Katie Meadow

I adore succotash. Now is a great time to make it, especially if you can deal with the bother of cooking fresh black eyed peas or other fresh shelling beans--the bean people are out in force at the Berkeley farmers' market now. The corn isn't perfect, but I find that late season corn works well in dishes where it gets scraped off the cob, mixed with other things and lightly dressed. Lends itself to loads of variations, bacon or not. When lazy or early in the season I have used 5 minute frozen shelled edamame instead of more traditional beans. They sort of look like fresh green lima beans, right? I like my succotash as a warm side like the ones above, but I also like it more like a salad at room temp, so I might cut up tomato, or use tiny cherry tomatoes, a little red onion and an olive oil based dressing. In that case I might be inclined to simply blanch the corn briefly (but sauteing in bacon grease is yummy too) and add pre-cooked cooled beans, everything remaining a bit toothy.

I can't believe I'm responding to a baking query, since I'm at the top of the list of inept bakers, but isn't 175 degrees a tad low for baking cupcakes?

Hi Dave, Monterey Market is still there. I too miss Pig by the Tail. And it still gets my vote for best named charcuterie, although the Fifth Quarter, an operation that puts up a tent at the Berkeley Farmers Market is a pretty good name too. Fatted Calf used to be at the Berkeley Farmers Market and I liked their products, but now they are only in SF. They used to make a fantastic rabbit pate, but I think they don't do that one any more, due to rabbit sources hopping away or whatever. Americans don't seem to like rabbit that much.

mmmm......Bayless mushroom tacos, but only because I'm obsessed with home made corn tortillas with veg fillings right now. I guess I wouldn't freeze them fresh, but I don't see why they wouldn't freeze perfectly well after being cooked, for instance if you made some type of mushroom topping or sauce that would go on spaghetti or in a lasagne and then froze it in useful portions to be used as desired. Dunno for sure, but I imagine that fresh-frozen would end up a soggy mess when defrosted. Just curious, where do you live that you have fresh chanterelles right now? I used to love going out and collecting them here in northern CA but got tired of the poison oak than often accompanied the best patches.

I was eating stir-fry all the time for a while, inspired by living on the border of Chinatown SF. For years I managed well enough with a traditional round-bottomed carbon steel wok (at least I think that's what it is--I bought it in Chinatown 40 years ago), a ring, and underpowered gas stoves. But even though I turned out some nice stir-fries, I was always conscious of the fact that a little more heat would be a lot better. I never found the flat bottom woks to be very effective, but it never occured to me to use one on gas stove; I thought they were designed for electric stoves. Finally I treated myself to a Viking stove once we moved to our own house. One option was a "wok burner" which we went for immediately. It is made of the same heavy cast iron as the others and is easily switched in as needed. It allows the wok to sit very firmly and lower to the flame than any ring would allow. So not only is the flame higher and hotter on the Viking, but the wok sits down further in it. Short of a more professional wok set-up this works pretty well. Perhaps there are other ranges now that have replaceable wok inserts even if the don't have more btu's. That might go part way toward more heat.

Okay, just a dopey anecdote about my husband, who went beyond brown bagging in his frugality. He works from home now, but for the nearly 35 years we've been together, he religiously took his lunch, and yes, in a generic brown bag--which he brought home and reused. Lunch was always 2 sandwiches per day and fruit, cookies if we had 'em. One was typically PB & J, the other turkey or lunch meat with tomato and lettuce and the occasionally exciting tuna or egg salad. Many of his colleagues at the newspaper did the same. If he was invited out for lunch, which was not very often, he would bring home the full lunch bag, throw it in the fridge and, you guessed it, take it the next day. I thought it was disgusting, but in his defense, instead of being a martyr about having to eat a soggy miserable 30-hrs-old sandwich he was simply pleased that he didn't have to make lunch the next day. Our daughter also took her lunch every day K-12 (those were the days when peanut butter was allowed in the schools and no one heard of bento boxes for kids.) We all ate toast for breakfast, so there were a lot of years when I was buying a large loaf of bread a day. I've probably eaten just about every kind of bread baked locally in the East Bay. My daughter must have had a reputation for consistent lunches, because during elementary school there was a friend's mom who once in a while was nervy enough to call me at 8 am and, cutting to the chase with no apology, would say "We don't have any bread, can you make an extra sandwich for Zoe?" Okay, so two anecdotes.

I grew up having mandatory milk at meals. My daughter drank milk with meals and she liked it. With a meal I usually have water or iced tea w/ a little added cherry or pomegranate juice but I might have whiskey for cocktail hour or a nightcap. My husband has either wine or beer with dinner. For some unknown reason when we make tacos or burritos I often crave a root beer. Maybe during my years living in New Mexico (a 20 something) I drank soda routinely with my enchiladas or bowl of green; I remember the food really well, but not the soda. Most of our New Mexican meals out were eaten from a little window or a family restaurant that didn't have a beer license, although that's mostly just a guess.

I always shop to a list or lists, depending on ingredients and where to get them. It isn't really budget conscious, but it does seriously cut back on waste; my impulses often result in "what was I thinking?" territory. Usually this involves a vegetable that requires a lot of shelling or peeling and which forces me to confronted my own laziness. Fresh beans in the pod, how lovely! When faced with a large bag of fresh black-eyed peas at 7pm I might just cave and have a G & T and some popcorn for dinner. I start by coming up with approx a 5 or 6 day menu, requirements for which are typically available at one of the three or four places I usually shop. I make some impulse purchases and sometimes change a dish or two midstream, depending on availability and what looks appealing. There is a sometimes an imbalance in protein, since I like to use whatever fish or meat I buy as quickly as possible. Usually the last few days of a shopping week are vegetarian meals or kitchen sink meals, which is fine with me, unless I plan on securing fish or something midweek. Toward the end of a shopping week we are more likely to go out to eat if supplies are thin. My latest trick is making corn tortillas; with a bit of cheese and a few misc veggies or leftovers a reasonably good taco can be had. I'm the kind of person that has an anxiety attack if someone invites me over for dinner and I have just come back from buying fish or have 2 day old chicken in the fridge. Without a plan and a list I would be shopping every day. I'd way rather cook than shop.

No ideas about German potato salads, but I do make all kinds of potato salads regularly. Personally I would not use russets for potato salad. In a pinch I might use yukon golds, but I don't think they are ideal either. I like a waxy potato that stays firm and doesn't get mushy at all for my salads. Since you are in Berkeley and shop the farmers' market, why don't you try using the french fingerlings? They are fab for potato salad--great flavor, great texture. I boil them and take them out of the water while they still have some bite. The Pasta Shop usually sells speck as well as the very similar Niman Ranch jambon royal, which I like better. Both are smoky and both are cheaper than prosciutto and maybe even more appropriate for a potato salad. Comments above about speck being just fat doesn't jibe with what I have tasted.

The power of nostalgic foods is pretty complex, especially when you factor in what I think are the two biggest variables: how memory alters perception and how your palate has changed over time. What I was trying to get at was the fact that if you have experienced lots of variety and new foods and broadened your tastes since the last time you tasted X, and if it's been years since you tasted it, your expectations or memory might not jibe with your perception of X now. There's no accounting for memory, it's so very personal and quirky. And it depends on whether or not you have eaten that food periodically over time. I can count numerous examples of things I remember fondly from many years ago or from childhood and which when tasted years later were surprisingly awful. Not everything, but probably most things that were highly processed. Often what we remember loving was conceptually great; few would debate what a brilliant idea the s'more is. But have you tried one with home-made graham crackers and dark Belgian chocolate? Awesome, just as I remember--only not what it actually was! The example of yellow mustard on a hot dog is an interesting one. First of all, does an example of "better" yellow mustard actually exist? I eat hot dogs once in a blue moon. But last year I went to Papaya King and had the juice and the standard dog with sauerkraut and yellow mustard (don't believe dijon was an option!). That juice drink can't be improved, whatever it is. And that hot dog would taste really silly with dijon mustard. However if Bill Klapp offered me the quality sausage he made his guests, I might think twice before putting French's on it.

It would be hard for me to believe that Wonderbread or other average supermarket white bread makes a better sandwich than a plain artisan white bread (or the white bread my husband bakes) with anything between the slices. Put up a tomato sandwich with mayo on white bread for a test: home-made white bread, a perfectly ripe seasonal heirloom tomato and your mayo of choice vs Wonderbread with a winter tomato. I recently made Smitten Kitchen's recipe for Fudgesickles. Fantastic! I used high quality dark chocolate and cocoa and my favorite organic 1% milk. It's probably been 20 or 30 years since I had a commercial Fudgesickle, but I am guessing I'm not missing much and that my upgrade actual makes the original stand the test of time--in memory. So, my theory is if you don't want to be disappointed make whatever you are craving with the best ingredients and use your gut instincts and it will taste like it used to--or at least it will taste like you remember: great and familiar. At least that works for me. Of course if you love ballpark nachos and don't think they can be improved on then go for it. They can be easily duplicated at home for a lot less money than at the ballpark by using bulk commercial chips, velveeta and canned jalapenos. For that je ne sais quoi.

I do pretty much the same as weinoo. In a pan over med high heat, modest amount of oil (I use corn oil, but I would use grapeseed if I had any) a couple of test kernels. In the beginning I do shake a bit to make sure all the oil is distributed, but I find I don't need to shake after that, since anything that pops goes up and unpopped kernels remain at the bottom near the heat. I don't allow any escape valve and put on a tight lid. The organic multi-color popcorn which my local market sells in bulk pops up well. In the last few years I have completely conditioned myself away from butter topping and usually use just a little gray salt and sometimes a little pecorino.

I took an intensive week-long Thai cooking class from Kasma Loha-unchit. She never used coconut oil for frying, only Golden Lion Peanut oil, her favorite. She did use canned coconut cream for various dishes. She would often dry-fry spices in a cast iron skillet to boost the flavor.

Not sure that for most people this is a matter of reason. Clams and oysters I don't think about much, and I do like to eat them raw. But a shrimp? I personally don't want to eat an obviously full "vein." Nor would I serve it to guests in case they are turned off by it like I am. Deveining while keeping the shell on is an annoying procedure at best, so I rarely make recipes that call for cooking in the shell unless I am feeling very ambitious. I agree the shell has a lot of flavor, so I like to make dishes that are a bit soupy and use a little shrimp stock. At least that way I feel like I am getting some use out of those shells.

I can't speak to home made pasta, since I always use dried, but my rules are as follows: use plenty of water--enough so that when the pasta goes in it doesn't stop boiling. Salt the water as it comes to a boil, and don't add the pasta until it is at a rolling boil. Don't put any oil in the pasta water. My understanding is that oil coats the pasta and prevents the sauce from absorbing as fully as you want. If you are using the pasta right away and putting it into sauce there is no need to drain it for any length of time and it shouldn't stick to itself. I agree that the quicker you get it into the sauce the better. If you need the pasta to sit in a colander for a few minutes before serving and saucing, you can put a tiny bit of olive oil on the pasta and mix it around by hand if your pasta is sticking. Since I don't use home-made pasta I don't know it it tends to stick more than dried. I didn't learn any of this from my mother. She used to put a lot of oil into the boiling pasta and she also used to run cold water on it in a colander, even if she was using it right away. That seems really counter-intuitive, but I never was able to talk her out of either habit.

Anna and Kerry, I always enjoy your posts from Manitoulin, which I had to locate on a map. I get that you both do shifts at a local hospital while staying on the island. Do you always stay at the same place? Is it rented or does one of you own it? I can't believe you both manage so much cooking while working what I assume are full shifts. If you are on call in the evenings your cocktail hour doesn't seem to be a problem! How did this relationship w/the island start?

Only tangentially relevant but I'm reminded of one of the dopier romantic comedies made in the late forties called "Mr. Blandings Builds his Dreamhouse" starring Cary Grant as a kind of pre-angst Don Draper. The Blandings family's black maid saves his white butt when she comes up with the sales pitch and tag line for his ad campaign for the jinxed Wham Ham. This is a cringe inducing mess of a movie that could be analyzed from any number of sociological viewpoints. By saving his job, Gussie saves the house, the marriage and the suburban dream of post-war America. Does he hire her as a copywriter? I don't think so.

Umami, just a couple of question on your above 5 listed factors. How do you define "comparable flavor compounds?" What do caviar and white chocolate have in common? Under culture or religion: what do you mean by "can't taste?" That sounds peculiar, and implies that cultural history trumps new experiences. Unless you live on a desert island and don't have any social contacts you will be exposed to new tastes and flavor pairings that you never had access to or simply never tasted before. Some of these new sensations will be exciting and positive, some not so much, depending upon about a million variables. How much a particular pairing might be loved by virtue of it's nostalgia factor doesn't dictate whether anyone else will appreciate it when they finally discover it. I never ate a mayo-cheese-pickle on white bread sandwich until I was 50. Nor did I ever eat peanut butter slathered on a stick of celery. One I adore, one I find totally unappealing. Seems to me that if you are open to new experiences it won't matter how "personal" any given taste is; it will become your personal experience as soon as you like or don't like it.

Thanks to Anne_T and Kerry Beal among others, I was inspired to bake the summer torte that has been getting a lot of play in several threads lately. Wish I had known what to do with black and red currants a million years ago when I lived in New Mexico and had some nice bushes of both. I went back to the Marion Burros NYT recipe for Purple Plum Torte and used small Santa Rosa plums that are in season here now. My favorite plum. But I never knew how hard they are to pit. Great basic recipe for someone like me who rarely bakes desserts.

How do you separate true flavor pairings from things that have an emotional grip or are seasonally available at the same time? Chicken and corn would not be considered a favorite pairing in the middle of winter unless you count fried chicken with a side of cornbread, but in BBQ season in the summer they are certainly linked in many minds and few people would say they don't sit happily on the same plate. I associate them together with new world soups south of the border. What about cultural factors? I ate very little pork growing up in NY. The only time my parents ate pork was when they used Italian sausage as part of a tomato based spaghetti sauce. As for applesauce I would never associate it with pork, only with potato pancakes or being sick.Then I moved to New Mexico, where red or green chile is rarely far from any pork dish so I tend to think of spicy with pork rather than sweet. In North Carolina I was served country ham with a side of cooked apples; very salty with a side of sweet--yummy. As someone implied above, if you live somewhere that you harvest apples and do in your pigs in the fall, that would make for a likely pairing. Mention was made of garlic, coffee and chocolate in combo. Those three ingredients are often added together to meat rubs, or various pots of southwestern style beans and/or chili, often with pork. As for bananas and tomatoes I can't imagine a more awful combination no matter what else is included or how it is prepared. Run for the hills!

I call it fried grits, but it's about the same thing; what varies the most if you are using (relatively) freshly milled corn meal is probably the grind, which is really a matter of taste. If I cook up about 1 cup grits or polenta and serve the two of us we usually have enough leftover to fill an 8 x 8 baking dish. This is done easily if you don't wait until the mush is cooled to put it in the mold pan. Smooth it out right away. I typically get a "cake" that is about 1/2 inch or a bit more in thickness. Cover in plastic and store overnight or til you want it. I cut it into pieces and saute it in a modest amount of butter or oil like Franci does above. I like it for breakfast with syrup and it is also yummy with a tomato sauce and a little melted cheese. And once you have it in a manageable frying shape you don't have to limit yourself to a saute pan; you can grill it outdoors or you can bake overlapping slices with cheese or sauces in the oven. When sauteing I have found it gets a good golden crispy crust in a non-stick pan as well as in a cast iron pan over a moderate heat, and the interior gets nice and melty.

Yes I am eating a lot of cukes these days. My three favorite salads currently: 1) Dilled Potato and Pickled Cucumber salad from Smitten Kitchen. Uses a quick pickle cucumber and lots of fresh dill. My change: way less mayo. And sometimes I mix mayo and creme fraiche or mayo and fage instead of using straight mayo. It's a great salad--the pickles are outstanding; best to do the pickles overnight. I find the salad is best eaten soon after dressing, but that's how I am about all potato salads. 2) Thinly slice cukes, radishes, fennel and a little red onion. Toss in a couple T fresh dill, a few sliced kalamata olives. Add a little salt and pepper and dress very modestly however you like. I just use a very small amount of champagne or sherry wine vinegar and a splash of olive oil. I'm sure lemon would be good instead of vinegar. I even like it with just olive oil and salt. 3) Rarerollingobject described a salad she made months ago and I think it is great. Mix cucumber, melon, ham and chopped toasted hazelnuts in proportions you like. Her dressing specified a little honey, mustard, lemon and oil. I find that this salad needs a VERY light hand with dressing, since a ripe melon may start to weep and the salad gets a little watery. I have used cantaloupe and both green and pink honeydew and various types of ham. Flavorful salty ham works better than mild.

What appears to be fine flour or grain may, even if put in a sealed glass jar, develop moths from eggs or whatever. We used to buy lots of our flours for breadbaking from a co-op in bulk, and it became clear that weevils or moths or something was in the flour from the moment we bagged it and took it home. I switched to using higher quality (sadly more costly, too) flours. I have never had a problem with King Arthur (I do transfer the paper bags to glass containers) nor with Bob's products.

I used to make Alice Waters corn soup recipe from her original Chez Panisse Menu cookbook. The technique is the same as her recipe cited above, but she doesn't even bother with the onions. She does add cream, which I sometimes omitted and love just as much. Keep in mind that straining the soup as she suggests makes it very luxurious and not very cost effective. You are left with not a lot of soup. Good, though! You can add almost any garnish: shredded basil, chopped fresh tomato, roasted green chile, chives, and so on. Gotta have great corn to start with, though.

I married into a family of many vegetarians, so I'm pretty used to knowing how to cook for them. However, in the last couple of years I have changed my diet to a low cholesterol one, and it makes me realize how reliant these people are on cheese and dairy for protein. Now, when I cook for vegetarians I don't worry about anybody's protein needs, and figure they can do without for their main meal as long as I provide them a plate of cheeses for apps. When they cook for me, that's when it's a problem. I don't want to burden them since they seem to consume cholesterol in vast amounts. When any of them are cooking, I now tend to eat earlier and come without being hungry, working around whatever is there or I make sure I contribute something I can eat. Cooking for vegans is a challenge, but I only have one friend who is a vegan and she's so self-effacing about her food habits it isn't a problem. I always make sure there is bread and grains and plenty of salad or vegetables that she can eat. Agree completely that it isn't the diet, it's just in how people approach it. At this point I can only think of two people in my life (neither of them me) that don't have some quirky dietary restrictions, so I'm starting to see it as the rule and not the exception. For so many reasons I'm a person that would have a hard time in a far northern climate with limited fruits and vegetables but lots of whale meat or reindeer.