Sara Moulton at Hill's Kitchen

On Saturday I had the opportunity to meet one of my favorite chefs and television personalities. Sara Moulton was in town at Hill’s Kitchen promoting her new cookbook, Sara Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners.

Moulton was the executive chef in Gourmet Magazine’s executive dining room for 20 years, until the magazine folded last year. She’s now a food editor at Good Morning America, host of Sara’s Weeknight Meals and the subject of a facebook campaign to bring her back to live television.

I discovered Sara Moulton when she was hosting Cooking Live on the Food Network.  She had the credentials of a world class chef without all the pretension — a Rachel Ray without the mind bendingly annoying jargon and relentless cheerfulness.  When I heard one of my kitchen idols was going to be on the Hill, there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to check it out.

Visitors at Hill’s Kitchen on Saturday were treated to two cooking demos, where Sara cooked Polenta Lasagna and Warm Chocolate Cheesecake from her new book. Throughout the demos, she cracked jokes and imparted kitchen wisdom and plugged Chantal cookware in the least annoying way possible.  The assembled group got to sample the dishes and Moulton stuck around to sign her cookbooks for her fans.

If you missed Sara’s visit, you can still pick up a signed copy of her latest cookbook at Hill’s Kitchen. Buy it and make the polenta lasagna — it was a simple, light take on the classic that provides all the lasagna flavor without all the heaviness of the noodles!