Instructions: In the bottom of a small Dutch oven, melt the butter and add the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, rosemary, garlic, and mushrooms. Simmer several minutes, stirring frequently until the vegetables are soft, but not brown.

Add the diced meat to the pan and stir until it has lost all pinkness. Add the Marsala, boiling stock, salt, Pepper, and lemon rind and bring the sauce to a good simmer. Cover tightly and place in a 275 degree F oven for about 4 to 5 hours. The meat should be broken down and the sauce very thick. Serve hot.

To serve Place slices of fried polenta on heated plates and ladle some of the meat sauce over them. Sprinkle with grated cheese and pass extra cheese at the table.

Basic Polenta

6 1/2 cups water 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups coarse-ground yellow corn meal, or polenta 3 tablespoons butter, to 4

Bring the water and salt to a boil in a large, heavy kettle. Pour in the corn meal very, very slowly, stirring constantly. You should be able to see the individual grains of the meal or youre pouring too fast. A slow pour prevents the mixure from being lumpy. Simmer gently, stirring almost continually for around 30 minutes. The polenta is done when it pulls away from the pan. (CAUTION: I wear long mits while stirring....the mixture tends to bubble and SPLAT you with hot stuff. One thing I do, is only cook and stir for maybe 10 minutes, then I turn way down, cover and let it steam itself. Who wants to stand there stirring for 30 minutes??)

Fried Polenta

1 recipe Basic Polenta (above)

Pour the hot cooked polenta into a buttered loaf pan and cool. Turn out onto a board and cut with a taughtly stretched string into 1/2 inch (12 mm)

slices. Brush slices lightly with butter. Fry in Sizzling butter for several minutes on each side, until crisp and lightly brown. Serve hot with more butter and grated cheese.

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