If you’ve been hanging around this joint for more than a few minutes you may recall I prefer to buy locally grown or made food and like to keep work in the family. If you’re a fantastic divorce lawyer, I have a blond sister you can date, which may be important later because one of my other sisters either is or is not having an affair. Needless to say, any way around it, good organic food will be best for everyone.

At the health food store, Pete and I found the de la Estancia Organic Polenta and gave it a try. At $4.59 per pound, it wasn’t cheap. I boiled stock, added spices and herbs, skimmed out bay leaves and peppercorns and poured in almost the whole bag of polenta. The mixture thickened almost immediately. I mixed in some pats of butter until the polenta had a nice sheen and turned the whole thing out into an oiled glass casserole dish to form. The result was a polenta with fantastic depth of flavor, a creamy texture and an aroma like a lovely old memory. Since then, I’ve used this mix to make polenta four different ways, with and without parmesan, with and without milk, with and without yogurt, with and without stock. Each time, the polenta delivered. It’s so good I almost don’t care that it’s imported from Argentina.

Well…I do care and wish it came from the other side of town. I’m going to keep looking for a local source. If you don’t, de la Estancia is the really good stuff.