Today's recipe is a simple yet elegant breakfast entrée that will set the stage for whatever plans you have for the day.  "Soft Polenta with Poached Eggs and Mascarpone" is the creation of Innkeeper Pat at Oak Hill Bed & Breakfast (Ashland, OR).  As Pat says,  "This is a simple dish whose elegance depends upon using the highest quality ingredients. You can vary the toppings to your taste - add bits of good sausage, try a local chèvre rather than mascarpone, or top with grilled vegetables to serve for lunch. While the dish must be assembled just before serving, most of the cooking is done in advance. The crock pot eliminates the constant attention and stirring needed with stove-top polenta."  With such flexibility and simplicity this is sure to be a great dish no matter how you vary it!

Soft Polenta with Poached Eggs and Mascarpone

• 5 cups water
• 1 cup coarse stone-ground polenta
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter or olive oil or both
• ½ cup whole or 2% milk
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan
• 1 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels
• 6 of the best eggs you can find
• 1 cup home-made or other good quality mascarpone
• Freshly-ground pepper
• ½ cup shredded Parmesan

1. Butter the sides of a crock pot.  Measure in the water, polenta and salt and let that soak for 8 hours.  

2. Add the butter or oil, turn on the crock pot to low, cover and let it cook for 8 hours.  Cook it overnight and it will be ready for you in the morning.

3. About half an hour before serving, stir the milk, 1 cup of the shredded Parmesan, and the corn kernels into the polenta.

4. Cover the crock pot, and reduce the temperature setting to warm.  The polenta will stay fluid as long as the crock pot is covered and set on warm.

5. Poach 6 eggs in simmering water or in a stove-top egg poacher.

6. Stir the polenta and pour each serving into a warmed wide, shallow bowl.  Place a poached egg in the center, and surround with generous dollops of mascarpone.

7. Sprinkle the dish with pepper and the remaining shredded Parmesan.   

Serve immediately.

Serves 6

About Oak Hill Bed & Breakfast

The Oak Hill Bed & Breakfast is a 1910 farmhouse built in an orchard in Ashland, Oregon. Though the orchard is gone, the area is still a major fruit growing region and home of Harry and David Jackson-Perkins, and the many fine wineries of the Rogue and Applegate Valleys.  Ashland is also home to the largest regional repertory theater in the country. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) presents eleven plays in three theaters over a nine month season.  OSF attracts a west coast audience mostly from San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. Those audiences are also our guests and they are a sophisticated lot who enjoy exceptional breakfasts in addition to exceptional theater. Table conversation is often about the plays and why a production deserves thumbs up or thumbs down.  Pat's talent for planning and cookery and our breakfasts served on the garden deck provide a beautiful and unique experience that sets the stage for the coming day. To our way of thinking running a B&B is theater, so when our guests arrive….it's show time.

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