Food & Nutrition

By TOM MENTZER
Sunday, November 19, 2006
The Culinary Institute of America has assembled a delicious collection of international recipes in its new book, "One Dish Meals" (Lebhar-Friedman Books, $35).

Don't confuse the title with the traditional definition of one-pot meals, those all-day, slow-cooking affairs full of cheap cuts of meat and root vegetables.

Sunday, November 19, 2006
Food trivia questions from Food Network's "Unwrapped" show that airs on Monday at 9 and 9:30 p.m. EST/PST.

1. How many teaspoons of sugar does the average American consume each day?

2.

By LYNNE ROSSETTO KASPER
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Dear Lynne: I have two questions about beans. Is there such as a light bean soup that isn't boring? Bean soups either hit you over the head because they are so heavy and spicy, or they taste like dishwater.

My second question: Why is it that when I cook dry chickpeas at home the skins all come off, but when I open a can of chickpeas they are beautiful, without the skins hanging off? _ Sally in Rochester

Dear Sally: To answer your last question first, hard boiling may be the problem.

By MICHAEL HASTINGS
Sunday, November 19, 2006
At its most traditional, a poundcake is one of the plainest cakes around, consisting of nothing more than a pound each of butter, flour, eggs, and sugar.

So a competitive and creative cook might be inclined to pass on a contest for poundcake, especially when the rules specify that the cake can have no frosting or glaze.

After all, how creative can a cook be with such a simple cake?

The answer is plenty, as 80 amateur cooks proved recently at the uniced-poundcake contest at the Dixie Classic Fair in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Competitors may not have been able to put frosting or glaze on the cakes, but nothing prevented them from putting all kinds of flavorful ingredients inside them.

The contest, sponsored by Midstate Mills, featured five cakes with apples, five with blueberries, five with cream cheese and eight with sour cream.

By JUDY MAGID
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Do it yourself?

Catering your own party is not mission impossible. Here are ideas that can make a party fun for you as well as your guests:

_ The amount of food to prepare depends not only on the number of guests, but what time they are expected.

By JUDY MAGID
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Don't plan on seeing _ or serving _ the "same old" stuff at this season's holiday parties, say some caterers. Instead, prepare to be delighted with:

_ Small plates with two-bite nibbles

_ Martini glasses filled with creamy risotto

_ A 5-foot-round wok containing flambeed banana-peach Foster

_Tablespoons holding mysterious tidbits and egg shells hollowed out from the top, refilled with mashed egg and topped with a dollop of caviar.

And that is but a taste of the hot new food and serving trends cooked up and offered for inspiration by three of Utah's catering outfits _ Utah Food Services, Cuisine Unlimited and Culinary Crafts.

What you are not going to find is a buffet table with a pile of plates waiting to be filled with everything from Waldorf salad to beef tenderloin and then balanced on your lap.

"It's all about presentation.

Sunday, November 19, 2006
Smoked pastrami:

Now that the weather is starting to get cooler, our thoughts turn to smoked meat. Specifically, pastrami.

So what is pastrami? It's smoked corned beef.

Sunday, November 19, 2006
Q: How do I select Sauternes in a grocery store? _ Dawn Anderson, Lakewood, Colo.

A: Wow, if your grocery store sells Sauternes, you've got a way-better grocery store than we do.

Sauternes is a sweet white wine from the Bordeaux region of France _ it's got a long and storied history (it was one of Thomas Jefferson's favorite wines), and it's considered "the king of wines." It's made by letting grapes wither on the vine until affected by a mold called botrytis _ also called "noble rot" _ that makes them super-sweet, full of complex, honeyed flavors.

Monday, November 13, 2006
Q: I have seen some recipes that call for chicken (or duck) fat. How is this made? _ Patti Newman, Kentwood, Mich.

I

A: While you can certainly buy both chicken and duck fat, it's definitely cheaper to render your own.

By LYNNE ROSSETTO KASPER
Monday, November 13, 2006
Dear Lynne: Last year I vowed not to have another insane Thanksgiving, so I made and froze (among other things) my special baked custard in October.