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This was amazing. It sounded so good that I just sort of went for it, didn’t worry about accuracy. Twice. It was even better than you said and now my house smells like roasted chiles and garlic. Plus this demystified polenta. Y’all, stop posting and start cooking. This is that good!
Didi
Just go ahead and just laugh. I can take it. This is SUCH a weird looking recipe.
I almost didn’t share it because I was too, um, shy. I mean, shy about how it looks. As I blissfully ate every last bite from the big bowl sitting on my lap on the couch in front of the TV (<— we have a personal rule against that, but we do it sometimes anyways and it’s just the most cozy-nice thing), I started to realize that, in fact, the shapes and colors and general vibe of this whole dish just says Weirdo Person. And I started to second guess that anyone else is the world was going to give this even one second of their eyeballs. Sad face.
But the great thing about a blog is that even if everyone thinks you’re a little cray cray, slash even if you ARE a little cray-cray, you ultimately have the blog as an expression of yourself, by yourself, for yourself, reflecting yourself. So let me express myself and my current FOOD LOVE through this green-blobby-blob that might just be my favorite recipe of 2014. no seeeeriously.
So unrelated to the food, I have a confession to make. I’m really tired.
Amen! said the whole world. Unless one of you is harboring some secret super person energy, in which case please consult with me immediately. We had talked a little bit earlier this year about peace and rest and burnout and all those nice things that go along with the B word: balance.
Right now I feel like I am trying so hard to have peace that the trying to have peace is making me not have peace. And it’s also making me write like a maniac. So I’m a food weirdo and a writing maniac. Who.what.why.how.omg. Make it stop.
The good thing is that I love everything that I do for work and I want to do more of all of it, minus anything involving an alarm clock. But other than that.
I feel like I need 900 million hours in every day in order to do all the things I love. I can’t even keep up with myself right now and my food ideas and my students taking their big dramatic and important state tests and my ecookbook being almost done and our house and the boxes of un-put-together furniture downstairs and then a recipe like this comes along and slooooooows meeeee dooooown.
Yes. Sloooow. Like the nice, relaxing kind that makes you take a few long breaths. After a long day at job 1 and another long day at job 2, tonight I ate a big warm bowl of this, alone, on the couch, while watching a low-budget cooking show and wearing my pajamas at 7pm.
It was my favorite kind of food in my favorite kind of relaxed happy place.
This recipe speaks to my love of all things comforting/comfortable. The texture and saucy wonderfulness all piled up high together on a plate just makes my heart smile. The poblano mushrooms are spicy, warm, dreamy. You’re going to be roasting them and you’re going to be happy you did. They are the base of this flavor-rocking sauce that goes over the sauteed garlic butter mushrooms and over a scoop of semi-firm, chewy, and buttery polenta.
Everybody just breathe. *sigh*
Weirdly awesome food to the rescue, and just in time for the weekend. Holla back yo.
Creamy Poblano Mushrooms with Polenta
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This recipe for Creamy Poblano Mushrooms with Polenta is a simple vegetarian dish with tons of flavor! Simple and delicious!
Ingredients
For the Poblano Sauce:
- 2 poblano peppers
- 3/4 cup light sour cream
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sliced green onions
For the Mushrooms and Polenta:
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, divided
- 16 ounces sliced mushrooms (I used baby bella and white button mushrooms)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 scant tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water (optional)
Instructions
- Sauce: Roast the poblano peppers over an open flame or in the oven until the outside is slightly charred. Place under a towel for a few minutes to steam and soften. Cut into pieces and set aside. Puree the sour cream, water, oil, garlic, and salt in a food process. Add the green onions and poblano peppers and puree until desired consistency is reached. I like to leave a little bit of texture in the sauce.
- Polenta: Bring 4 cups of water to boil. Add the cornmeal and salt; simmer until thick and bubbly, about 5-10 minutes, keeping in mind that the polenta firms up quite a bit as it cools. Add 1 tablespoon butter once removed from heat.
- Mushrooms: Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and the mushrooms; saute until golden brown. Add the sauce and the cornstarch dissolved in water. Bring to a simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened. Serve the mushrooms and sauce over the polenta.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Mexican-Inspired
Keywords: poblano mushrooms, polenta recipe, poblano and polenta
This sauce is what dreams are made of! Threw some steak into the bowl too (because why not), and it worked well. Definitely will make again.
OMG, has anyone actually made this instead of chatting about it and how good it looks???? If so, can you comment on how it turned out and if it reheats ok in the microwave…..
Hi Lindsay, I’ve been following you in Instagram for awhile, but this is the first time I’m actually writing a review š
I had some poblanos and lots of mushrooms in the fridge and decided to look up a recipe to combine them, so I came across yours. It turned out really good!! I substituted soaked cashews for the sour cream and lightly sauteed leeks for green onions (because I had a lot of it), overall it was delicious! Thanks again,
I just stumbled across your blog and there are already so many delicious looking recipes I want to try!! (Including this one!) So glad I found you.
This sounds amazing, something (maybe it was Cinco de Mayo) has had me on a Mexican pepper kick lately. This is a great way to use poblano peppers.
Ugly food is always the best! This looks INCREDIBLE. I would totally snuggle up in front of the TV with a big hot bowl of this š
Haha – thanks Becca! Always appreciate people who appreciate my ugly food.
should have been 5+ stars!
This was amazing. It sounded so good that I just sort of went for it, didn’t worry about accuracy. Twice. It was even better than you said and now my house smells like roasted chiles and garlic. Plus this demystified polenta. Y’all, stop posting and start cooking. This is that good!
Oh I’m so glad to hear that Didi! I’m always happy when a more … weird… recipe connects with people. š
I’ve been seeing a lot of yummy polenta recipes lately but none with mushrooms! I love mushrooms! I think this means I’ll have to finally go out and get cornmeal to try making polenta!
you must you must you must! it’s so good.
Sooooo…I just had something kind of like this at a place called Firefly in DC – it was braised kale with mushroom gravy over polenta. Uggghhh. So good – a little different. Def going to try this recipe!
Ooh that sounds awesome!
That does look good! I love the peppers in it “-)
Ok, maybe this isn’t the most photogenic dish but it sounds like it tasted great and the light and composition of your photograph makes up for anything else that is missing. Does summer break start any time soon for you? My kids finish on June 3rd but where I grew up on the east coast summer break didn’t start until late June. Hopefully it is sooner than later for you in MN.
Thanks Holly! Our summer break starts June 11th. Too far away if you ask me! š
Polenta! I love polenta and don’t have nearly enough of it in my life! Lol. Spicy warm delicious lumpiness sounds great, and sometimes it’s the funny looking things that taste the best. š
This will definitely be making it onto next week’s meal plan. Mmmm… Polenta. XD
This looks great!
Does anyone have suggestions to replace the Poblano peppers? You can’t get them in the UK without paying “import” prices.
What other kinds of peppers do you have? I think lots of types of peppers could work, if you still roasted them to get that deep roasty flavor. š
In terms of fresh, I can get sweet red peppers, regular bell peppers (red yellow green) and big long romano peppers. There’s also tinned/jarred jalapenos.
I’ll probably roast some bell peppers!
Weird food can be the best! I’m so glad you shared this because it sounds absolutely delicious! What a great combo of flavors! Hope you are having a restful and relaxing weekend – life can be so exhausting!
It’s almost refreshing to see a blogger post food that may not look the prettiest but tastes so amazing that it doesn’t matter. For what it’s worth the photos came out great. And I love eating in front of the TV when I’m exhausted. Like you said, it can slow life down. Hang in there! š
Thanks Heather! š Nice to have readers who appreciate it.
Well I guess I am a weirdo too, because this heap of wobbly green mush is totally calling to me! I love all the flavors, and the creamy softness of it all looks like pure comfort to me. A warm bowl of this is just what the doctor ordered when life gets crazy š
Meals like this make me smile so hard. LOVE!
I’m right there with you on the peace and balance thing. I haven’t been so good about balancing my sleep and work life, and I had a major wake-up call (or lack thereof) this morning when it was cloudy and raining. Normally the sun streams in through the window and turns our bedroom into a sauna, which immediately wakes me up, but without any sunshine today, my body told me it desperately wanted sleep and didn’t wake itself up until almost noon. Noon! And I’m a morning person!
And now I’ve been on the couch in a comfy cozy sweatshirt all day taking it easy, and a big bowl of comfort food is exactly what my trying-not-to-get-sick-from-lack-of-sleep body needs. If only I wasn’t allergic to mushrooms — the pepper and polenta part sounds so good!
YES to the comfy cozy sweatshirt and the couch! Sorry about your allergy – bleh! That’s a bummer.
To me this looks so good I would lock myself in my room with a bowl of this and eat it all myself. So I don’t have to share. Yum!
He he… Yes, it does look like a green blob! but yes, I know how comforting blobs can be š
Looks like deliciousness! And that sitting in front of the couch with a big bowl of this sounds like just the speed that is needed right now.
YES. I don;t care how it looks, I can totally get down on a polenta bowl. In fact we made one the other night with grilled chicken and veggies with avocado. Also eaten on the couch in front of the TV (watching one of our friends duke it out on Chopped!)
I’m curious/nosy: what are some of your favorite cooking shows to watch???
Well, I love to watch Food Network shows but we don’t have cable. But if I get the chance, I like The Neely’s, Giada, and Ellie Krieger, to name a few. š Also love Diners Drive Ins and Dives. Ohhh man.
Some of the best, most delicious food is decidedly un-photogenic. And who cares, because if it’s delicious, that’s the only thing that REALLY matters. š This sounds great – it’s really unusual, but I think I would still give it a try!
I think part of this whole balance thing we’re all striving for is relishing that slow time where you can and just allowing yourself to be in the moment. Unfortunately, when you have a zillion and one things on your plate, that can be the hardest part!
This recipe combines so many of my favorites and I love that you used sour cream instead of something heavier. I can’t wait to try this!!!
PS – I have been silently reading and loving your blog for a while now and have to say, your pictures are AMAZING and I love hearing what you have to say. Keep it up! š
You are so kind! Thank you Christy! XOXO