Salt And Pepper

Slow-cooked meals are a luxury in our fast-paced world. Yet you can still whip up a tasty stew by using quick- cooking meats and altering the cooking method. This veal and tomato stew captures the light, simple flavors of Tuscany. Using quick-cooking veal cutlets, the one-dish meal captures the flavors and textures of a stew without taking a lot of time. TUSCAN VEAL AND TOMATO STEW Makes 2 servings 1/4 cup flour 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary, divided use Salt and freshly ground black pepper 3/4 pound veal cutlets 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided use 1/2 pound red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces 1/2 small onion sliced ( 1/2 cup)

Cooking Rice With an Italian Accent By Father Giuseppe Orsini Cucina Romana By Sara Manuelli Interlink / 2006 / $20 This is a cookbook written by a native. Sara Manuelli takes us on a tour of Rome's nine districts, telling us the rich history of each. We stop at little-known restaurants, bakeries, markets and specialty shops, and we leave with their best recipes. From her home district of Campo de Fiori, we learn about simple, sustaining pastas and a rich ricotta-cheese cappuccino.

Veal can be a pricey item in the meat case, but occasionally you can find it on sale. For such a time, here's an easy pasta recipe that stretches a pound of veal to feed four. The tomato sauce mixes flavors from tangy capers and shredded basil. The dish is inspired by a recipe from In Three Easy Steps: Fabulous Food Without the Fuss, by chef Conrad Gallagher. Carol Mighton Haddix is food editor of the Chicago Tribune, which provided the recipe analysis. Linguine With Veal, Capers and Tomatoes Serves 4 -- Total time: 40 minutes 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 pound veal scaloppine, cut in strips 1/2 teaspoon salt (divided use)

When I tire of brats or other sausages on the grill, a whole chicken makes a great change. Usually a project for a weekend meal when I have more time, a chicken grilled indirectly and flavored with herbs or a marinade is delicious. But even as it's cooking, I'm thinking about the leftovers. Plenty of chicken will be left to be boned and used for another meal. This hash is born of such leftovers. Joe Gray writes for the Chicago Tribune, which supplied the recipe analysis. Menu Chicken-and-zucchini hash Leaf lettuce salad with avocado and olives Ice cream cones TIPS Don't have leftover chicken?

The heart of this salad is the meat, matched so well to the herb. Fresh oregano steers the flavor profile toward Mexico, and lots of avocado rounds out the richness so that no oil is needed in the vinaigrette. STEAK SALAD MAKES 4 SERVINGS 1 / 2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, chopped (or to taste) 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano 1 / 2 teaspoon ground cumin 1 pound skirt steak, at room temperature Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 3 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves 1 large bunch green onions, green part only, chopped 2 just-ripe Hass avocados, thinly sliced crosswise 1 / 2 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted Combine the lime juice, chipotle, garlic, oregano and cumin in a bowl and mix to blend.

In the hands of more than 100 potters and sculptors, a prosaic implement for dispensing prosaic seasonings has become the medium for a multitude of expressions. An Extravagance of "Salt & Pepper": Containers, Shakers, Concepts, the current show at Baltimore Clayworks, is an eclectic exercise in imagination that touches on, among many things, fairy tales, myth, war, natural disasters and whimsy. "An Extravagance of `Salt & Pepper': Containers, Shakers, Concepts" runs through June 4 at Baltimore Clayworks, 5707 Smith Ave. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays; noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Poaching fish in liquid is an age-old method that ensures moist, tender results. But chefs of late have been experimenting with poaching seafood in olive oil, claiming you get the same moist results but with the boost of flavor that comes from the oil. We tried the method with a salmon fillet. The key is low heat and slow cooking. The fillet came out moist throughout with an almost but not quite flaky texture. Any type of sturdy fish fillets or steaks may be cooked with this simple method.

No Jewish holiday presents a bigger challenge to the making of appealing cuisine than Passover. The eight-day holiday, which begins at sundown April 12, creates a formidable culinary task because of its dietary requirements. The Seder is a ritual meal that is incorporated into a traditional service performed in the home. The cook is faced with all of the preparations for the Seder, as well as figuring out how to cope with the limited number of ingredients that can be used to prepare this feast.

In her cookbook, The Good Egg, food writer Marie Simmons calls the plain two- to three-egg omelet the "fastest meal on earth." Yet a home cook might be daunted by the idea of creating a neatly folded, evenly cooked version before he's even had his coffee. Not to worry; omelets aren't as difficult as they look, says Richard Stuthmann, director of instruction at Baltimore International College. Because omelets are built for speed - they should take no more than a minute to cook - the key is to work quickly while the egg mixture is setting.

Slow cookers are a harried cook's answer to an "instant" dinner: Throw the ingredients in the pot in the morning, and by day's end, a full-cooked meal awaits. Don't try to adapt stove-top recipes to the slow cooker. During the long process, foods give off more liquid, and seasonings can disappear. LAMB SHANKS ON WHITE BEANS Makes 4 servings 1 (19-ounce) can white beans, drained and rinsed 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 4 carrots, cut in 1 / 4-inch slices 1 cup chopped onion 2 ribs celery, chopped 4 lamb shanks, about 3 pounds total 2 teaspoons dried tarragon 1 / 2 teaspoon salt 1 / 4 teaspoon black pepper 1 (28-ounce)