Katie Meadow

Great vegetarian side for chili or as a light lunch: Rick Bayless mushroom quesadillas. In simplest incarnation that's sliced mushrooms, sauteed in oil or butter, salt and peppered and cooked until all liquid is gone and they are brown and tasty. Put a flour tortilla on a griddle or in a cast iron pan and turn after it browns on one side. Sprinkle on cheese of choice (I like it with jack, but I'll use whatever melty cheese is available), add a few spoonfuls of the mushrooms, fold over and continue to cook til bottom is browned, then flip once more to finish. Add hot sauce or roasted chiles as you like. Since I never thought to use mushrooms this way it seems exotic.

Mon, Andie, I want the Jamaican beans and rice recipe please! I would have thought Jamaican recipes used a traditional black bean (like the Midnight) but most of the recipes I checked out specify a red kidney bean. After my first valentine experience I agree with Steve S, that they are much closer to kidney beans in flavor and texture than the traditional black bean. So the valentines would be perfect for a Jamaican bean dish. The bean likker is richer than that of a regular kidney bean. So yummy.

Okay I got a great gift of Rancho Gordo goodies--bought at the Napa store--for xmas this year, and among the beans was a pack marked "Alubia Boluda,"one of the xoxoc project beans. There ain't a word on the website about them and they are not listed under the bean products. Wazzup, Steve? Anything you can tell me about them before I cook them? Also among the goodies was a pack 0f black valentines. I haven't had them before and they are fabulous. I made a soupy pot of beans, using, among other things, RG oregano indio and NM chili, plus a hit of chilpotle sauce. That was for New Years Eve, and I am looking forward to the leftovers tonight. A really nice bean, now a favorite.

Forget Bakesale Betty's--no seating indoors and the line every day at lunchtime is halfway round the block. Pizzaiolo and Dona Thomas are on the same block as BB's, and that particular block is really hard to park on. Pizzaiolo is super trendy and you can't carry on a conversation without screaming at the person next to you; Dona T is also noisy and both have boisterous bar scenes. Also note that Pizz. and Dona T are not open for lunch. Barlata is considered Temescal neighborhood as well, but it is further south on Telegraph and the parking is not bad. Another idea might be Le Cheval, in downtown Oakland. Vietnamese, extensive menu w/many options and it's a large space. Lots of business lunches happen there, and they are old hands at accomodating big parties. Not exactly quiet, but not too bad, and the food is good. Great cross-section of Oakland residents. Unlike Dona Thomas, no one will spill a Margarita on you. Also a big advantage: they are open for lunch and dinner and all times in between.

http://www.barlata.com/ Take a look at location (not grand lake, but easy from downtown) and menu for Barlata, a Tapas restaurant and bar open lunch and dinner. Atmosphere is nice--often quiet for lunch. Small plates so those without big appetite can be happy. I call it mid-range price, if that's any help. Wine and sangria, great potatas bravas, great mussels, all around friendly place in the Temescal area: Telegraph Ave in North Oakland.

Whoa those uni taters sound yummy; that's in my near future! I've never bought uni...is it raw or cooked before adding to the potatoes? The fish on the veggies looks beautiful. For a sort of Asian black cod I like to go pretty plain, since the fish has such a delicate flavor. I marinate the fish briefly in ginger juice ( just fresh young ginger grated and squeezed out) and a pinch of sugar and soy or maybe fish sauce, then steam it with lots of the green parts of scallions. It gets finished with a simple sauce of oil and rice wine. I also love black cod lightly battered and sauteed for fish tacos or fish burritos.

Frankly I would kill for in-laws who cook Chinese food. And since they live in Staten Island you should be glad they still have a kitchen. Wow I would eat duck potstickers in a heartbeat, confit or otherwise. When I come to the east coast I like to take advantage of the seafood that I can't get in CA or in your case Europe. That means certain kinds of fish but above all the bivalves known as quahogs or east coast hard shell clams. I would happily eat the in-laws' clams in black bean sauce and whip up some linguini a la vongole for them in return. Oh, and Prince Edward Island mussels aren't too shabby. But I wouldn't want the kids whining, "oh maman, not moules marinieres again!" Moules risotto? Clam pizza? I can't see how a simple crispy skin roast duck wouldn't satisfy everyone for a holiday meal. Of course I never turn down any invitation to xmas dinner, but then I'm a NY Jew who secretly longs to go out for Chinese on Dec 25. I too don't want to cook when I come east for a vacation, but luckily the variety of reasonably priced ethnic food is astounding in NY and a great opportunity for kids to taste new things.

I tried adding a couple of smoked turkey wings to the carcass pot when making stock and the next day I cooked red beans 'n' rice using the smokey stock. Yummy, but the wings I got were saltier even than ham shanks, so I had to soak some of the saltiness out before cooking. One smoked wing plus a carcass would probably be enough in the future. For anyone who doesn't eat pork or red meat this is a great way to make RBs n R.

I have a Cuisinart SG-10 (or previous incarnation) spice and nut grinder. It is not a mini-processor as the two items pictured above, so I don't put liquids in it. It is similar to using a coffee grinder, but for hard whole spices I find it works far better. It also makes small quantities of grain or nut flour very quickly. And it is totally easy to clean. I got it as a gift several years ago and it seems fool proof.

What about a tea-flavored sorbet? Earl Grey with bergamot or lavender. I love chocolates with Earl Gray tea infused into them.

Just a brief word about shark: most species of sharks are loaded with mercury. If you plan to have any pregnant women at the party don't serve shark. There are no longer a lot of fish in the sea; most are either loaded with mercury or fished or farmed in such a way as to be bad for the environment. I agree with the two posters above. Check out what's fresh and available in your area and then refer to the Monterey Bay Aquarium list of recommended fish and pick the best of both worlds.

I too have one ceramic knife. They are brittle and the points can easily break off if dropped, although the latest incarnations seem to have a rounded pointed end, if that isn't too weird to picture. I believe in buying cheap ceramic knives, partly because they can break, but also because it isn't worth the money to send them back to the manufacturer to be sharpened; you might as well just buy a new one every three years. And the cheap ones seem as sharp as the pricier ones. I use mine all the time. My husband has much scorn for it and is happy to sharpen our steel knives, although he rarely ever cooks anything, so at least they are passably maintained.

I like it simply wok-fried with a little garlic and a basic sauce of soy, sesame oil, rice wine, whatever. But the easiest thing I know to do with it--if you have some Asian style chicken broth around--is to drop individual leaves into simmering broth for a couple of minutes and pour the broth over cooked rice or wheat noodles. Let it be a little crunchy. Makes a great one-pot meal, especially if you have some poached shredded chicken to add.

So yesterday I'm at T.J.'s and instead of routinely grabbing the Grade B in the bottle, which I've used for years, I tried something else: a 32 oz jug of Trader Joe's 100% Vermont maple syrup, grade A Dark Amber. It's very good, a little bit more delicate (and a little bit thinner) than the bottled Grade B, and quite yummy. It is possible that my memory of Maple Syrup from Vermont is completely unreliable (it's only been about 30 years), but from the samples at the museum, I would call TJ's B more like a grade C, and this A Dark Amber more like my recollection of a grade B. There must be some standards, no? The TJ's grade B is from Canada, I think, right? I tossed my empty bottle so I don't really know for sure. Anyway, TJ's seems like a good source for a variety of grades.

Have I tried the choc hazelnut ones? Oh yeah, I'm a heavy user. Good choc flavor, not too sweet. I used them crushed with graham crackers about 1:1 for a crust and that was fantastic.

Chile paste lasts very well in the freezer. I have cup containers and freeze about 3/4 cup per container. That amount works for a pot of beans or posole, depending on how hot it turns out, or for a Bayless tamale casserole. I adore chile paste made from dried whole chiles, but truthfully it isn't my favorite dirty job, so I try to make a substantial batch when I do it.

For the price I haven't had anything better than Trader Joe's. It's very basic, and I use it for all recipes calling for maple syrup, such as barbecue sauce, home made ketchup, etc. For all I know it's grade C. It's pretty dark. I love really high quality maple syrup, but the Trader Joe's is fine for my morning oatmeal. In 1979 on a driving jaunt through leaf country in Vermont we came upon The Maple Syrup Museum. There were several bowls and spoons and, believe it or not, NO ONE standing guard. The Grade A fancy, which was the lightest, was heavenly, but so delicate it would be pointless to use it on anything except ethereal pancakes. We came back with a large can from some small farm and doled it out for as long as we could. Never to be repeated.

Paul, have you tried TJ's chocolate hazelnut biscotti?

So finally I got to try Utz. I was in NY most of October and saw a lot of the inside of the local Duane Reade. Utz is on the shelves, although not the Grandma Utz lard chips; these were simple basic salted chips--good, but not remarkable I thought. Of course I never had them growing up, so there's no nostalgia factor for me. Love to just taste the lardy ones, but not enough to mail order a family size bag of high cholesterol potato chips, which I am supposed to steer clear of.

All this talk about Rittenhouse and I can't ever find it in CA and I have never tasted it until yesterday. Finally I am in NY and went with a friend to a little bistro and they had Rittenhouse so I ordered it, neat. I am embarrassed to say that I did not really examine the bottle so I can't tell you exactly what I was drinking. The bartender was very sweet, pouring generously. It was incredibly delicious. Just my idea of the perfect rye. I know this is so not helpful, but I have an excellent excuse: my mother just died and my intention was to get plastered. I might just have to go back to this bar to find out, but that probably won't be for a month or so.

For a splurge you could go to Bellanico on Park Blvd Oakland and get the bombolini. Really good. They have them as a brunch food on the weekend or regularly for dessert. Italian style donuts, with coffee, makes a great treat.

This request is perhaps not appropriate for eG, and I'm not sure what forum to post in, but perhaps someone can suggest how I could find the right person for this small job, whether it be a beginning culinary student, or just someone with good kitchen skills who wants late afternoon to evening work, approx 4 days a week, flexible. My mother is 94, living at home, alone, in her midtown NY appt. She is on oxygen 24/7 but otherwise fairly on the ball and with very few food restrictions. The woman who was filling this job previously became rather ill this month, and it looks like she may not return. Are there specific culinary schools in NY that I might advertise for a beginning student? Anyone with suggestions? We are not talking complex cuisine, just simple but flavorful food. A regular supply of indiv leftover portions would need to be packaged for the fridge and freezer. Here's an example of what worked. Wanda would come four afternoons a week, from approx 4:30 pm to 7:30. She would do the shopping as needed, cook a meal which she and my mother would eat together, clean up, then leave. The days are flexible, some weekends might also work. Usually there is only my mother to cook for but occasionally there would be a guest. She was not a professional cook, but she was energetic and had good instincts and often cooked some of her native dishes from the Dominican Republic. Nothing was complicated, but it was good. The pay does not fall in with what a professional personal chef might make. This is a no-bling job, but there are some perks: one, my mother wants to have as little input as possible about what gets put in front of her, she just wants someone to make her a nice meal. The chef gets to eat whatever they make. One caveat: no republicans need apply, and talking politics is a plus! The downside is that Chris Matthews is turned up to very high volume. The days can be flexible, and the times could be flexible too if food can be made ahead. Some cooking could be done off site, as desired, with reimbursement for time and ingredients. Whole Foods Columbus Circle is three blocks away. Thanks for any help!

Not to be a wet blanket, but anyone who says "throw caution to the wind" or "lard is good for you" might temper their attitude with just a wee bit of common sense. Everyone's physiology is different, due to genetics, eating or exercise habits or whatever. Paleo people lived primarily on animal products, but they ran 10 miles just to chase the animal down. And life WAS short, for a number of reasons. Anyone who embarks on a high animal fat diet would be well advised to have their cholesterol level monitored. If both sides of your family have no history of heart disease and your cholesterol levels are low, go for it, enjoy all the raw milk cheddar, bacon and croissants your heart desires. If everything that's "natural" is also healthy we would be on easy street.

You could try making hot dogs with no added sweetener and decide if you like them or not. Another option, if you think it needs something sweet to balance a savory taste, instead of corn syrup you could try a small amount of pure cane syrup; it isn't nearly as sweet as golden syrup, and has a slight molasses tang. Plain molasses could work, maple syrup, or possibly a little bit of brown sugar; sort of like the old baked beans with hot dogs in it flavour. I've developed a bias against corn syrup, so I always sub something else whenever it's called for. I haven't eaten a hot dog in a long time, but I would guess most commercial ones have a high corn syrup content along will all sorts of other strange unpronounceable things. The only reason you might not realize how much sweetener is in a hot dog is because there is so much salt in it.

To qualify I assume the beans have to do time in the oven, at least some part of the cooking, yah? I've never been happy with baked beans, but to be honest I have never tried to make them myself to improve on the traditional cookout pot luck affair. I'm crazy about beans cooked in a pot, and I prefer them on the soupy side, which baked beans usually are not. Often baked beans are too sweet, taste mostly of molasses and/ or mustard, and have a leaden, goopy consistency. Okay, I've led a sheltered life.