We may be giving you a break from another grilled recipe but these Fried Polenta Appetizers were fried outdoors. . . close to the grill. 🙂 We have a deep fryer that we move outside to our "fry station". Clean up is easy and there is no "fry" smell in the house. No matter where these little slices are fried, the crunchy appetizers are so delicious they are worth whatever it takes to make them.
When we made our Grilled Whole Pork Tenderloin With Peppers Over Polenta we had extra polenta so my Honey decided to get creative. He already knew what he wanted to do -- make fried polenta appetizers. So he poured the extra polenta into a small loaf pan and put it in the refrigerator to let it firm up.
Several days later he decided it was time to see how the fried polenta appetizers would turn out. He upended the loaf onto a cutting board and cut the loaf into slices. Now I want you to look at those slices. Don't they look good? Hubby is the knife pro in the family, as I've mentioned before. Those nice, even pieces would not look that way had I sawed the loaf.
Now here is where I jumped in -- I coated the slices with flour, dipped the slices in buttermilk, then coated them with panko crumbs. *my part here was very crucial*
The slices are now ready to be made into Fried Polenta Appetizers. We were excited about the experiment -- really, we knew it would taste good -- how can polenta possible taste bad? Add coating the slices with crunchy panko crumbs and you have ambrosia -- just like our Fried Green Tomatoes.
The fried polenta appetizers turned out even better than we anticipated. The only dilemma we had was what to suggest using as a dip. I ate mine as is -- I didn't think they needed anything else.
Would you use as a dip for these delicious fried polenta appetizers? If so, what?
L'antipasto fa venire l'acqualina in bocca.{The appetizer makes the mouth water}
Did you know that August 10th is the Feast of San Lorenzo and he is patrono dei cuochi (patron saint of cooks)?
I didn't until just recently.
And the feast of San Lorenzo coincides with the Perseus meteor shower -- shooting stars are known as " San Lorenzo"s tears" or in Italy " le lacrime di San Lorenzo". He was ordered put to death by being roasted alive because he didn't follow the unreasonable orders of emperor Valerian.
So if you want to wish on a star, go outside this evening and watch for the stelle cadenti (falling stars) and if you see one that captures your eye, recite . . .
Stella, mia bella stella, desidero che . . . .{fill in your wish}.
(Star, my beautiful star, I wish for . . . .) May all your wishes come true.
Un caro saluto e alla prossima.
Fried Polenta Appetizers
Ingredients
- 12 oz. Polenta made according to directions.
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour **
- 1 cup Buttermilk**
- 2 cups Panko Crumbs**
- Loaf pan -- small 3" X 5 ½"
- Peanut oil for frying
Instructions
- Polenta should be made a day or more ahead of time. Pour the polenta in a vegetable sprayed small loaf pan. Let it get cold, cover with plastic wrap then put in the refrigerator to firm up.
- Remove the polenta from the loaf pan onto a cutting board. With a very sharp knife cut into ½" slices.
- Coat the slices first in flour, then moisten with buttermilk letting the excess drain off, then finally coat with panko crumbs gently pressing the crumbs onto the polenta slice.
- Place the slices on a rack until ready to fry.
- Preheat oil to 340 F.
- Gently add several slices to the hot oil. Don't crowd the polenta slices. When they turn a nice golden brown they are done. Remove from the oil and let drain on paper towers. Sprinkle with salt. You will have to do this in several batches to get all of the slices fried.
Notes
- ** you may need more of these ingredients as you prepare the polenta slices.
- If you don't have a deep fryer, use a deep pan and fill it half way with oil. Let the oil reach 340 F and follow the method above and use a spider (a wide shallow wire-mesh basket) or something similar to remove the fried slices. Using tongs may break the hot slices.
Nutrition
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