Cute as Polenta Pancakes
Kids (and other people) seem to love it when you cook them something special on Saturday morning. A little hot food on a weekend morning goes directly to the part of the brain stem that rules the “I am well cared for” response. If, like me, the endless procession of chocolate chip pancakes is about to make you scream, you will be glad for some relief. And here it is: Polenta Pancakes In Honey Sauce. This dish is so easy you can accomplish it even before your coffee is gone.
Toast some pine nuts while the water is getting to a boil to make the Instant Polenta. Then you whisk some cinnamon, cardamom, pine nuts and salt into the cornmeal. You drizzle the polenta into the boiling water just like it says on the box and when it’s all nice and smooth, you pour the polenta into a pan to cool and firm up. If you are a super organized parent you can even do that part the night before.
Then you use cookie- and biscuit-cutters to cut out polenta shapes, which you brown and crisp in butter. (Don’t get too crazy with the shapes, or the arms and legs will be falling off your gingerbread-polenta people when you turn them over. Stick to solid shapes like circles, stars, etc.) Then serve them with straight up honey or a honey sauce with spices, according to your taste buds will tolerate, and voila!
