Virtual Potluck: Spicy Polenta and Mushroom Ragu

Welcome to the Virtual Potluck and Marx Foods Thanksgiving Party! We’ve joined forces with Marx Foods and are coming together to bring you a full and unique Thanksgiving meal! You’re bringing the turkey right?! You might be wondering, who’s this Marx guy and why is is sitting next to you at the table staring at your gravy? Well Marx is a company until no other, catering until 2007 ONLY to top restaurants in the nation. But now, they’ve opened up the market and provide the same quality ingredients to home cooks all over.

Marx Food’s mission? Simple as this: “Be delicious, foresee food trends, sell the star of the meal, talk and listen to customers, be authentic and transparent, and connect customers to the source.” The samples I received included the dried mushrooms and peppers below, and I developed a Spicy Polenta and Mushroom Ragu that could easily be served family style. The rich, buttery polenta has a slight kick due to being simmered with the dried peppers and when topped with the thick mushroom and beef stew, combines to create a wonderful union.

 From the Marx Foods website:  

“Black Trumpet mushrooms (aka horn of plenty mushrooms, black chanterelles) are fragile and trumpet-shaped with a waxy black-grey-brown surface. They are prized (especially in France) for their buttery, rich, nutty and sometimes slightly smoky flavor.  Delicious fresh, they also dry and rehydrate well because they are so thin.”

“Matsutake mushrooms (aka pine mushrooms) are one of the more intensely flavored varieties of wild mushrooms.  They have a savory, pungent “piney” flavor. Their texture is dense and meaty, somewhat similar to porcinis and portabellas. Matsutake mushrooms are highly prized in Japan as a delicacy.”

 “Habanero Chiles (Capsicum Annuum) are very hot chiles. Behind the heat is a fruity flavor that makes these chiles a wonderful way to spark up a dish. Habanero chilies are round, oblong and about ¾ inch wide. Consider the habanero to be a 10 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the hottest).  The only hotter chile we offer is the famous ghost chili.”

Which means: REMOVE the pepper before you serve the polenta. Because if you don’t, you might forget it and eat it, only to realize what you did half a second later. NOT funny, your tongue and throat will hate you, even more so when you notice that you have NO milk in the house. Not like this happened to me…

Spicy Polenta and Mushroom Ragu

1. Simmer Pinot Noir until bubbling and add dried mushrooms to rehydrate. 
2. Meanwhile, in a medium pot, add the oil, red pepper, garlic and carrots. 
3. Cook for 3 minutes and add beef cubes, rehydrated mushrooms (and wine!) and 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water.
4. Simmer until carrots are cooked through and beef is tender. Add cornstarch and water to thicken and whisk together. Taste and re-season with salt and pepper.
5. In a medium sauce pot, simmer milk and season with salt and pepper. Drop in the dried peppers and continue to simmer for 3 minutes. Add cornmeal and stir with a wooden spoon until all combined. Add butter and stir until cooked through. Taste and re-season, adding cream cheese and a drizzle of olive oil before serving.
6. Serve the polenta topped with the mushroom and beef ragu and an extra drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!

Want some of your own Marx Foods goodies? Enter “POTLUCK” into the “Coupon Code” field at checkout for 10% of everything in the store.  Valid 11/21 – 11/27.

Want to see what everyone else brought to the table? Head on over to Cookistry for the delicious round-up and a few foodie giveaways! And if you want to follow us on Twitter, check out the #virtualpotluck hashtag. 


Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on Cooking with Books are my own and based on testing and/or personal experience. I was sent Marx Foods samples free of charge, although not monetarily compensated for a positive review.