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Scallops on Grilled Polenta with Mushrooms

Polenta

1 cup milk boiled
3/4 cup stone ground corn meal
pinch salt
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped
2 whole green onion sliced into very thin rings
1 clove roasted garlic mashed or minced

Scallops

4 large sea scallops
kosher salt

Sauce

1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup dried sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup Marsala wine
2 tablespoons chunked butter very very cold

Reconstitute the dried mushrooms in hot broth and Marsala wine mixed together. Remove the mushrooms and pour off the liquid to use later, leaving any sand or residue in the bottom of the pan or bowl and discard this sand and residue.

To make the polenta: boil the milk and add the salt. Slowly stir in the cornmeal and stir for 8 minutes adding a little more milk if needed to correct the consistency. Then add the tomatoes, scallions and garlic and stir one more minute. Grease a 9" X 9" pan and pour the polenta into it and then with a spatula which you have sprayed with a non-stick vegetable spray, smooth the top. Cover it with plastic wrap and chill it until it is firm and cool. When you are ready to serve, you need to cut the polenta into nice sized triangles large enough to hold the scallop as a base on the plate and still stick out a little beyond the scallop. So, cut the polenta into triangles and remove from the pan and paint each side with good olive oil, or use just plain vegetable oil. Heat a grill pan to hot and grill each side of the polenta so grill marks show and the polenta has a grilled, charred smokey taste. Place it on the plate.

Salt the scallops on the top and place salt side down into a dry hot non-stick pan. Salt the up side. When the scallops are seared then turn once and sear the other side. When done remove from the pan and place atop the polenta.

In the same pan as the scallops were seared, pour in the chicken stock, mushrooms and Marsala wine. Boil this to reduce the liquid to a sauce for the scallops and polenta, then stir in the cold butter as a binding agent which will thicken the sauce as well as enrich it. Spoon the sauce and mushrooms over the scallops and polenta. Garnish with chopped fresh anything green you have around such as parsley, chervil, chives, green onion tops or even something as strong a flavor as thyme leaves would work and not detract. NO rosemary however. I served it a couple times with chive spears either crossed on top or stuck into the scallops in holes I made with toothpicks first. It gave the dish further height and dramatic presentation, maybe it was just silly.

Chives placed around the polenta also looks nice. Have fun with it. It's fun to play with your food! Serves 4.