, Food Network Kitchens

Fresh vanilla beans, though expensive, add intense flavor to your baked goods. Don't waste the pod once you've scraped the seeds free. Store it in sugar to make vanilla-scented sugar (great for coffee drinks or the top of creme brulees), or put it into vodka or bourbon for a subtle flavor infusion that makes for excellent cocktails.

Q: How do I skim the fat from gravy or sauce? -- Helen Black, Custer, S.D.

A: Freezing or cooling is certainly the easiest way to skim fat (once it's cool, the fat will rise to the top), but there are a few other ways as well.

Q: How do you get the most garlic flavor out of a clove of garlic? -- Ralph Maple, Eugene, Ore.

A: Garlic is a member of the allium family, related to onions and leeks. What is noteworthy about alliums is the way they use sulfur from the soil they grow in. They hold sulfur-containing compounds inside the fluids of each individual cell, while an activating enzyme is held separately.

While poached pears are a classic dessert, roasted pears double the pleasure. Not only do you have a delicious final product that is excellent with blue cheese, caramel or salted almonds, the roasting process also makes the house smell wonderful.

To do it, peel the pears, wrap them in foil and cook in a low oven until tender (usually about an hour).

Try chestnut honey with pears and cheese, or lavender honey with ice cream, or thyme honey drizzled over thick yogurt. Even regular honey can taste different, depending on where it comes from.

Q: What is cardamom? -- Paul Collins, Miami, Ohio

Try varietal honeys.

Depending upon where bees have been feeding (that is, on what kind of plant), the flavors can range from delicate and sweet acacia honey to funky and strong buckwheat honey.

(For more information, visit www.foodnetwork.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)

Q: When a recipe calls for "grilling over indirect heat," what does this mean? -- Christie Gunter, Asheboro, N.C.

A: Grilling over indirect heat is a great way to cook thick cuts of meat on the grill -- thick steaks, chicken thighs or anything that won't cook through before the outside scorches.

Q: Many healthful recipes now call for Greek yogurt. I live in a small town. If we have Greek yogurt at the grocery store it costs so much money. Is there a method to get the same consistency of the Greek yogurt from its more affordable counterparts? -- Michelle Norwood, Auburndale, Fla.

The peach's smooth-skinned cousin, the nectarine, is sweet and floral, sometimes with a slightly spicy undertone.

Nectarines are fabulous as is, or in salads with sturdy greens like watercress or frisee, or cooked down with mustard and spices as a condiment for grilled poultry.