Food for Thought

My secret shame's no secret anymore

Dick Stein — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:59:00 +0000

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-962056.mp3

This is an encore episode of Food for Thought.

I blame my mother.

Homemade vinegar: For starters, it's easy to do

Erin Hennessey and Nancy Leson — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Making your own vinegar is not complicated, thank goodness, but it does require a good starter. Seattle Times food writer, Nancy Leson, tells KPLU's Erin Hennessey how she makes her own red wine vinegar and why it's so special.

A clever gift idea for cooks

Dick Stein — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:00:00 +0000

It's not the three cookbooks pictured above, though Nancy really loves them and recommends them swooningly and from a great height. Nope, this is an enjoyable DIY project. Click "Listen" and all will be revealed. Now let's talk about saffron,

The goat-to gal for charming cheeses

Dick Stein — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Sure, I love to play the philistine in my encounters with Nancy Leson on Food for Thought but it's time to reveal that I have been Velveeta-free for almost four years. One more year and I get my pin.

Meantime, I've been enjoying some of the wonderful locally made stuff and so has Nancy. We had a lot of fun on this one. Hear all about it with a click on the audio gizmo under the
Read More" teaser.

What's so entertaining about entertaining?

Dick Stein — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 12:30:00 +0000

You go nuts all day long with the cooking and the cleaning and the worrying and the will this or won't that and did I remember to and does the house look and will they even show up and what was I thinking when I decided to do this they could have had their lousy corn flake stuffed pork chops and gone the hell home by now... and waitasecond is that cat-box I smell?

Or you could be like my Food for Thought pal, Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson.

Clean as you cook

Dick Stein — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Pro chefs have their kitchen grunts to handle the cleanup but we home cooks have to do it ourselves. And the way to do it is as you go. I think the clean-up is as much a part of the cooking process as the mixing and chopping, the slaughtering of the ox, all that kind of stuff.

Why you probably shouldn't open your own restaurant

Dick Stein — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Every good home cook has had the dream of opening his or her own restaurant. But we've also heard the dire warning: "90% of restaurants fail in the first year of operation." It isn't true.

Make your own preserved lemons

Dick Stein — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:00:00 +0000

In this week's culinary adventure Nancy Leson and I chat about our canning projects. Balsamic jams for her and preserved lemons for me. Preserved lemons give a powerful jolt of flavor.

The shocking truth about Granny Smith

Dick Stein — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Yes, there actually was a Granny Smith. That's her right above. But she was not (gasp) an American.

Here's lookin' at you, squid

Dick Stein — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Nancy Leson is back in the saddle again. After months spent in lady-of-leisure mode (I can just hear her outraged snort) Nance is back doing a weekly column for The Times. In this week's FfT she talks about her new job and about a Pink Door recipe for squid she gave her own twist to.

Asian Tofu cookbook a Nguyen/Nguyen deal

Dick Stein — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:00:00 +0000

This week's Food for Thought is part two of our chat with Andrea Nguyen, author of the terrific new cookbook Asian Tofu, hence the dreadful pun above. Nancy and I usually get a fair number of comments to our Food for Thoughts post. But last week's Part One brought this response. So it's time to walk on the wild side.

The definitive tofu cookbook is here

Dick Stein — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:30:00 +0000

I blame the hippies. If it weren't for concoctions like Tofu Chili Surprise and other abominations maybe so many Americans wouldn't turn up their noses at tofu. I've always believed that the only legitimate context for the stuff is in Asian cooking.

In Andrea Nguyen's terrific new cookbook, Asian Tofu, that's right where she puts it. Full disclosure:

Supermarket self-check: Raising convenience or blood pressure?

Dick Stein — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:36:13 +0000

Definitely the BP in my case but I'm a confirmed Luddite, anyway. I can be accused of malfeasance right at home by my wife. I don't need to go to the supermarket to hear it from a snooty machine.

Finding feasts in your freezer

Dick Stein — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Of course there will be no feast to find unless you put one in. The feast my Food for Thought pard Nancy Leson likes to store is her Sri Lankan Beef Curry. The picture above shows the results, and it looks pretty good to me. Why don't we all give it a try? Here's the recipe.

Restaurant openings are not always so grand

Dick Stein — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Even for some of our favorite activities the first time is not necessarily the best time. Restaurants are no exception. Especially when you stop to think about how much there is to go wrong.