Garlic

OK, so you've got a food processor, blender, hand mixer and / or stand mixer -- and knives -- in your kitchen. Why add an electric mini chopper? Sometimes all you need is a little power -- to finely chop a cup of nuts, puree a small amount of homemade mayonnaise or baby food, mix up a bit of pesto. Mini choppers are not for everyone. But if you're constantly processing just a little of this or that, these mighty mites can come in handy. Note, though, that larger foods still may have to be chopped into 1-inch pieces for best results.

"Twofers" are meals you cook once but eat twice, and a roast chicken makes a great twofer. Over the weekend, put it in the oven and enjoy the great aroma in the house. Serve part of the chicken, then a day or two later, transform it into a new dish. Temperature, not time, should be your guide for knowing when chicken is cooked through: Cooking times vary with the size of the bird and individual ovens. Use leftovers in quesadillas with cheese and sauteed peppers, onion and mushrooms. LEMON, PARSLEY AND GARLIC ROAST CHICKEN Makes 8 servings 6 cloves garlic 1 cup parsley 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 1 (6 1/2 - to 7-pound)

Garlic, highly promoted as a natural way to reduce cholesterol, does not do so, Stanford University researchers reported yesterday. Whether ingested raw, aged or as an extract, the popular supplement had no effect on cholesterol levels in people with moderately high levels, according to the report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. "It just doesn't work," said Christopher Gardner, a Stanford professor of medicine who led the study. "If garlic was going to work, in one form or another, then it would have worked in our study.

One of the many perks of writing about health is that you end up with a terrific collection of books. A decade ago, most of the tomes on my groaning shelves were the traditional sort - biology textbooks, medical dictionaries, pharmaceutical references and the like. Lately, thanks to a deluge of new titles, I've got an impressive library of books on alternative and complementary medicine, as well. Some are so dense and soporific that I wouldn't recommend them to any but the most determined reader.

Charlie Palmer's Practical Guide to the New American Kitchen By Charlie Palmer A Man & His Meatballs The Hilarious but True Story of a Self-Taught Chef and Restaurateur By John LaFemina with Pam Manela Regan Books / 2006 / $27.95 "Hilarious" might be a stretch, but this memoir/cookbook will be surprisingly absorbing for anyone who's idly dreamed of starting a restaurant. John LaFemina tells an entertaining tale of New York entrepreneurship. A jeweler, he got into the restaurant business as an investor, then an owner and only then decided to master the art and science of cooking.

I am trying to brown thick chicken cutlets in olive oil and garlic. I don't want to burn the garlic. When and how should I add the garlic for the best flavor? A thick chicken cutlet may be just one side of the chicken breast, trimmed and shaped, or the breast piece may have been sliced horizontally into two. I would first saute the garlic cloves, sliced lengthwise, in the olive oil until they are lightly browned, then remove them before adding the chicken cutlets, seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Anytime By Tyler Florence How to Boil Water: Life Beyond Takeout Meredith Books / 2006 / $24.95 Of the three, this book is the most fun and, if you don't know how to make a pot roast or a cheese risotto, has the most to offer. For my girlfriend, who had never used a cheese grater before we started dating, the book got her enjoying her time in the kitchen. Instructions, such as "smash, peel and mince the garlic," refer back to a "know-how" section that, in this case, deals with how to smash, peel and mince garlic.

In less than 24 hours, it will be Turkey Day. If you don't have enough time to prepare a Thanksgiving dish of your own between now and then, you'll have to pick one up from a local restaurant. We tried three orders of creamed spinach, looking for the right balance of cream, cheese and spinach at a reasonable price. While each was good in its own right, one really stood out. Here are the results. BEST BITE Boston Market 6336 York Road, Baltimore -- 410-372-0220 Hours --10:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. daily In and out in --7 minutes Here, a 6-ounce container of decent creamed spinach came to $2.09.

Goose Fat & Garlic: Country Recipes From Southwest France By Jeanne Strang The Bistros, Brasseries, and Wine Bars of Paris By Daniel Young William Morrow / 2006 / $24.95 Having struggled with country French, I feared Parisian cuisine would completely elude me. But Daniel Young's book was perfectly accessible. Recipes for even the most citified fare are straightforward. The ingredients are, by and large, available in ordinary American supermarkets. The dishes don't all scream Paris.

Nicole Routhier included this braising recipe in her 1989 cookbook, The Foods of Vietnam. Lavish garlic, a little sugar and a good dose of fish sauce give pumpkin sweetness against that haunting undertone from the fish sauce. Regina Schrambling wrote this article for the Los Angeles Times, which provided the recipe analysis. Vietnamese Glazed Pumpkin Serves 4 to 6 -- Total time: 1 hour 1 (3-pound) cheese or pie pumpkin 1 tablespoon peanut oil 6 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup chicken stock 1 tablespoon Vietnamese fish sauce 2 tablespoons sugar freshly ground black pepper steamed rice (optional)