/up for grabs)