Rainy Day Comfort

Marinara-Braised Pork Shank on Polenta

We had a wonderful stretch of unseasonably hot to gorgeous weather last weekend, followed by several days of rain this week as a low pressure system slowly worked its way off the Pacific. There seems to be a 24-hour respite coming tomorrow, but another large low is headed straight off the Gulf of Alaska right at us in the Willamette Valley.

Just what we need right now after the tease of sun obliterated by days of cool, gloomy weather: a long stretch of more cool gloomy weather. On top of a pandemic and quarantine and the same four walls. On top of some family issues. On top of losing my job. I'm feeling down.

What to do? Comfort food!

Not in the mood to do a lot of cooking, into the cocotte went a can of tomato purée and a can of diced tomatoes, a cup of green olives, a bunch of dried basil, half a head of minced garlic, a drizzle of olive oil, and a big old pork shank straight out of the freezer. I had a bunch of pork shanks cut for me at the local slaughterhouse back around the holidays and I've been holding them in the freezer.

Frozen Pork Shank Ready for Oven

I checked the shank after 4 hours and it wasn't quite ready. At five hours, it was falling off the bone tender, just where I wanted it. I let it cool and picked the meat off the bone, reserving the meat for dinner.

Pork Shank Out of Oven

After picking the pork, I seasoned the sauce. It only wanted a touch of salt. That couldn't have been any simpler: just dumping a bunch of stuff into a pan and into the oven!

I made a batch of polenta (see below) and served the pulled pork on top of the polenta with a big ladle of marinara on top of that. Then I sprinkled on some pickled capers and grated Pecorino Romano over all. The pickled capers are to add just a snap of acid to the long-cooked sauce.

One of the things that I hope all my line cooks learned from me is that long-cooked sauces are generally really flat and need just a touch of acid to bring them back to life. I used to get a great kick watching my cooks' eyes after adding a touch of vinegar to a long-cooked sauce: that profound light bulb moment was priceless.

Cooking Polenta

This is heresy. Be forewarned.

I've been thinking for a long time that polenta is a whole lot easier to cook than most people suggest. I have no desire to stand over the stove, stirring a pot of bubbling, geyser-like cornmeal mush all afternoon. There has to be a better way, so I tried a highly successful experiment.

Start by adding the ground corn to the pan in which you are going to cook it, off the heat. Add a little salt.

Add about half the amount of cold water as the amount ground corn. Stir to make a rough paste. Add water by dribbles until you have a very smooth paste with no lumps.

Now add more water until the water is about a quarter-inch/centimeter above the corn.

Now turn the heat on and stir until you need to add more water. Keep stirring and adding water until the polenta is thick and bubbling, about 8 minutes in my case.

Turn off the heat. Stir in another cup of water. Cover the polenta. Walk away for 20-30 minutes.

Come back, and see if the water is all absorbed. If it is, add another cup of water, cover, and leave it for 20-30 minutes. Stir in another cup of water and leave it be until you are ready to serve.

At service, bring the polenta back to temperature and thin, thicken, and/or season to your liking.

There you go: polenta with about 10-12 minutes of active work and no molten fountains splattering your stove.