Cooking with Vera

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup instant polenta
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ stick butter
• 3/4 cup mascarpone & grated parmigiano-reggiano
• 4 slices of thick cut bacon, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 (14-ounces) can diced tomatoes in juice
• 1½ pounds cleaned large shrimp
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Whisk together stock, polenta, and salt in a heavy medium saucepan, then bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, stirring constantly until smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes. If mixture starts to tighten and get dry, add more stock (up to 1/2 cup).
Remove from heat and stir in butter. Stir cheese into polenta until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook bacon, garlic, and red pepper flakes in 2 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring, until garlic is pale golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice and simmer until liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt.

Spoon polenta into shallow bowls and top with shrimp mixture. Drizzle with remaining tablespoon oil, season with pepper, and sprinkle with parsley.

Yield Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 oz. bacon sliced 1/4 inch thick & diced
• 1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 pound acorn squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 bunch kale ( 3/4 pound), ribs cut away and discarded, leaves roughly chopped
• 5 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 can (14 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed
• 3 sprigs thyme
• Grated Parmesan, for serving (optional)

Directions

In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, add the diced bacon and render. Pull out the bacon, leaving behind 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in bottom of pan. Heat fat and olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until fragrant, 3 minutes; season with salt and pepper.

Add squash and kale and cook until kale is wilted, about 3 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Add broth, beans, bacon and thyme.
Bring to a simmer and cook until squash and kale are tender, about 12 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper and serve with Parmesan, if desired.

Ingredients

 1 lb. trimmed swordfish or any meaty white fish

12 (4 to5-inch) fresh rosemary twigs

1 clove garlic, peeled & crushed

Extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher Salt

1 tsp. finely minced rosemary

Freshly ground black pepper

4 slices of thick cut bacon

½ lemon, juiced and zested

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Cut the swordfish into 1-inch cubes and place into a bowl.

Keeping the top 2 inches of rosemary leaves, run your thumb and forefinger down the length of the stalk, removing all the leaves.  Mince the rosemary and garlic.   Add to bowl with fish.  Squeeze and zest half of lemon into the bowl.  Season monkfish with salt and pepper.

Drizzle 4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil over monkfish and toss until the fish is fully covered.  Refrigerate covered for 1hour.

Slice the tip off the rosemary stalks at an angle, so they are sharp.  Put a piece of monkfish on first, then bacon, and repeat until you have about 2 pieces of monkfish and about 2 pieces of bacon on each kebab.

Place the kebabs on a cookie cooling rack that fits in a cookie sheet.  Drizzle with any leftover marinade and extra virgin olive oil.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the bacon is crispy and golden.

Serves 12 as part of a tapas meal.