Katie Meadow

At the Goodwill, while my daughter pawed through tees and sweaters for a junior semester abroad, I checked out the kitchen stuff, usually a fruitless activity at this particular store (Corningware bakers w/out tops, vases from flower delivery, etc.) However the stars were aligned. I picked up a dirty Paul Revere fry pan with stainless steel interior and copper on the exterior, all the way up the sides. I did a little research, and this company, which of course makes Revere ware, put out a line of so-called "display copper" from 1967-85 with the Paul Revere signature on the bottom. It's 10+ inches with 2" sloping sides and a brass handle. My husband cleaned and shined it and it's smashing--looks almost new. But not only that: I've been fretting about what to use to make my first tarte tatin. This pan gave me the courage I needed! It was fabulous. I could see how dark the caramel was getting because of the stainless steel interior, and when it came time to flip the tarte, it dropped right down--no sticking, no problem. A great pan! Cost: $4.59.

If ever there was a time to make your own Scotch Broth, it's now, lassie! I made some last week, using one lamb shank (not exactly cheap, but worth it if you want a little tender meat in your soup) and some other cheaper lamb cut and made a stock. Then I used nothing but the basics: onion, celery, carrots, a little fresh thyme and barley . Salt, fresh ground pepper, and that's it. Yummy and nostalgic.

Looks very yummy! For many years we had a tradition of Coq au Vin for New Year's Day. It's my absolute favorite thing to do with chicken. This year one guest has a problem with tomatoes and red wine, so we're having roast chicken instead. Tarte Tatin for dessert. Happy new year!

Out, out damned fruit! Oh how I wish the word "pineapple" had never crossed the brain/eG barrier. Mea culpa! But lets don't lump pizza with pineapple in the same category with technique heresies. Pineapple is a single ingredient, not a method of making pizza. I don't like pepperoni or clams or bell peppers on my pizza but that doesn't mean a great pizza can't be made using any one of them. You may not like radicchio on your pizza, but I make a fantastic pizza with grilled radcchio. Since perfecting our own homemade pizza my family has all kinds of preferences: very thin crispy crust cooked if possible on an outdoor grill. Minimal toppings, including modest amount of mozz that is strewn casually and does not cover completely, minimal sauce or just fresh tomato, and one or two additional veggies in moderation. No argument here: there's nothing more awful than a mile-high soggy rubbery bready pizza. But that's just lousy pizza, and that's really more about technique than about ingredients. For those who want nothing more than a modest combination of mozz, basil and fresh tomato (and sometimes that's just perfect) call yourselves purists and be done with it--you can say you are a purists about technique AND ingredients. I have a hard time believing, however, that you survived having children, who like all kinds of strange stuff on their pizza and are not very forgiving of parents with an abundance of rules--food or otherwise. But there's nothing inherently verboten about grilled onions or radicchio or chard or any number of other toppings; they were on plenty of menus when I was in Italy. I admit that it may be a leap of faith to allow toppings that are not "native" to Italy (like the Scottish fruit--since we don't want to say its name too often) but here we are in the land of multicultural pizza! Happy new year!

Aww, it's a chilly wind that blows from the east coast! If I'd thought about it I would have realized how much heat I would catch for just the mention of pineapple in a pizza thread. Ouch! I grew up in New York and wouldn't have eaten Hawaiian pizza for love or money. Then I moved to California and went to Hawaii for vacation. Californians...we'll eat just about anything. And right now I have this thing about tomato with fruit. I love it. I've had salads of tomato and watermelon and tomato and peaches. I make a lovely tomato sauce for my pizza and I gotta say, it's frakkin' good with fresh pineapple. So, slkinsey, High Priest of Pizza, sneer all you want and thump your bible, but watch where you throw those stones: try not to hit the President-elect and his kids, who are most likely chasing their Hawaiian pizza with shave ice as we write!

Anyone who makes pizza regularly has strong opinions about toppings (and about the use/style of sauce, nature of crust, and everything else about pizza.) Here are my topping guidelines: Fresh tomato: should be used only during tomato season when they are good. To reduce the moisture, slice thinly and place between layers of paper towel or bar towels. Pat dry as necessary. Done like this, no unwanted wetness will occur on the top of the pizza but the tomato flavor will not be diminished. Pineapple: canned pineapple is revolting. For those who like Hawaiian pizza, fresh pineapple works great. If the oven is as hot as it should be, the edges of the fruit will char and the moisture in it will evaporate and not effect the pizza adversely. Other veggies: raw vegetables are peculiar on pizza for the most part. Very thinly shaved zucchini can work raw, but most other veggies like peppers or mushrooms or chard or raddichio are much tastier if sauteed or grilled first. Garlic: I'm not wild about using raw garlic on pizza. I prefer to add minced garlic halfway through when sauteeing any vegetable--lots if I want a garlicky taste. I'm not a vegetarian but for some reason I just really like my pizza veg. My husband likes mussels and clams on pizza because he had that in France. My daughter wouldn't touch that. I don't like sausage or pepperoni and the idea of chicken pizza seems just plain weird. We've been making pizza at home for so many years, and my daughter, my husband and I have so many strong opinions about what types of meat we will tolerate on it that by default we go with vegetarian pizza and we're all happy. And I admit it's quirky, but we do sometimes make a pineapple pizza without any ham. My daughter loved it when she was little, and now it seems just fine. Once in a while, if my husband lobbies heavily for ham with that pineapple--and we are feeling merciful or he seems pitiful--we add it.

I've never heard of using eggs. I do a very simple chestnut bread stuffing with the usual suspects: modest amount of chestnuts, homemade bread that has a good percentage of cornmeal cubed and dried, butter, celery, onion, sage, thyme, etc and one minced tart apple. Half gets cooked in the bird and half out. The stuffing inside the turkey gets no add'l broth or anything. The stuffing that's cooked as a casserole gets some broth. Seems to me the amount of moisture in the in-bird stuffing depends not only on the type of bread used, how dry the cubes are and whether or not broth is added, but also on how well sealed the cavity is. If the cavity is barely closed with a few metal thingees (like those sold in packages) broth or a binder might be necessary since more dry heat is going in. I sew my turkey up the old-fashioned way with needle and thread, so less drying heat gets in and therefore no need for add'l moisture of any kind. The small amount of apple is enough. It isn't gummy, but it does come out moist.

My favorite holiday lunch (or even dinner on a night when I need a break from complicated food) used to be butter and Stilton on a plain Panzanella cracker, a perfectly ripe pear (like Royal Riviera if I could get one or twelve) and a bottle of Newcastle Brown. Now I'm into Deschutes Black Butte, so I would go with that! And not to leave my other favorite beer out, Rattlesnake Beans over rice and Deschutes Mirror Pond.

I always think of Pommes Anna as nothing but potatoes sliced very thin in layers with butter slathered over every step of the way. The potatoes get partly crispy, which for me is the major thrill. Adding cheese would kill the crispy somewhat, no? Sounds like you are going for a more classic gratin, which might include creme fraiche or milk or cream, onion, but always cheese--often gruyere. Look up some recipes for Pommes Dauphinoise and you might get some good ideas. And Dauphinoise is a yummy word! Gruyere and just a little grated parm or aged pecorino is a nice combo; a combo of one that melts well and then a little of another that's more aged and punchy for flavor. There's a manchego with rosemary coating that might add great flavor, but I've never cooked with it. I would try to assemble it ahead and bake it on site if possible or if you bake it aheat, reheat it in the oven.

Andie: next time I make a nice beef broth (and I usually use oxtails for that) I am going to try it with tea. Paul: mmm...pears with tea infused creme anglaise! How do you infuse the creme a. and how are the pears cooked? In wine? Have you ever cooked pears in a combo of tea and wine? Earl Grey would seem like a natural.

Okay, let me be blunt: it's you. No, in fact it's not you, it's them. Let me amend that: it's you and them. Here's how I relate to Twinings, and I don't know how old you are, so my own history of tea drinking may be different. I started being interested in tea in the early 70's. There really wasn't much choice in imported tea. Mainly there was Twinings, if you wanted off-the-shelf. So I drank it and thought it was great. Earl Grey, Lapsang, English Breakfast, whatever. I graduated from the tea of my childhood--Lipton w/lemon wedge--to black tea w/milk. After a while I wanted to branch out and try other more esoteric teas. I started drinking Taylor of Harrogate too, and then other things. Long story short: now, when I taste any Twinings it doesn't seem very exciting. The tea seems powdery and the flavor seems kinda heavy-handed. I know my tastes have changed and I am more picky and more demanding. I suspect that Twinings has never been the greatest tea on earth. Or maybe they've gone down in quality? That's possible, and I would guess that you are more discerning as well. Switching gears, that combo of broth and tea sounds completely strange--and really interesting. Andie, do you only do it with LS or do you use other teas?

I'm bumping up this thread because I have grits on the brain these days! Although there is some defense of quick-cooking grits in various threads, I start with the assumption that stone-ground grits have the most flavor, and the fresher the better. I have no opinion of white vs yellow; I order fresh stone-ground grits and my source only offers white, but I am guessing I would be happy with yellow if it was just as fresh. As long as it's corny I want it. Upthread is an exhaustive discussion of what the definition of grits is, so let's move on and talk about what to do with them, since that's the thread title. I make my grits by starting them in a generous amount of water and then adding some milk (or cream or combination thereof) during the last half of cooking time. I like grits right out of the pot plain, that is with butter and salt, or with a little cheese mixed in. I also like a bowl of grits for breakfast with a little maple syrup or shagbark hickory syrup drizzled on. I love shrimp 'n' grits. I make plain or cheesy grits, serve it in a puddle topped with a spicy tomato salsa and grilled shrimp. Easy! Better in the summer when there are great tomatoes. I like grits served with veal or lamb or ham shanks with the gravy or juices poured on. If my guests want to call it polenta I usually don't say a word. It's grits to me. Right now my favorite thing to do is cook a pot of grits and mix in at the end a healthy dollop (or three) of creamy goat cheese. Then I put it into a wide pan to cool in a slab that's about a half inch or more thick. I cut it into squares and grill it on the barbie with olive oil or saute it in a pan in butter or oil or bacon grease. I love it just like that hot out of the pan or sauced. What should I try next?

You had me at hazelnut--and you lost me at furry slippers. Many years ago the New Yorker ran a piece about squirrel hunting/eating; well, I should amend that. I don't really recall if that was the focus of the article, but there were interviews with backwoods types who discussed at length whether the brain was the best part and the various camps weighed in on the best way to brain a squirrel. What I mainly remember were some of the methods for that (none of them for the faint of heart), and the fact that my husband and I were laughing so hard we were weeping. Dec. 17 is a Wednesday. Is it going to be a new feature "Dining In/Dining Out in hard times?" Out meaning a picnic under the backyard walnut tree. Eat local!

I'm having to deal with some of the same issues for xmas eve dinner--although in the case of my family, there are some vegetarians, some cholesterol watchers, and someone who can't eat tomatoes. So much for lasagne, for your guests or mine! I agree about going light on the entree. Since your menu sounds vaguely mediterranean, you could do a polenta dish. You can cook the polenta ahead, then cut it into squares to be sauteed or baked and topped with perhaps a simple pesto type sauce; that would be nice plated with the fennel salad. If you don't use cheese in your pesto, your lactose-free guest will have no issue there. I actually prefer my pesto vegan (whether basil, spinach or any other green)--w/toasted pine nuts and no cheese. Serve a little dish of freshly grated pecorino on the side. For the apps, give your gluten-free guest a choice of fresh crudites instead of crackers; carrots sticks, kohlrabi, etc can be dipped. The roasted tomato soup sounds yummy. You could also remove the shrimp from the apps and serve them over polenta--sort of an Italian version of shrimp 'n' grits. Personally it's my theory that people don't eat as much polenta or grits as they could, and that the gluten-challenged are all very sick of rice.

I think the first time I ever made turkey stock I used Julia Child's recipe "Feasting on the Remains." In her free-spirited way she throws in raw chicken parts along with the chopped up turkey carcass and raw beef or veal bones. I'm more of a purist when it comes to turkey stock and prefer it to taste like nothing but roasted turkey essence, although I do throw in a veal knuckle bone and just a couple of marrow bones after browning them. Julia's instructions are to cook at a very low simmer uncovered for 3-4 hours or "until you think you have gotten all the flavor out of your carcass." I take that to mean that she pretty much believed whatever good comes from cooking a carcass can be had in 4 hours or less. She suggests that if your stock isn't as strong as you like, you should remove all the solids and cook it down afterwards. I think turkey stock from roasted bird is hypnotically good. Kid back to college, no relatives, no mountains of red and orange foods, just peace and quiet, me and my husband....and the trance caused by turkey broth.

A very creative graphic designer brought a jello mold something like the rainbow thing above to a party many years ago and blew everyone away. It was made in a loaf pan and then sliced one way and then another and served as finger food. It was done as you would expect, with each new layer needing to be jelled before the next layer (cooled first) was applied. But she did something visually dynamic and very unjello-like: in between each colorful layer was a very thin layer of plain unflavored jello that had been made with the addition of milk, so that the layer was pure white. It was really quite beautiful and had at least 12 layers total, including the white ones. If the idea of commercial artificial jello turns you off (as it does me) you can easily make your own fruit jellos with gelatin and various kinds of fruit juice. (Not pineapple I think--it has some kind of enzyme in it that messes up the jelling.) Pomegranate and cranberry would be nice. I've made fresh blood orange jello and that's delish, especially with a little whipped cream. It uses an obscene number of blood oranges. Old Foodie: that is amazing!

I want a large size fry pan with curved sides that are at least 1.75 inches high. I asked about this in the tarte tatin topic because that was initially what I intended to use the pan for: stove-top carmelizing and then finish in the oven. Several recipes, including the one I want to make, call for a non-stick oven-safe pan. The responders in the tarte tatin topic were more interested in the software aspects of tarte tatin than the hardware, so I thought I would try a different topic. I do have some cast-iron pans, but they are not the size I need and are too heavy, so I don't want that. I don't own any so-called non-stick coated pans. The new ones look improved over the old teflon, but they still seem creepy. At the restaurant supply place two floor-salespeople had opposing views: one said I could use Lincoln Wear-ever (aluminum with a coating) in the oven, one said they wouldn't do it. Can they be used in the oven? Would the apples carmelize well on such a surface? What about carbon steel (black steel, blue steel, black iron--whatever you wanna call it)? I do have a very nice old carbon steel omelet pan that I rarely use (it's far too small for my new tarte tatin project) and it does seem to be seasoned well enough so the egg slides right off. Would the carmelized apple tarte free itself easily when turned upside down if the carbon steel pan were well seasoned? Such a pan might be more useful for a variety of other things as well. Any thoughts?

My husband's relatives either don't cook much or are vegetarians. We go to a family house at the beach for Thanksgiving, but my husband and I make the turkey and the stuffing and we have no competition for the carcass. If we couldn't have it I would refuse to go! When we got back home on Saturday afternoon my husband found my neighbors had thrown their carcass in the green bin. I was ready to retrieve it, that's how much I covet a carcass. I didn't, but we did tell my neighbors to save their next one. MayhawMan: where's a recipe for turkey gumbo? Do you need a lot of leftover turkey meat? Our carcass doesn't have lot of meat by the time it gets back home.

Don't hold your breath, Dave! It's going to take me weeks to work up to this. I usually have a New Years Day dinner, so that's what I'm shootin' for. Now I'm just thinking about it. A lot.

Thanks, Dave, your recipe looks great and a pictorial is always welcome. My SIL's recipe does indeed call for enough apples and pastry for a 12 inch pan, which is what she uses. She made it for my in-law's anniversary dinner and it served 12.

What kind of pan is best? My SIL baked a tarte tatin which was one of the best desserts I have every eaten. She's a very good baker, and this was really out of this world. I don't do a lot of baking, but my husband gives good crust, so we are going to take the leap. She gave me the recipe, and clearly I have no pan that works. Her recipe--and several others I have looked at--calls for a 12 inch non-stick oven-proof skillet with curved sides that are at least 1.75 inches high. Her pan looked like a restaurant fry skillet. I own mainly cast iron, enamel and stainless cookwear, and nothing even resembling this type of pan. A workhorse skillet in this size would be nice to have anyway--an early holiday gift for myself. What kind of surface should I get? I own no non-stick pans. What exactly does that mean, anyway? I assume non-stick has evolved since the days of teflon, but I am clueless. Should the pan be aluminum? Can I find this perhaps at a giant restaurant supply place or will I have to pony up for something from Sur la Table? What to buy?

Why not have your marrow and eat it too? I don't know if you could roast the marrow bones and still do this, but I admit that I take a shortcut when using marrow bones for stock. Instead of roasting (and I keep telling myself I should roast them), I brown them quickly all over in a cast iron skillet. Then I add them to the stock pot with whatever meats I am using. After about an hour I fish out the marrow bones and extract the marrow. In case there is stock value in the marrow at least I get one's hour's worth this way. Making sure my daughter--she of the delicate sensibilities--isn't around to watch, because she thinks this is utterly revolting, I spread the marrow on toast or, if I have it, fresh rye bread (which is what my mother preferred), sprinkle on a bit of sea salt, and bliss out. When I come to my senses or discover I have not had a heart attack, I toss the bones back into the stock pot.

My husband always shakes. I never do. If, as you say, the unpopped kernels are heavier (and I agree that they are) they will stay on the bottom in contact with the oil. My husband's method results in a substantial number of unpopped kernels. I sometimes get as few as two or three unpopped kernels. I use a medium to medium-high heat and simply leave the pot alone until I hear a couple of seconds with no pops. I have tried doing a very gentle side-to-side rolling motion in the beginning on the theory that rotating the kernels in the oil to evenly coat them contributes to quick simultaneous popping, but it doesn't seem to make an appreciable difference. I use a pot that is deeper than it is wide. The surface area is small enough so that I can pretty much cover it with one layer of corn. That minimizes the amount of oil needed. I haven't had a problem with burning since I started popping this way. I do think that using very high heat is problematic; either some popcorn will be burned or, to avoid burning, you will have unpopped corn.

On any day EXCEPT the day after thanksgiving I make a turkey sandwich with mayo and various types of bread or additions, but on the one Friday of the year after the holiday I always make my turkey sandwich exactly like this: white bread, turkey, romaine lettuce and butter. I have no idea why I do this, but it's special. Tonight we had the first of two turkey soups. The first one is just turkey broth with a little rice and a sprinkle of chives. Plain and pure, essence of turkey broth. Tomorrow or the next night will be a hearty turkey soup with barley and vegetables. By the time I make it home with the family carcass there isn't a lot of turkey left on the bone for a pot pie and I need every bit of that for my soup. But I do steal away the leftover fabulous gravy/sauce my husband makes so I can use it as a base for a chicken pot pie.

My beans get a modest salting at both ends. I think the flavor and texture of beans depends on two things: the type of bean and the use of stock instead of just water. I use a light ham stock that's only moderately salty (I soak the shanks in cold water for an hour first to remove excess salt) and then add a bit more salt after the beans are tender--about two hours--and then cook another ten or fifteen minutes. I do soak my beans for five or six hours first, so I am pretty much following Rancho Gordo's method. If I do vegetarian beans (as I must for certain relatives) I salt in the beginning and try to use a veg broth as well. I'm at sea level if that matters. I don't like mushy beans--I like them to be creamy and hold their shape. My favorite bean right now is the Rattlesnake bean, which I think is an heirloom cousin of the pinto. Some beans I find to be less flavorful than others and to have less of a toothy texture, so I do think the type of bean makes a difference.