Polenta with Mushroom Ragout

Ingredients

• 0.1 teaspoon pepper black freshly ground
• 1 cup ears corn husked
• 2 tablespoons chives fresh chopped
• 2 teaspoons garlic clove crushed finely chopped
• 0.5 cup chicken broth homemade canned
• 5 ounces mushrooms wild cleaned trimmed cut into 1/2-inch pieces (2 cups) (cultivated, , or a combination)
• 0.5 cup onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; peanut oil preferred 
• 4  plum tomatoes halved seeded cut into 1/2-inch pieces (1 1/4 cups)
• 0.3 teaspoon salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon butter unsalted
• 2 cups water 
• 0.5 cup cornmeal yellow

Equipment

• sauce pan
• ladle
• whisk

Directions

1. FOR THE POLENTA
2. Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
3. Sprinkle the cornmeal on top while mixing it in with a whisk, and stir in the salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid to prevent splattering, and cook gently for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the polenta is cooked and has the consistency of a creamy puree. Set aside, covered.
4. FOR THE RAGOUT
5. Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan. When they are hot, add the onion and sauté for 30 seconds.
6. Add the mushrooms and sauté over high heat for about 2 minutes, until the liquid emerges from them and evaporates.
7. Add the garlic, tomatoes, corn, chicken stock, salt, and pepper and bring to a strong boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
8. To serve, ladle the polenta into the center of four soup plates and pour the mushroom ragout on top of and around it.
9. Sprinkle with the chives and serve.
10. From Essential Pépin: More Than 700 All-Time Favorites From My Life in Food by Jacques Pépin. Copyright © 2011 by Jacques Pépin; illustrations copyright © 2011 by Jacques Pépin. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company.