Clerici Chicken Ranch’s Lemon Rosemary Polenta Cakes (With Lavender Finishing Syrup)

We grind our own polenta here on the ranch and lucky for us the byproduct of coarse polenta is fine polenta (aka cornmeal). The difference in taste is immediate: it still tastes like fresh corn and has a softer texture than the stuff you find in the store. Because we use the whole kernel, it does still have the oils in the meal, so it is best frozen or used in a reasonably short period of time.

There are so many uses for this delicious grain, but here is our all time favorite polenta cake!

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup leftover white wine
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup polenta
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 lemon, zest of, finely grated
• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary (fresh and finely chopped)

Lavender Finishing Syrup

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lavender flowers (crushed-may use lemon zest instead for a lemony syrup!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare an 8? cake pan for baking by cutting a parchment circle for the bottom. Next spray the inside of the pan with cooking spray, add the circle and spray the top of the circle so that all parts that the cake will touch are covered with a thin layer of cooking spray.

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, 1 cup sugar, and wine until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, polenta, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and rosemary until well combined. Pour in the liquid mixture and stir until just combined.
3. Pour the batter into the cake pan. Bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
4. While the cake is cooking, make the lavender syrup. Heat the sugar and the water together in a small saucepan. Let this come to a low boil with a minimum of stirring and cook for about 5 minutes until it thickens slightly. Set aside.
5. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; place a cake plate on the top of the cake pan. Holding both securely, turn both over at once so that the cake is now lying on the cake plate on your counter. Remove the pan & the parchment paper.
6. Take a toothpick & poke little holes all over the top of  cake. Slowly pour the syrup into these holes so that it seeps into the cake.
7. Serve and enjoy!

Quick Marinated Feta Cheese (Use for our herbs #3)

Image via Wikipedia

If you want a quick but elegant appetizer try some oregano scented feta cheese:

1. Slice off about /12 inch of a good feta cheese.

2. Drizzle with that great olive oil you picked up in Napa while wine tasting.

3. Sprinkle some finely chopped fresh Napa oregano (from our ranch of course) on top.

This being Napa, we have to give you a couple of wine pairings for this dish (I always make my final choice depending on the menu that follows).

Our favorite wine to compliment the salty cheese would be a Pinot Grigio for white wine but surprisingly enough, a Pinot Noir is also a great choice.

Enjoy!