Salmon

Our attitudes toward beets are part of our DNA. There is, I believe, a gene that makes us either beet lovers or beet haters. I say this as a lifelong beet avoider, who recently tried very hard to embrace them. I sought out beets of many colors. I welcomed organically grown golden beets from California and locally grown Baltimore County red beets into my kitchen. I experimented with cooking methods, steaming some in a water-filled dish in the oven, wrapping others in foil and roasting them.

Pat Arata from Mishawaka, Ind., was looking for a recipe she had lost for making crispy fried salmon patties that she thought was once printed on a can of Crisco. She said the patty puffed up a little when fried, which made her think the recipe likely contained baking powder or soda. Evelyn Bledsoe from Letart, W.Va., sent in a photocopy of the well-used recipe taken from a Crisco can many years ago that she thinks is the one Arata was searching for. The recipe has several hand-written notes on it. One says, "can add a small amount of mashed potatoes to the patties if desired.

Sous Vide Salmon 2 5-ounce boneless, skinless salmon fillets Olive oil Sea salt Fresh ground pepper 2 fresh thyme sprigs Season the salmon with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Place a fresh thyme sprig on each fillet. Place the fish inside a gallon-sized zipper freezer bag. (Non-freezer plastic bags will be too thin.) Space the fillets at least 1 inch apart and press as much air as possible out of the bag. Submerge all but the top of the still-unsealed bag in a heavy pot of cool water.

From: Central Coast, Calif. Price: $15 Serve with: Salmon, poultry This well-made chardonnay is widely distributed, fairly priced and avoids all the pitfalls California chardonnay so often falls into. It's crisp, clean and has good, bracing acidity - a sign of its cool-climate origins. There's a touch of vanilla from the oak, but it isn't over the top. It offers bold, assertive fruit with hints of pear, baked apple, lemon and spices. Chardonnay is far from my favorite white varietal, but sometimes you come cross one that hits just the right note.

Not being terribly "continental," we Americans tend to hit the supermarket once a week, rather than shopping for fresh stuff for dinner every day. Hence, the pantry. In your arsenal of fall-back foods to use for dinner when you can't get to the supermarket, there are undoubtedly a few cans of things designed to engender a quick family supper. Soups, undoubtedly. And tuna, most likely. Another goodie you might want to keep in stock is canned salmon. Canned pink or red salmon is even lower in calories than fresh salmon (less fat)

POACHED SALMON HAS A wonderful air of elegance on a buffet. It's every bit as elegant with smaller fillets for weeknight dinners, and makes an easy entertaining entree. This method of poaching is almost effortless. Its very gentle heat keeps the fish moist and succulent. It's equally good hot or cold. Menu Suggestion Steeped salmon with dill-caper sauce Cucumber spears Sliced tomatoes Fresh berries and melon Steeped Salmon With Dill-Caper Sauce 4 servings -- Total time: 30 minutes 2 cups water 1 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine, such as chardonnay 1 each: lemon, fresh dill branch 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns 4 fillets salmon, about 6 ounces each 1 tablespoon each: minced fresh dill, capers 1/2 cup regular or low-fat mayonnaise Heat the water and wine in a large, heavy skillet over high heat.

When Old Mill senior Michelle Salmon took the floor against Annapolis two weeks ago, she knew something that her coach, Pat Chance, didn't.It would be Salmon's last basketball game.Salmon, 17, a member of three consecutive Class 4A state championship teams, informed Chance at the next day's practice that she was leaving the squad to devote more time to playing soccer.She has been invited along with 21 other girls from across the country to participate in the U.S. Soccer organization's under-20 national training camp in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Salmon responds well to a range of cooking methods. Classical cookery often recommends poaching whole salmon but few cooks have the unwieldy fish poacher on hand. Fortunately, there are other options which favor the more convenient fillets and steaks.With its high oil content, salmon does very well on the grill. It cabe grilled plain or bathed in a marinade. The charcoal taste is enough of a flavor enhancement but a small amount of mesquite wood mixed in with the charcoal lends a nuance.Indoors, broiling, steaming, pan cooking, baking and microwavcooking all work well with salmon.

Old Mill senior Michelle Salmon qualified last week for the United States Youth Soccer Association's under-17 All-American girls soccer team.Salmon, who twice has been named Anne Arundel County's girls soccer Player of the Year during her four seasons at Old Mill, has been taking part in tryouts in Boca Raton, Fla. She was expected to arrive home yesterday, said her mother, Carol Salmon.Michelle also is in a pool with 23 other players from throughout the country vying for a spot on the Olympic Development Program's under-20 national traveling team.

Prince George's Circuit Judge James P. Salmon was appointed to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals yesterday by Gov. William Donald Schaefer.Judge Salmon, 54, who had been on the Circuit Court since 1988, fills the vacancy on Maryland's second-highest court created by the retirement earlier this month of Judge John J. Garrity.The new appellate judge, who lives in University Park, was formerly an associate and partner in the Upper Marlboro law firm of Sasscer, Clagett, Channing and Bucher.

Who's doing what for fall? We're taking a look at new fall menus around town. First up - Crush in Belvedere Square. Joining fall-ready house favorites like BLTs and the shrimp and grits, new entrees on executive chef and owner Daniel Chaustit's fall menu from Crush include seafood flatbread and salmon with butternut squash risotto.  A revamped dessert menu features a pecan tart, apple bread pudding and a pumpkin cheesecake. Also new for fall, Crush's lounge will open at 11:30 a.m. on Sundays for light fare and bar specials.

I'll tell you what annoys me: the supermarket that sells fresh salmon by the piece instead of by the pound. I uncovered this deception recently. The sign in the seafood case at my favorite supermarket said, "Salmon $4.49," and, of course, I assumed that was by the pound, because salmon has been sold that way ever since the Yupiks brought the first chinook to Fairbanks for sale to the Lower 48. But turns out, the salmon was being sold by the 6-ounce piece. That means three pieces of salmon, or 18 ounces, cost $13.47.

Germano's Trattoria is now Germano's. The name change, according to Cyd Wolf, brings two separately named operations, the trattoria and Germano's Cabaret, under one umbrella. The name change comes with the launch of new menu for the cabaret that will feature daily specials, at the request of cabaret regulars, Wolf said. On the new cabaret menu are big plates like osso buco, lasgana, grillled salmon fillet and linguini puttanesca as well as lighter fare like personal pizzas, hamburgers and salmon burgers.

NAME: Angus Earl of Havre de Grace OWNER: Bonnie and Darrell String HOW THEY MET: We visited a Bel Air golden retriever breeder. All of the puppies were carried upstairs in a laundry basket. AGE: 2 HOME: Havre de Grace BREED: Golden Retriever BEST TRICK: Angus turns on the TV by pushing the power button with his nose. FAVORITE ACTIVITY: Bounding into snowbanks to retrieve his Kong zinger toy and finding remote controls or telephones. FAVORITE FOOD: Angus loves grilled salmon skin with delectable bits of juicy salmon clinging to the skin.

Executive chef Joshua Vazquez reflects: Cooking is really a passion of mine and has been since my childhood. As a child, I grew up in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is truly a wonderful place because of the cultural mix that stems from its history. Growing up there really influenced me not only as a person, but also as a cook. The rich history created a nexus of Indian, European and African influences and flavors that all still inspire me today. These rich flavors and cooking styles, Ceviche for example, always provide a base I can look back to whenever I am in doubt about a dish.

While the en papillote ("in parchment") method of cooking might sound a little too fancy for tailgating, Mark Graham, in his Dinner Tonight column for the Chicago Tribune, has suggested that it's really nothing more than food wrapped in parchment paper and cooked. What may sound intimidating turns out to be a handy method for cooking at a tailgate or other outdoor party. The packets can be easily assembled at home and then grilled at the tailgate party. They travel well in a cooler of ice. Instead of parchment paper, which can be tricky for first-time users, his recipe uses foil for these salmon-and-veggie packets.

Old Mill High School sophomore Michelle Salmon recently made the under-16 girls soccer National Team Pool during tryouts at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.Salmon, named the Anne Arundel CountySun's girls soccer player of the year for the 1991 season, became one of eight girls from the Eastern region chosen to make the 32-playerpool. The 15-year-old Millersville resident, the only player selected from Maryland, notched a goal for the East in a 3-2 loss to the South team. Her team would go on to finish the round robin at 0-3."

To fully appreciate the value of sophomore forward Michelle Salmon to Old Mill's girls soccer team, one must look beyond her statistics.Rather, check out those of her teammates."

Not being terribly "continental," we Americans tend to hit the supermarket once a week, rather than shopping for fresh stuff for dinner every day. Hence, the pantry. In your arsenal of fall-back foods to use for dinner when you can't get to the supermarket, there are undoubtedly a few cans of things designed to engender a quick family supper. Soups, undoubtedly. And tuna, most likely. Another goodie you might want to keep in stock is canned salmon. Canned pink or red salmon is even lower in calories than fresh salmon (less fat)