I’m an American, even if I wasn’t raised one, I learned quickly about the ease and efficiency of the American casserole. I’m actually obsessed with the green bean casserole and struggle for the frenched onions for the top of it. Yum! 2019 Thanksgiving I was on my own in Belgrade with no one to feed so I made a chicken with some sweet potatoes and squash. I wanted to make some polenta, but I was missing the polenta… I had cornflower, but no eggs, or desire to make cornbread.
I started the corn flower as if it was going to become polenta, one-part corn flower to one-part water and one-part milk, then a nice knob of butter. It wasn’t coming out right… I added another part of water and continued to stir. Finally, after a bit I decided to add the mixture to my cabbage leek mixture that I cooked earlier. The taste was still raw so I decided to add parmesan, lots of salt and pepper, some dried herb mixture then put it in a casserole dish and baked it. What became of this dish was so good that I decided to serve it to the friend coming for dinner. She insisted I capture the recipe and here it is:
2 cups of water
1 cup of milk
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup of corn flour
1 cup of sautéed cabbage, red onion and kale
¼ cup parmesan
¼ cup of butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried paprika
Herb mixture, I used ¼ cup of Salatkräuter
Boil water and milk to gentle simmer medium heat then add butter and corn flour till porridge consistency. Then add sautéed cabbage, onion and kale mixture, mix in seasonings and parmesan. Turn the heat down and stir till the consistency is the consistency of mashed potatoes and everything is well mixed. Spoon into a buttered baking dish and cook till golden brown. Serve as a side dish.
