Charcoal

CHARCOAL DELI 22 Church Lane, Cockeysville. Hours: Open daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Call (410) 666-3730.Location-wise, this place is good for the soul, as it stands hard by St. Joseph's Church. Enterprising diners, therefore, might think about popping in to say a few prayers before picking up their order.The Charcoal Deli also has terrific food, claiming Baltimore'Best Pit Beef sandwich ($3.55). Look, I know pit beef. I've eaten pit beef for years. And believe me, this is great pit beef, right up there with any you've had in a while.

It's springtime, and with the beautiful weather and perfect light comes an age-old ritual as artists set up their easels around Maryland. You can find them working in a variety of mediums in Druid Hill Park, roadside in the Green Spring and Worthington valleys, along the winding stone-lined streets of Ellicott City, or on the wharves of St. Michaels and Rock Hall. And among the artists will be many members of the Baltimore Watercolor Society, the nation's third-oldest such organization.

1946 West St. Hours: Monday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; closed Sunday. Call 266-5200 or 266-5201.If you find yourself hungry in Annapolis and don't have the cash or inclination to visit one of the more upscale dining spots downtown, you should know about Chris's Charcoal Pit.This family-run, family-oriented restaurant just outside of town is one of the few dining jewels on West Street, an otherwise congested stretch of...

At age 82, Bennard B. Perlman, the noted Baltimore artist, critic, author, professor and lecturer, is as busy as ever and shows no sign of slowing down. The other day he called to say he was looking forward to the BMA's "Andy Warhol: The Last Decade" exhibition, which opens Oct. 17 . The forthcoming exhibition has special significance for Perlman, who was a close friend of Warhol's when the two were painting and design classmates from 1945 to 1949 at Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh.

Memories Charcoal House, formerly the Beaverbrook Inn in the Mount Airy Shopping Center, will open this month serving grilled fare such as steak, chicken and shrimp, A. Reid Roberts told the Carroll County Liquor Board this week.Board members approved a Class B Beer, Wine and Liquor license transfer from the current owners to Mr. Roberts and Diana Cavanagh, a former waitress and bartender in the restaurant, on Tuesday.Mr. Roberts, who lives on the Frederick County side of Mount Airy, is purchasing Beaverbrook from the current owners, JPC Inc., with three other investors.

Three people in Annapolis were sent to Maryland Shock Trauma Center with carbon monoxide poisoning after heating their home with a charcoal grill, a city fire official said yesterday. Firefighters responding to the apartment in the 300 block of Center St. at 7:30 p.m. Thursday found a 37-year-old woman who was losing consciousness and two men, ages 22 and 48, who also showed signs of poisoning, said Lt. John Bowes, a Fire Department spokesman. Their identities and conditions were not available last night.

In my experience, quail usually turns up on the menus of places that are either French and pricey, or quite proud of their game dishes. And, of course, pricey.But the last place I spotted quail on a menu was neither of these. The two quail in question, grilled over a charcoal fire and served with plump, oregano-dusted french fries, are available at a charming little place in the heart of Greektown -- and they cost $7.25.I had passed Zorba's on a couple of occasions, and it definitely looked worthy of investigation.

Some say gyro. Others yee-roh. Whichever way you pronounce it, the Greek sandwich of thinly sliced meat wrapped up in a pita is one of the specialties at Chris' Charcoal Pit, a 20-year-old family-run restaurant in Annapolis.There's nothing fancy about Chris' Charcoal Pit, as its name suggests. A few touches, like Grecian columns and a brass chandelier, try to dress up the simple space, painted in a blue and white scheme. But the walls are cinder block, the plates are molded plastic, and the napkin holders are affixed with table numbers, diner-style.

I get it, I get it. I get why people have been telling me for years about Zorba's, occasionally expressing bafflement, bordering on anger, that I'd never been. Zorba's turned out to be just my kind of place, but it wasn't what I was expecting. The full name of this Greektown favorite is Zorba's Bar & Grill, and the first floor behaves as much like a neighborhood bar as it does a restaurant. It's typical Baltimore nondescript: a bar up front, tables grouped in the back, but with one outstanding feature — the clear glass at the back with a view into the kitchen, where Zorba's signature rotisseries are spinning over charcoal flames.

IT IS ONE OF those arguments like sailboats vs. powerboats or stick shifts vs. automatic transmissions or the American League vs. the National. The question of what to burn in your barbecue grill -- live fire or gas -- is highly charged, producing more heat and hilarity than light. The facts in this debate are on the periphery, "sides" as they say in barbecue joints. Attitude is front and center. The live-fire boys, and this is mainly a male matter, contend that their practice of manipulating flames for the benefit of mankind links them with Prometheus, the Titan in Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods.

I get it, I get it. I get why people have been telling me for years about Zorba's, occasionally expressing bafflement, bordering on anger, that I'd never been. Zorba's turned out to be just my kind of place, but it wasn't what I was expecting. The full name of this Greektown favorite is Zorba's Bar & Grill, and the first floor behaves as much like a neighborhood bar as it does a restaurant. It's typical Baltimore nondescript: a bar up front, tables grouped in the back, but with one outstanding feature — the clear glass at the back with a view into the kitchen, where Zorba's signature rotisseries are spinning over charcoal flames.

A t Christmastime, I am drawn to fire. But the flames that attract me are not glowing in a fireplace; rather they are crackling in my barbecue kettle cooker. After all the commotion and tension of the holidays, standing out in the cold and watching a fire sparkle is strangely soothing. Traditionally on Christmas Eve, I find myself in the backyard in the company of beef tenderloin. I have rubbed it with 1 tablespoon of sea salt and 1/2 tablespoon of black pepper, and I cook it over an indirect charcoal fire until the interior registers 125-130 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.

Charcoal Grill 8535 Old Harford Road, Parkville; 410-668-9212. Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. After "turkey day," you might think you have had your fill of bird. But once you sample the Chesapeake chicken sandwich at the Charcoal Grill in Parkville, you will happily rejoin the ranks of poultry partisans. This Charcoal Grill (there is an affiliated restaurant in Perry Hall) is a simple structure on the corner of Old Harford Road and Putty Hill Avenue that shares a parking lot with a liquor store.

As someone who enjoys cooking in the great outdoors, albeit a rowhouse backyard, I wondered about the environmental impact of firing up my barbecue cooker. I read reports and interviewed people who have addressed various aspects of green grilling. Right away, I struggled with the question of scale. By one federal government estimate, all the barbecue grills in America fired up on July 4 produce only .003 percent of the nation's annual total carbon dioxide. So whatever I do in my backyard grill does not rival the environmental impact of, say, flying a jet from Baltimore to Boston.

Chez Jacques Traditions and Rituals of a Cook Chocolate & Zucchini Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen By Clotilde Dusoulier Broadway Books / 2007 / $18.95 Clotilde Dusoulier named her popular food blog, and now her first cookbook, to convey her agreeably split culinary personality: health nut with a sweet tooth. In her chatty, accessible book, she combined the title ingredients in only a couple of dishes - Cacao and Zucchini Absorption Pasta, and Chocolate & Zucchini Cake. But unlike veteran French chef Jacques Pepin, this Internet-era upstart does not shy away from offbeat food pairings.

Last year I put charcoal-grill ashes on my vegetable garden and had the worst yield ever. I thought ashes made good fertilizer. Charcoal, unlike wood ashes, may contain coal. Coal and treated-lumber ash are toxic. Check charcoal bags for ingredients. Ashes from wood are fine for raising soil pH. About half the strength of lime, they also add potassium, phosphate and boron. Checklist Sow peas and continue to plant succession crops of spinach, beets, lettuce and radishes. Allow the foliage to die back naturally on spring-flowering bulbs.

Artist Cornel Rubino says that life and drawing, at their best, are a triumphant balance of intention and freedom. And in his newest creation at the Creative Alliance's gallery, he has strived for and achieved that paramount condition for both his existence and his art. Mobtown, a monumental charcoal and pencil drawing on display beginning Wednesday, is a massive and intense temporary work, drawn from Rubino's own sights and experiences in the city....

If you think abstract and realistic artists regard each other as brothers under the skin, just different folks with different brush strokes, think again. Better yet, visit the Charcoal Club's weekly life drawing sessions. For only $5 you can spend three hours drawing a live, nude model.But if you are inclined to draw the young woman in such a way that both eyes wind up on the same side of her head, or in a burst of creative expression supply her with toes that look like piano keys, you will put your fellow sketchers out of sorts.

Three people in Annapolis were sent to Maryland Shock Trauma Center with carbon monoxide poisoning after heating their home with a charcoal grill, a city fire official said yesterday. Firefighters responding to the apartment in the 300 block of Center St. at 7:30 p.m. Thursday found a 37-year-old woman who was losing consciousness and two men, ages 22 and 48, who also showed signs of poisoning, said Lt. John Bowes, a Fire Department spokesman. Their identities and conditions were not available last night.