Live Q&As

You're welcome! We're excited about it -- Jim's gonna rock the house.

Personally, I think it is a matter of personal preference. You will encounter a lot of debate because there are advantages to both. Stainless steel tends to last longer. Cast-iron hold heat better. But both last a long time and both hold heat well. And both will give you good grill marks. Me, I like cast iron. That, though, is only because it is what I learned on. 

Really? You want to see hairnets on these people? I sure don't. This is TV, not a real restaurant, after all. I don't think I've ever seen a hairnet on a TV chef, for good reason; doesn't look so hot. If I ran a restaurant kitchen, I suppose I'd make sure that anybody with long hair pulled it back  -- or got a haircut.

Doesn't this pink peppercorn citrus sauce look nice?

Today's food section has my story on that very question. The answer depends, in part, on how much you  want to spend and how much you like to play with fire. Me, I like to start newbies off with cheap ($200) offset smokers, such as a Brinkmann, which you can buy at a hardware store. Why? Because they are tough to use. But once you learn them, you really understand wood and fire. Not everyone wants to do that, though. To make life easier, spend a little more money (between $300 and $400, as I recall) and buy a Weber Smokey Mountain bullet. Gives you consistent results without having to stay up all night. Got a thousand to spend? Look at the Klose, Jambo, or Backwoods.  

Butter-braised, my friend. You will never want radishes any other way.

We have just the tip for you, courtesy of Thomas Keller who visited us a few weeks ago. (For a full and terrific account of our cooking lesson, check out Bonnie's blog post.)

Here's what you do. After cutting the kernels from an ear of corn, put them in a large bowl. Set a medium bowl of water next to the large bowl Swish your hand through the corn in a circular motion. Any remaining corn silk will stick to your hand. Rinse your hand in the other bowl as you remove the silks.

Here you go!

We know some things and have access to the canning experts who know more than we do. But we get overwhelmed with questions some weeks and just can't get to all of them. So fire away again, and we'll see what we can help with. And that's a good idea to have a real expert in here soon to help the putting-uppers put things up!

Great question! When we moved into our Capitol Hill rowhouse, I encountered the very same problem. The first outing at our new digs, I was all excited. Thought the neighbors would love the smell, as, in my experience, folks tend, if anything, to be envious when they smell the smoke. Alas, the neighbor came out on her deck and asked that I not smoke through the night, as it came into her windows and kept her up at night. My heart fell. There are two things you can do. One, smoke when you know your neighbor isn't around, then warm your food through at dinnertime. Or buy a better smoker. Cheap ones leak a lot, and there just isn't much you can do about it. Better ones hold the smoke a lot better.

Even if you're related to her, she still deserves praise, Ode! We will pass it along. One way to quickly access Stephanie's recipes is to type "Nourish" in the search field on Recipe Finder. Joe's Cooking for One recipes can be accessed that way as well. And one day, we'll have a more user-friendly Food homepage. Really. That's what they tell me.

Glad it worked.

On the amount of booze, you need to decide how long people are staying before you can figure out how much people will drink. But to start, know that there are about 5 glasses of wine in each bottle. So if you were only serving wine and it was a 2 to 3 hour cocktail party, I think you could assume that 25 people would have 3 glasses. That's 15 bottles of wine. So if you get beer too, I'd say you'd be safe with a case.

As for food, I never expect hosts to be cooking or plating during a cocktail party. It's either hors d'oeurves, which you prep in advance, or a buffet of room-temperature or cold items at this time of year.

Where to start? It's hard to advise without knowing how upscale you want it to be or what kind of cuisines you prefer. But bruschetta is always a crowdpleaser and easy to do in advance. Here's a link to a few recipes for canapes, including curried shrimp and cucumber canapes and, my favorite, Odessa Piper's gougeres with herb salad.

Almond flour is finely ground almonds -- I've seen it made from blanched skinned nuts and from ones with skins.  Bakewise, it's a matter of aesthetics and maybe a slight texture.

Almond paste is a mixture of blanched ground almonds, sugar and a glycerin-type liquid or other liquid that acts as a binder. (Marzipan -- I see the question hovering -- is almond paste, sugar, sometimes unbeaten egg whites, often food coloring.)

The flour can go bad fairly quickly, so either refrigerate or freeze it.  It can be pretty pricey, but I've recently been using Shiloh Farms brand which is half the cost of Bob's Red Mill almond flour.  If that Nutty Guys price I'm seeing online is for correct ($4.33 for 8 ounces), you've got a deal there already.

Yes. And a little potato salad.

And cole slaw.

Buffalo is leaner than steak so you have to be a little careful how you prepare it. But basically, just do it on the grill or stovetop as you would a steak.  Here's a great recipe for Buffalo Steak with Cocoa Nib Sauce. But it's a bit heavy for summer. So you might just marinate the meat in mustard, shallots and olive oil and cook it. Or if you want something a little more chic, check out this recipe we ran for Buffalo Tartar from Peter Smith at PS 7.

Making a Nourish recipe healthier -- quite the feat.

Stephanie's answer:  "Hey if you liked less oil go ahead. Oil gives good mouth feel, a true feeling of fullness and it carries flavors. How much of that you need is up to you. Balsamic and black beans? Sure, but I'd skip the cilantro and lime and use basil and parsley instead."

Are you afraid of your stove? Same thing, basically. Gas grills are very easy to control. But if you are concerned, grill sometime with your husband as mentor. You'll do fine. 

I like that.

Yes, those lists are super fun and inspiring.

Puree, strain and freeze flat in 1/2 cup increments. It's always nice to have the base of a blueberry sauce for something sweet or even savory (like an accompaniment to grilled game). If  you have an ice cream maker, I highly recommend this Blueberry Basil.

Next time, freeze those berries you've just brought home, and use them as you go.

Water pans are extremely popular at cook-off competitions. They do help keep the meat moist and, yes, they do help with regulating the temperature. As far as the bark, oftentimes you will get a lovely crispiness on the outside due to the simple length of time the meat is being smoked. The amount of moisture generally does not keep a good bark from forming. However, you can always use the water pan for part of your smoking (say, two-thirds), then remove it for the remainder.

The answer is fool. It's a British favorite (but don't hold that against it) that is basically just that: fruit and cream. Here's one recipe we have for Raspberry and White Chocolate Fool.

(We also have one for strawberry rhubarb but it's a bit late for those.) So if you're not a chocolate person (like me), how about this one for Mango Blueberry Fool? 

Will definitely add some vegetarian main dishes at some point. Smoking ain't just for carnivores anymore.

Also, it strikes me that the grilled eggplant timbales with smoked tomato sauce that David served as a salad could pretty easily be a main course if you had other veggie apps and sides.

What do you mean, treat it the same? If you mean use it in recipes that call for fresh, then yes. But, um, obviously, you have to prepare it differently. 

That's a little tricky. Lovely lamb chops need TLC to stay moist. You could get them to barely medium-rare and then reheat in a grill pan when your husband comes home. I'm not sure I know of a way to keep grilled lamb warm for 2 hours without adversely affecting the loveliness.

Rifle!

I think you should play with the size of the potatoes. You could slice them pretty thin and then grill them. Or you could cut them into thicker cubes, pre-boil and then grill. If they are larger pieces, they won't split apart on the skewer.

I think you'll have trouble skewering a pre-cooked potato cube no matter how you do it. If you want to go skewers, I'd use par-boiled new potatoes, whole or halved, and use  skewers that are flat. If you really want to go the cubed route, forget the skewers and use a perforated grill  pan. Coat the seasoned cubes with some oil, like canola, and spray the pan with cooking spray. Then, brown them as you would in a saute pan. Dress them with a little extra-virgin afterwards.

Nope. I see some on the Interwebs, though.

Well, it all depends on how many courses you want to add. The pasta and tomato salad you have in mind both sound great.  But how about a more elegant, inventive salad from our own David Hagedorn? He developed this fabulous Bibb Salad with Tomato Crush (a kind of pureed summer tomato pesto) and gorgonzola.

Then you could add a meat course -- this lovely Arista, or Tuscan pork loin would be great.

As for ice cream, he may live in Paris but I recommend David Leibovitz's recipes. See Joe's article about him and the recipes, which are terrific.

As a fellow apartment dweller, I say that you can certainly use a cast-iron grill pan. I love mine. I also like the broiler as a grilling substitute. And absolutely, that two-burner grill thing is great; don't have one but have used them. I'd step away from the GF grill, I'm afraid -- unless you're making panini. IMHO, you don't want to be pressing those chops or any other "grilled" meat, if you want it to stay juicy.

I believe in that rule, but we have to make an exception for cabbage. And chocolate eclairs.

How about today's Dinner in Minutes? Or Cabbage Latkes? Or Kimchi Hot Pot? Or just kimchi?

Yum. Can you bring some of those over?

You can also put them on a cookie sheet in the freezer and let them freeze individually. Then put them in bags. Either way, good to store up for the winter.

Sure. Use the method that Trevor Corson describes here.

OK, here's the deal. You can adapt the recipe, but the smoked tomato sauce is killer; it would have won the tomato contest if the Post allowed ringers to enter.

Roast the tomatoes skin-on in a 450 oven for 15-20 minutes, or until nicely deep brown. (Use a small pan, like a cake pan.) Season well with s/p. Crush the tomatoes, then puree them with a little tomato paste. OR halve and seed the tomatoes before roasting, let them cool, remove the skins, and crush the tomatoes, using them as is and seasoning them with s/p and some extra virgin. This is more like a confit than a sauce.

For the eggplant, cut them in half lengthwise (peeled or not, depending on your personal taste), season with s/p, drizzle with some oil and roast at 450 on a parchment lined sheet pan until fork-soft but still slightly firm. Cool, cubes and finish according to the recipe.

Not quite the same dish, but it should work. Unless you faint from the heat in your kitchen before dinner, of course.

I am a big fan of coal-fired pizza. Oil the bottom of the dough or oil a baking sheet. Slide the dough over a hot fire (preferably with lump charcoal). After a couple of minutes of crisping, moving the pizza over to the cooler side of the grill. Add your ingredients. Put the top down on your smoker/grill for a about three or four minutes, till the cheese melts. Next step: slice and eat. The flavor of the charcoal is incredible. 

You also might read up on this grilled-pizza primer by Tony Rosenfeld we had a couple summers ago.

Nope. You don't. Marbling ( a nice way of saying fat) is what helps to make meat taste good. That is one reason (but not nearly half the story) of why we feed our cattle corn.

It is true that grass-fed beef is leaner. But well-raised grass-fed beef can be juicy and delicious. It also can have a richer flavor. In my experience, I've had great prime cuts of grass-fed beef but I've struggled with some of my other favorite cuts -- like hangar -- with grass-fed beef from certain farms. It can be tough.

Thanks for the tip, ESP.  I'm not a Facebooker but I follow David's tweets. I'm almost over that episode....zested limes this morning during recipe testing and it was all so lovely and green.

True, true. Kim's a good canner. I've talked about starting up a DC chapter of CAA (which I prefer to call "Cans Across America" for the obvious pun), but haven't followed through on my promise yet. We've also thrown around the idea of doing a canning party/swap as a story. Do you like that idea?

Read carefully. I said a case of wine. Plus beers.

I'm also a big fan of haloumi cheese. If you haven't had it, it's meaty and a bit salty. But it's great on the grill. I think they stock it at Whole Foods but you can definitely find it at Middle Eastern markets in Maryland and Virginia.

Oh dear. What we mean is that the container -- usually a heatproof glass bowl or a stainless steel one -- is large enough so that its rim sits on opening of the saucepan, and there should be just enough water in the pan so that it doesn't touch the bottom of said bowl.

Thanks!

Or our own Raspberry Whipped Cream Icebox Cake!

Yep, you are. The smoke's not that big of a deal in a grill pan, in my experience. And I don't even have a vent hood.

Pit them. Freeze them. You will love them later in the winter. Or make a crumble. Or a pie. Or a sauce for ice cream or duck. Lots of options.

Now, your not gonna make me run downstairs and see what brand of thermometer I bought, are you? I got one at Bed, Beth, and Beyond. Remote means that the part that tell you the temperature is separate from the part the takes the temperature. (That's the probe.) The probe is a metal stick with a pointed end thatyou  stick into the meat. It's attached to a heat-proof coated wire that extends to a  digital ON/OFF timer that can sit next to the oven or grill. You set the timer by time and internal temperature. This way, you can see the temperature without having to open the oven or grill.

OK, just a second. I'll be right back.

Mine is a Taylor. It isn't fancy and it works just fine. Using a remote thermometer will totally change the way you cook. No more guesswork.

Nice.

Scary post o' the day.

Gas grills are good for outdoor cooking and grilling, but barbecue -- low, slow and smoky -- it ain't. Not even with wood chips.

Without seeing the recipes, I'll just go out on a limb and say, sure.  Because you like the lutein.

I was just craving lutein the other day. ;-)

Not sure if you are interested primarily in grilling or also in smoking. Either way, look for solid construction. The better the construction, the better the apparatus will hold heat and the easier it will be to control the temperature. The cheapos are made of thin metal. They leak a lot and rust easily. The higher-dollar grills and smokers (generally, $600 and up) are made from thicker-grade steel and the welds are better. A good online resource is Bbq-brethren.com; it is the go-to site for competitive barbecuers and has all sorts of very detailed information in its forums about rigs. 

Fun! The last few times I've made jam, btw, I've loved scraping the congealed part off the sides of the pan afterward and thinking that this MUST be where fruit leather originated...

Maybe I'm just immune to the smoke. Absolutely worth it.

Oh, cabbage can be summery, can't it? See the bazillion slaw recipes we ran recently? The cabbage cooks fairly quickly in this dish.

Snap!

Couscous With Chickpeas and Carrots. Easy peasy. Or Cumin-Scented Chickpeas and Spinach With Basmati Rice.

Done.

I think it depends who you ask. It has cocoa butter in it, which is from the cacao bean but no cacao. The world is split on whether that counts.

I'm sort of with your husband on this one, although that doesn't mean it's bad. I don't tend to like it as much as "real" chocolate, but I have to say that once David Lebovitz showed me how to caramelize it in the oven, I've liked it a lot better.

The chief one is that a syllabub has an alcoholic component of wine or ale.

It's not as challenging as it seems, now that I've already gotten the failures out of the way for you.

Think of the grill as an oven. With a normal amount of briquettes, the internal temperature will rise to 350-400 degrees. If you use a few more briquettes, it could get up to 450. Fruit pies especially are to be baked in hot ovens. (You want the crust to be set quickly so the butter stays suspended in it, keeping the crust flaky and tender.)  I found the 350 temperature to be fine, probably because the space is more confined and the heat, therefore, less dispersed.

I'd stick to fruit pies on the grill, since they can take a bit of a beating. The major thing is to cover the crust, especially on the sides close to the briquettes.

Give it a shot. I think you'll like the flavor.

I'd have to see it to believe it, in terms of the ability to actually produce consistent smoke. Temp regulation is great, but every gas grill I've seen/used lets any smoke generated from chips flow right out the back and doesn't contain it. Maybe yours is different?