happy to be on board!

[lapastora]

hello all,
i just retired and love to cook....would love to "wow" myself and friends with great dinners. i love food: i think about it, i read about it, i watch it on tv, i research it, i plan for it, i shop for it, i prepare it, i clean up after it...did i miss anything? oh, yes, i eat it!!! i got to this site by googlng "arrowroot vs. flour". wanting to make a pot pie with polenta crust and looking for tastiest but lower-calorie ideas at the same time. i believe that we can find flavor and satisfaction w/out tons of cream and butter...a challenge i have taken on. help!!??

[mpeirson]

Originally Posted by lapastora

hello all,
i just retired and love to cook....would love to "wow" myself and friends with great dinners. i love food: i think about it, i read about it, i watch it on tv, i research it, i plan for it, i shop for it, i prepare it, i clean up after it...did i miss anything? oh, yes, i eat it!!! i got to this site by googlng "arrowroot vs. flour". wanting to make a pot pie with polenta crust and looking for tastiest but lower-calorie ideas at the same time. i believe that we can find flavor and satisfaction w/out tons of cream and butter...a challenge i have taken on. help!!??

Welcome lapastora!! I am new to Chef Talk too and just love it. I have been absorbing the incredible amount of information on this site, and even enrolled into a 20 week culinary course at L'academie de cuisine in MD. This site helped me make my decision, and I know I won't regret it. I too want to "wow" myself, along with family and friends. It's never too late to improve yourself, and I can't wait until my first class this Thursday. Good luck on your dishes!!

[Mezzaluna]

Hello Lapastora and welcome to Chef Talk. Your description of yourself sounds like a lot of other CTers (avid home cook who does it all!). I think you'll feel at home here. As I've been making a ton of pot pies for my mother-in-law in recent months, I'd be interested to hear about your polenta crust as I use a standard pie crust.

The range of topics and information here is [color=black]prodigious! Enjoy browsing through the forums as well as the cooking articles, cookbook reviews, recipes and the photo gallery. I think you'll make Chef Talk a regular stop, and we look forward to your participation here.

Welcome!
Mezzaluna

MPierson, you posted just as I did, so I'll add a welcome to you, too. I'm glad to hear we've already had a positive afffect on your culinary adventures.

[bughut]

Hi Lapastora,
We all want to WOW, WE all have huge ego's So i guess you came to the right site...You'l like it here. Let us know what you're interested in.
Re your intro. I'd love to use Polenta, but shy away cos i'm not sure about the texture. Do you have any good savoury recipes

[lapastora]

Hello, Bughut (tell me about this name),
Polenta is tres chic right now in the States. It is aka grits in the South or simply cornmeal.
The basic prep is boiling water, adding the cornmeal (polenta, grits) and stirring like crazy until all the water is absorbed and it is creamy. Of course everybody has enhancements: part milk or chicken stock instead of all water, then adding cheese and herbs to finish it off. I must say, cheese is wonderful, any kind of cheese tastes great in polenta. Then you serve it as a side dish or a main course topped with whatever, but especially shrimp, to honor Southern cooking traditions. My fave recipe is Paula Deen's Shrimp & Grits. Try it, you will love it.
Jean
aka lapastora

[bughut]

Hi Jean,
I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours

When we moved into our house 10 years ago, it had been a doctors surgery for 180 years. About 50 years ago one of the doctors had built an extention as a waiting room. For the first 7 years we were here it was a glory hole( A dumping ground) and a fabulous breeding ground for spiders which i'm phobic about, so we called it the bug hut. I know I know sounds odd, but I knew with my background as a chef, and a need to work for myself, i could make something of the place and with my husbands help we turned it into an enterprise i could be very proud of. It was a metamorphasis and even now i'm amazed at the 20' by 14' kitchen i work in every day. So Bug hut is my handle. The business is on line at One bite wonders at Innovative business hospitality and party catering in Dundee Region I've never actually shared this information with anyone here before.

So let me and us know about you too.
I'm going to experiment with polenta this weekend, see what the family thinks. Can you serve it at room temperature?
You mentioned Southern cooking, are you from the south? We love to holiday in America, always in the deep south, especially New Orleans.

mpeirson Welcome to the site, and good luck with the course. You'll need to let us know how you're doing.