Black Pepper

Rosalie Howeth of Baltimore was looking for a recipe she misplaced for spaghetti sauce made with tomato soup and other ingredients. Her daughter had learned to make it in a cooking class in junior high school in the late '70s and they both wanted to make it again. Amanda Brokaw of New York City handles public relations for Campbell's brands and sent in a recipe from a Campbell's cookbook, Cooking With Soup, published in 1982. It makes a pretty tasty homemade meat sauce in about 50 minutes, start to finish.

There are those times in life in which a name doesn't necessarily meet reality, when a book defies its cover, if you will. And in the world of cocktails, this is no exception. A Boxcar tastes nothing like an actual boxcar. A Cape Cod? Tastes nothing like a beach. And in our case, the Inner Harbor's Sullivan's Steakhouse has a cocktail whose name and ingredients might throw you for a loop: the Thai Basil Fizz. The Thai Basil Fizz, though it sounds rather robust from its ingredients list including black pepper, Thai basil and prosecco, is almost like a fizzy whiskey sour - sans whiskey of course, with Tito's Vodka in its place.

Q. I want to thank you for writing about black pepper as a remedy to stop bleeding. I was opening a can of cat food and sliced my thumb on the lid. It started to bleed, so I followed your advice and sprinkled ground black pepper on it. To my amazement, the cut stopped bleeding and has healed well. A. We all owe Nell Heard and her woodcarver brother-in-law, Wendell, thanks for telling us about this home remedy. At first we were skeptical that black pepper could be useful for minor cuts.

New research has found that the Mediterranean diet is linked to a healthy heart. The diet is rich in vegetables, fish, olive oil and nuts. Thinking of switching or adopting some of the principals of the diet? Here is a Mediterranean diet recipe from the Mayo Clinic to get you started. Have a healthy recipe you'd like to share? Send it to andrea.walker@baltsun.com. Ingredients 1 small eggplant, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch slices 1 small yellow zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices 1 small green zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices 6 medium mushrooms, sliced 1 sweet red pepper, seeded, cored and cut into chunks 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil 6 cups water 1 1/2 cups coarse polenta (corn grits)

When you want chicken, and you want it snappy - which is to say just about every time you want chicken - these pounded cutlets are just the thing. They're quite thin, so "snappy" refers to how quickly they cook; lots of black pepper also gives the dish some snap, and you should feel free to add more. Turning up the heat at the end will give them a crisp brown parmesan crust, which is almost as lovely as eating the golden crunchy skin on a whole roasted bird, the one you might have otherwise spent 1 1/2 hours slaving over, before wasting the leftovers.

I enjoy trying new restaurants, especially when out of town, so when friends invited us for a weekend to their house on Cape Cod, I suggested that we eat out one of the evenings. Our hosts responded enthusiastically and chose a seaside restaurant that had opened earlier in the season. I eagerly read the menu and, intrigued by a side dish of Parmesan-Black Pepper Coleslaw, ordered it along with roasted halibut on a bed of asparagus. The fish and vegetables were cooked perfectly, but my slaw was unexceptional.

Comfort food makes us all feel good, but it's usually not so good for our health. But there are ways to tinker with classic recipes to make them a little healthier. This week's recipe, from Bethenny Frankel of the Skinny Girl franchise , does just that. It's her more nutritious version of turkey meatloaf. She describes it as: The comfort of meatloaf without the calories. Hope you like it. If you have a healthy recipe you'd like to share send to andrea.walker@baltsun.com and I'll post it on this blog.

New research has found that the Mediterranean diet is linked to a healthy heart. The diet is rich in vegetables, fish, olive oil and nuts. Thinking of switching or adopting some of the principals of the diet? Here is a Mediterranean diet recipe from the Mayo Clinic to get you started. Have a healthy recipe you'd like to share? Send it to andrea.walker@baltsun.com. Ingredients 1 small eggplant, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch slices 1 small yellow zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices 1 small green zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices 6 medium mushrooms, sliced 1 sweet red pepper, seeded, cored and cut into chunks 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil 6 cups water 1 1/2 cups coarse polenta (corn grits)

There are those times in life in which a name doesn't necessarily meet reality, when a book defies its cover, if you will. And in the world of cocktails, this is no exception. A Boxcar tastes nothing like an actual boxcar. A Cape Cod? Tastes nothing like a beach. And in our case, the Inner Harbor's Sullivan's Steakhouse has a cocktail whose name and ingredients might throw you for a loop: the Thai Basil Fizz. The Thai Basil Fizz, though it sounds rather robust from its ingredients list including black pepper, Thai basil and prosecco, is almost like a fizzy whiskey sour - sans whiskey of course, with Tito's Vodka in its place.

Boneless center-cut pork chops cook quickly and evenly and adapt to a variety of cooking methods. They are also fairly lean -- about 38 percent of calories from fat. MOLASSES BLACK- PEPPER PORK CHOPS Makes 4 servings cooking spray 1 / 2 teaspoon salt 1 / 2 teaspoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons cracked black pepper (see note) 3 tablespoons molasses 4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut pork chops Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a shallow baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine the salt, cumin, black pepper and molasses in a bowl and spread it over both sides of the chops.

Fansattending the Super Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome can have a Cajun feast. On Sunday's menu -- alligator chili, barbecue shrimp and grits, chicken and sausage gumbo, Natchitoches crawfish pies, a roast beef debris po'boy and Chef Donald Link's sauce piquant. Celebrate the Ravens with a Big Easy-influenced Super Bowl party Link, the James Beard award-wining chef behind Herbsaint and Cochon has been brought in by Centerplate, the stadium's Stamford, Conn.-based hospitality provider, to consult on the Louisiana-inspired menu for Super Bowl XLVII.

Comfort food makes us all feel good, but it's usually not so good for our health. But there are ways to tinker with classic recipes to make them a little healthier. This week's recipe, from Bethenny Frankel of the Skinny Girl franchise , does just that. It's her more nutritious version of turkey meatloaf. She describes it as: The comfort of meatloaf without the calories. Hope you like it. If you have a healthy recipe you'd like to share send to andrea.walker@baltsun.com and I'll post it on this blog.

Emilia Schwartz from Pasadena was looking for a recipe for a salad made with cannellini beans and other ingredients that she said she got some years back when she belonged to Weight Watchers. Bonnie Besche from Baltimore sent in a bean salad recipe she found in her "Weight Watchers Simply the Best" cookbook and thinks it may be the one that Schwartz is in search of. The recipe comes from Sheryl Knuth of Omaha, Neb., and in the note that precedes her recipe she says that she especially likes this one because it helps encourage good eating habits in her children.

This full-bodied zinfandel with generous flavors of blackberry, plums, black pepper, chocolate and blueberry is one incredible value. For a humble red blend, rather than an expensive single-vineyard wine, this shows a great deal of complexity. Rosenblum Zinfandel, Vintner's Cuvee XXXI From: California Price: $12 Serve with: Pasta, pizza, hamburger

A light, simple meal is perfect for a summer evening. For these kabobs, the seafood is marinated for 15 minutes. Then it needs only 5 minutes to cook. The secret to cooking the kabobs is to start with a hot grill or broiler. The seafood will be crisp on the outside and moist and tender inside. Leave about 1/4 inch between each ingredient on the skewers. This allows the heat to reach all sides of the food. Zucchini and yellow squash add a colorful summer touch. The side dish can be made in minutes in a microwave oven.

This full-bodied zinfandel with generous flavors of blackberry, plums, black pepper, chocolate and blueberry is one incredible value. For a humble red blend, rather than an expensive single-vineyard wine, this shows a great deal of complexity. Rosenblum Zinfandel, Vintner's Cuvee XXXI From: California Price: $12 Serve with: Pasta, pizza, hamburger