Teriyaki

What it is -- A new low-calorie jerky by Oh Boy! Oberto What we like about it --Each piece of jerky is soft and has a subtle teriyaki flavor. These protein-rich, trans-fat-free, 100-calorie packs are also offered in original flavor beef jerky. What it costs --$1.99 for a 34-gram bag Where to buy --Available at grocery stores Per serving (1 package, 34 grams) --100 calories, 1.5 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 10 grams carbohydrate, 12 grams protein, 0 grams fiber, 35 milligrams cholesterol, 400 milligrams sodium

Every neighborhood in Baltimore seems to have at least one reliable spot for good Chinese food. But with its central location at Charles and 25th streets, and its hard-to-miss yellow-and-red signs, Yum's Asian Bistro feels like it belongs to the city as a whole — not just Lower Charles Village. And that's lucky for the city, considering the kitchen's proficiency with Chinese-American favorites, decent service and downright glamorous interior. Yum's chef and owner, Jerry Chen, trained in Hong Kong and previously owned sit-down Chinese restaurants in Washington and Charles County.

Gampy's must be the granddaddy of fun restaurants in the Baltimore area, the ones that are part singles bar and part trendy eatery. The name stands for Great American Melting Pot, with a "y" thrown in to make it sound even more fun.Campy's was one of the first restaurants around here to offer foods of different ethnic backgrounds, which was a pretty original concept when the place opened some 15 years ago. Nowadays, though, quesadillas and blackened fish...

The cheerful new Red Parrot Asian Cafe fits a lot of ambition into a small space. The restaurant, small enough to fit comfortably inside a typical Starbucks, serves an astonishing range of dishes, including sushi, stir-fries, Thai-style noodles, Japanese teriyaki and Malaysian grilled chicken. Poor:]

The cheerful new Red Parrot Asian Cafe fits a lot of ambition into a small space. The restaurant, small enough to fit comfortably inside a typical Starbucks, serves an astonishing range of dishes, including sushi, stir-fries, Thai-style noodles, Japanese teriyaki and Malaysian grilled chicken. Poor:]

Tasty sauces coat fillets of chicken Item: Easy Beginnings Chicken Breasts What you get: 4 servings Cost: About $5 Preparation time: 1 minute in microwave, 10 to 12 minutes in conventional oven Review: These chicken breast fillets are not exactly the "restaurant quality" advertised on the label (unless you frequent restaurants that serve chicken breasts that have been processed to include rib meat). Easy Beginnings fillets are handy nonetheless. Fully cooked and coated with tasty sauces, they heat quickly.

B J'S NORTHWhere: 75th Street and the bay, (410) 524-7575Hours: Dinner served daily 4 p.m. to midnightCredit cards: All major cardsA spectacular sunset fed our souls, and good food at B J's on the Water North fed our weary bodies.We should have known better than to venture into a popular Ocean City restaurant on a Saturday evening, but the incredible sunset was worth it.At first, we were dismayed by the cramped, loud interior dining room. During our lengthy wait for a table, we had time to discover the pleasant deck, and put in a request for a seat outside.

* Item: Green Giant frozen vegetables* What you get: 1 to 3 servings* Cost: About $1.75* Preparation time: 4 1/2 to 6 minutes in microwave, 13 to 15 minutes on stove top* Review: Green Giant has retooled old favorites and added new flavors to its extensive repertoire with great results. Among the new offerings in the easily recognized 10-ounce box are Southwestern Style Corn & Roasted Red Peppers and Teriyaki Vegetables. The corn includes julienne strips of roasted red and cooked green peppers in a very light tomato-based sauce that's a tad more elegant than the average corn medley.

Item: Louis Rich Carving Board Chicken Breast StripsWhat you get: 2 (3-ounce) servingsCost: About $3.40Preparation time: Use straight from packageReview: When you're tight on time, Louis Rich's cooked and seasoned chicken breast strips are a lifesaver. Although the package says rib meat is included, none of the meat we tried had that mushy, preformed flavor or, worse, gristle. It tasted just like chicken breasts you grill and season yourself. I tossed some of the Southwestern seasoned strips into a salad.

Philippa Sklaar's Hot Cuisine: Recipes to Excite (NDE Publishing, $24.95, 2003) is not just a cookbook. It's a bodice-ripper. The twice-divorced Los Angeles-based caterer sprinkles her book liberally with romantic adventures and misadventures, starring men with aliases like "Butterscotch," "Tabasco" and "Better Than Chocolate." Think recipe titles like Broccoli Has Its Way With Walnuts; and I Love You, I Want You Walnut Bread. "As my romances came and went, the only steady passion in my life was cooking," Sklaar writes.

What it is -- A new low-calorie jerky by Oh Boy! Oberto What we like about it --Each piece of jerky is soft and has a subtle teriyaki flavor. These protein-rich, trans-fat-free, 100-calorie packs are also offered in original flavor beef jerky. What it costs --$1.99 for a 34-gram bag Where to buy --Available at grocery stores Per serving (1 package, 34 grams) --100 calories, 1.5 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 10 grams carbohydrate, 12 grams protein, 0 grams fiber, 35 milligrams cholesterol, 400 milligrams sodium

People don't get sauced as much as they used to and that's a shame. For while today's focus on "natural" foods presented bare without adornment has its benefits (notably fewer calories), the sauces of old had their charms. Used judiciously, a sauce enhances flavor rather than hides it. And nothing needs a kick in the taste buds more these days than the beef, pork and chicken found in most supermarkets. Mass production and a ruthless focus on lean, leaner, leanest cuts has robbed so many of our old favorite meats of their flavor.

Philippa Sklaar's Hot Cuisine: Recipes to Excite (NDE Publishing, $24.95, 2003) is not just a cookbook. It's a bodice-ripper. The twice-divorced Los Angeles-based caterer sprinkles her book liberally with romantic adventures and misadventures, starring men with aliases like "Butterscotch," "Tabasco" and "Better Than Chocolate." Think recipe titles like Broccoli Has Its Way With Walnuts; and I Love You, I Want You Walnut Bread. "As my romances came and went, the only steady passion in my life was cooking," Sklaar writes.

You might feel as if you're walking into your grandmother's house as you enter the one-story, white clapboard building. There is a casual, country feel to the Country Kettle Cafe in Poplar Springs, but the food is anything but ordinary. Owners and chefs Jim and Amy Crooks opened their cozy western Howard County restaurant a little more than a year ago after spending years looking for the right location. They have years of cooking experience at restaurants in Montgomery County, where they grew up. The couple had dreamed of owning a restaurant for some time.

If you've never made a chicken sandwich from scratch because you don't want to cook more than you need for a two-person household, don't worry. You don't have to roast a whole chicken to get the meat for a delicious chicken sandwich. The equivalent of two chicken breast halves will yield enough chicken for satisfying sandwiches for two. And you don't even have to use bone-in chicken breast meat. You can pick up a package of thinly sliced chicken breast meat that cooks in less than 10 minutes.

Tasty sauces coat fillets of chicken Item: Easy Beginnings Chicken Breasts What you get: 4 servings Cost: About $5 Preparation time: 1 minute in microwave, 10 to 12 minutes in conventional oven Review: These chicken breast fillets are not exactly the "restaurant quality" advertised on the label (unless you frequent restaurants that serve chicken breasts that have been processed to include rib meat). Easy Beginnings fillets are handy nonetheless. Fully cooked and coated with tasty sauces, they heat quickly.

People don't get sauced as much as they used to and that's a shame. For while today's focus on "natural" foods presented bare without adornment has its benefits (notably fewer calories), the sauces of old had their charms. Used judiciously, a sauce enhances flavor rather than hides it. And nothing needs a kick in the taste buds more these days than the beef, pork and chicken found in most supermarkets. Mass production and a ruthless focus on lean, leaner, leanest cuts has robbed so many of our old favorite meats of their flavor.

The York InnWhere: 10010 York Road, Cockeysville.Hours: Open for lunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays; dinner 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; Sunday brunch 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.Credit Cards: AE, MC, V.Features: American and Continental cuisine.Call: 666-0006 Yes, it's there, right between the gas station and the Bedding Barn mattress outlet. "It," however, is not another tire outlet or burger joint, but a very nice restaurant, whose low-key good taste could very well get lost among the commercial tackiness of the York Road strip.

Item: Louis Rich Carving Board Chicken Breast StripsWhat you get: 2 (3-ounce) servingsCost: About $3.40Preparation time: Use straight from packageReview: When you're tight on time, Louis Rich's cooked and seasoned chicken breast strips are a lifesaver. Although the package says rib meat is included, none of the meat we tried had that mushy, preformed flavor or, worse, gristle. It tasted just like chicken breasts you grill and season yourself. I tossed some of the Southwestern seasoned strips into a salad.

When Beth Lamb of Seward, Pa., requested help in finding a recipe for chicken teriyaki, John Von der Haar of Havre de Grace responded with two recipes. He wrote:, "I think she wants recipe No. 2, which is our family favorite. It's copied from 'Frugal Gourmet Cooks With Wine,' by Jeff Smith. ... Happy to help." Our food tester, Laura Reiley, did indeed choose recipe No. 2.A spongecake using egg yolks was the request of Marie Vollbrecht of Truth or Consequences, N.M. Among the many recipes we received were two from Margaret Purcell of Cockeysville.