nancy leson

The best-ever way to slice a hot dog!

Dick Stein — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:30:00 +0000

"How could I not have known about this?" My Food for Thought pard Nancy Leson echoed the very words I had thought when I discovered the Spiral Cut hot-dog. It's not only cool, it's so easy to do.

Seattle gets drastic on plastic

Dick Stein — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Seattle's ban on (some) plastic bags starts July 1st. Seattleites will still be able to get paper bags at the checkout at a nickel a shot for the big ones. Or do what any smart KPLU'er would –

What's your food phobia?

Dick Stein — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Everybody doesn't like some kind of chow that almost everybody else loves. Me, I'm horrified by fruit. That's baffled and bemused everyone around me lo these years. But even I was surprised when some KPLU staffers revealed their food terrors to me.

Go green and leafy – bacon optional

Dick Stein — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Well, optional for you maybe. Me, I like a nice hunk of bacon nestled in there with some slow-cooked collards. I got turned on to eating them with a few shakes of the hot pepper vinegar on the counter at Lamar's, a greasy spoon I used to frequent in Biloxi.

Exciting news for cracker snackers

Dick Stein — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:30:00 +0000

No, not about Cracker the p(t)et pterodactyl in Captain Underpants. He'd snack on you. Nor do I refer to the Hamadryas genus of brush-footed butterflies commonly called The Cracker. This is about the kind of crackers you eat. And eat. And eat.

Is 'yogurt' an ugly word?

Dick Stein — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:30:00 +0000

I think so. Just look at it: Yogurt. Call it a typographical phobia but I'm not eatin' anything that looks like that word. Even its etymology is not encouraging.

Should you store tuna cans upside down?

Dick Stein — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

I don't bother to do it but Nancy Leson does. Find out why below – along with the reason you should never use old tuna cans to cut biscuits.

I've also posted my "Clamity Cheryl" DeGroot-approved red clam sauce recipe. You can make it in the time it takes to bring a big pot of water to boil for the spaghetti – and in these times of the Fetish for Fresh it's proud to use canned clams.

What's the best way to store bread?

Dick Stein — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Is the best way to store bread in the bag or in the fridge? In the immortal words of Prizzi's Honor hit man Charlie Partanna, "Which one of dese?"

Do you eat the shrimp tails?

Dick Stein — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I do. So does Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson – but only if they're fried. Others won't eat them at all, no matter how succulently crisp those feathery little hind appendages may be.

When's the last time you had a nice baloney sandwich?

Dick Stein — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:26:00 +0000

Don't you think you're due? It had been about ten years for me and that was too long.

Traditionalist that I am I went with Oscar Mayer, spongy white bread, mayo, iceberg lettuce and house-brand chips. The result is pictured above. Was it good?

Show us your best thrift-store cooking gear

Dick Stein — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:30:00 +0000

For many a year I was quite proud that other than appliances I owned no kitchen tools, pots, pans or gear of any kind that I paid more than $10 for.

There was just one problem.

How good was Stein's pie? (Plus, an Apple/Pear Galette recipe)

Dick Stein — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:30:00 +0000

I was so proud of my brilliant Thanksgiving pecan pie innovation. And then I learned the awful truth.

Stein's easy, illustrated step-by-step gravy method

Dick Stein — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:30:00 +0000

I love gravy. It's like liquid meat. Here's how I make it.

'All About Roasting' is the cookbook to get for the holidays

Dick Stein — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Ever since I acquired Molly Stevens' All About Braising in '04 my copy has become progressively more stained, tattered and torn. In fact, some of the pages are actually falling out. That's how good a cookbook it is. Now the long wait is over. Five years in the making, All About Roasting is out at last— and just in time for Thanksgiving.

What use is a cast iron frying pan full of rocks?

Dick Stein — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:30:00 +0000

Hint: It has to do with baking. But first take a look at picture #2 above. I've had that picture for years and still have no idea what the thing is or does.

If you do please share. And now the answer to the question posed in today's headline.