hot child in the city

Adventures with polenta

I have a problem. The problem is this: I go to the grocery store and stock up on yummy food, only to leave it rotting in the refrigerator. I am a horrible roommate like that. At any rate, I have a tube of polenta that I purchased from my local Trader Joe’s, that I desperately need to finish. Problem is, I’ve never eaten polenta, let alone prepared it in any meal. I found this recipe for a polenta, goat cheese and mushroom tart on Epicurious, and I’m hoping that I’m able to make something half-way decent. Having never made anything off of Epicurious, I figured this ought to be doubly adventurous.

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Shiro!

Over Christmas, my aunt gave me butter and shiro flour - two delicious ingredients I use to make my favorite sauce: Shiro. It’s essentially the Oromo equivalent of fast food. My first foray into Oromo cooking (as an adult) was moderately successful. It turned out quite tasty and I only had to make one panicky phone call. Here’s how:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 tomato, finely chopped
• 3 cloves, garlic minced or garlic pressed
• 4 cups of water
• 2/3 cups of Shiro Flour
• Butter (as much as you want, really)
• Salt, pepper to taste

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