Needs cheese. Definitely some cheese.

As you know, I have been working through my Martha cookbook. I was trying to do all of the Summer recipes. But, even though it's 90 here in South Florida, and I wore sandals today (to show off my new pedicure. OPI's Royal Rajah Ruby, thank you very much!), I have decided that it's now Fall. Summer had too many grilling recipes anyway, and in apartment land, grills are verboten. I know the proper use of them, but who knows what the jackasses upstairs would do with a hot charcoal grill when they were done cooking.

September! Back to school! FOOTBALL!!!!! GO STEELERS!!

What challenges does Martha have in store for the Fall? Some lamb, which I don't eat, and lots of lentils, which I am wary of due to this lentil "salad" we used to have at Thanksgiving, until everyone finally admitted they didn't really like it in the first place (I never ate it, so if I'm wrong about why you guys don't make it anymore, Jan, Kathy, Sharon... please correct me!).

So no lamb. No lentils. Just chicken. And mushrooms. And polenta—Braised Chicken with Mushrooms and Oven-baked Polenta, to be precise.



You have to make the polenta and the chicken pretty much at the same time, so, being the queen of prep work that I am (thank you, Chris!!! XXOXOXOXOO), I did the chicken fixings before doing the polenta. Here is the mushroom part. One pound of mushrooms, wiped with a damp paper towel to clean them off, then sliced.



Then four garlic cloves, sliced in half (I assumed lengthwise), and 2 tbsp. of chopped fresh parsley. I got the curly kind, because Martha is amazingly non-specific. And chicken broth, at the ready for the chicken.



On to polenta. Because it's Martha, we don't use already made polenta. So here I go. From scratch. I whisked corn meal with water, salt and pepper.



Then bake it, covered, for 30 minutes at 425. Of course, my covered glass baking dish is still in Atlanta, where I hope Jenny is enjoying it. So I improvised with foil.



I sliced my chicken breasts in half to make cutlets, although, to be helpful, Martha could just say 8 chicken CUTLETS in the ingredients list. But, that would be too easy. So to fuck with us (Sorry, Dickie. Just the one f-bomb. I promise.) she says 4 boneless chicken breast halves. And then in the recipe, she refers to them as cutlets....confusing, but I cut them in half, lengthwise. If I'm wrong, Whatever, Martha! Sprinkle with salt and pepper.



I fired up my skillet with some olive oil and put the chicken in, a couple minutes on each side, then took them out.



That is NOT the same plate the raw chicken was on. I am not my father. I love him, but if you don't snap a "raw chicken plate" out of his hand after he puts stuff on the grill, he'll put the cooked food right back on it. I have a full set of that Corelle that I've had since college. It does not break. Believe me, I've tried. Actually, I lie. One of the bowls broke, and it didn't just break. It EXPLODED!

Back to dinner!!! Another tablespoon of olive oil into the skillet, and then in goes the garlic and the mushrooms. Stir it up, then cover to get some liquid out of the mushrooms. Uncover and stir. When the mushrooms are golden, you can add 1/2 cup of dry white wine. This is apparently "optional." Martha doesn't know me well. Wine is not "optional." That's like her tip about putting "leftover" wine into an ice cube tray to freeze for soups. I am still trying to figure out what "leftover" wine is.... Dry white wine. A bit for the mushrooms, and a bit for the chef.



Cook that down for about a minute or so, then add the chicken broth and the parsley. Cook that for 8-10 minutes. Then add the chicken back, lower the heat to a simmer and cover, 10-12 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.



BEEP goes the oven! Polenta!!! This is what it looks like when it comes out:



And this is what it looks like after you whisk in 1/4 cup of milk, 2 Tbsp. of butter and 1/4 tsp. marjoram. Not much different:



Huh. And the taste... huh... kind of... huh.... I scoop some out on a plate, and top it with a piece of chicken, and some of the mushrooms and sauce, along with some steamed asparagus (you need a green vegetable).



Better with the sauce, but the polenta is still kind of... blah. I am sure some variety of cheese would give it that something it's missing. Any suggestions??


The "All the Cheese You Need, and Then Some" playlist:
Fancy Yeah Yeah Yeahs (awesome start, this band is in heavy rotation in the Civic)
Another Spin Barenaked Ladies (I had time to kill, one day in Alaska. I walked around until I found the arts & crafts shop.)
Cupid's Got a Brand New Gun Michael Penn (It slithers like a viper and readies its attack)
Be Still My Beating Heart Sting (LOVE STING!!! I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion)
The Freshman The Verve Pipe (She a punk who rarely ever took advice)
You Are What You Are (Beautiful) Christina Aguilera
The State I'm In Louie Louie (Dig into your pop culture pit to figure out who this is. And I am still not embarrassed of anything on my iPod.)
Magic Carpet Ride Steppenwolf (oh yeah)
I Still Believe Brenda K. Starr (I told you there would be cheese.)
Fascination Street The Cure
One of Us ABBA
Closer to Me The Outfield
Last Dance Donna Summer (So let's dance the last dance toniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!)
One More Chance Madonna
Red Bike Wendy & Lisa
Summer Rain Belinda Carlisle
What I am Edie Brickell and New Bohemians (Religion is a smile on a dog)
Planet Earth Duran Duran (I LOVE YOU SIMON!)
I Was Born TO Love You Queen
The Sound of Silence Simon & Garfunkel (such a beautiful song)
Vacation The Go-Gos (Can't seem to get my mind off of you...)
Hold Me Menudo (oh yeah. Menudo. When Ricky Martin was like 11. Cheese!!!!)
Homeward Bound Simon & Garfunkel (I will be, in 2 weeks!!! Bingo-town here I come!)
She Will be Loved Maroon 5
Hammer to Fall Queen (I love me some Freddie)
Dreaming Blondie (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this song!!!)
Fast Love George Michael (Stupid cupid keeps on calling, But I see nothing in his eyes)
Sunshine Paul Westerberg (He can't even run his own life, I'll be damned if he'll run mine.)

And because I love this song, here is Blondie singing it live in 2008!