• Pork chops Liegoise
We follow up on last week's nostalgia session with another Belgian-inspired dish from another favorite 1970s cookbook.
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This hearty dinner, which Franey said he discovered in a restaurant outside Brussels whose owner and chef came from the city of Liège, features thick, juicy pork chops topped with a blend of Gruyère cheese and Dijon mustard.

The 1970s original enriched the cheese with a blend of heavy cream and an egg. I revised the recipe in a more healthy 2000s style by eliminating those ingredients and their associated calories, simply topping the pan-seared chops with a blend of cheese and mustard alone, leaving it in the pan just long enough to melt the cheese. It's still plenty tasty, and so quick in this version that Franey's trademark 60 minutes can be reduced to 30 or less.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves two)

2 thick pork chops, about 10-12 ounces (300-360g) each
Salt
Black pepper
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces (60g) Gruyére cheese
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

PROCEDURE:

1. Season the pork chops with salt and freshly ground black pepper; peel and smash the garlic cloves. Put the olive oil and the smashed garlic cloves in a heavy black-iron skillet over high heat until the oil sizzles. Put in the pork chops, sear on each side, then reduce heat to medium and cook, turning occasionally, until they're nearly done, about 10 to 15 minutes depending on thickness. (If you check with a food thermometer - always a good idea - a temperature of 150F [65C] at the center close to the bone is ample for safety.)

2. While the chops are cooking, grate the cheese and mix it with the mustard.

3. When the chops are almost done, smear the grated cheese and mustard mixture on top of each. Reduce heat to low, cover the skillet and leave it just until the cheese is melted.

WINE MATCH: A fruity red or a richer-style white will work equally well with this dish. We paired it with the Mas de Gourgonnier 2005 Les Baux de Provence featured in yesterday's 30 Second Wine Advisor.

• Carbonnades a la Flamande
Some of the familiar classics of a generation ago are good enough to deserve a place in our modern recipe files. Here's one.
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But some of the familiar classics of a generation ago are good enough to deserve a place in our modern recipe files. The other night, for instance, looking for something hearty to warm a chilly early spring evening, I thought of Carbonnades a la Flamande, a Belgian beef-and-beer stew so popular in an earlier era that versions of it appeared in both Julia Child's Mastering The Art Of French Cooking and Craig Claiborne's New York Times Cookbook.

Checking the archives for both versions, I found Claiborne's version more akin to my recollection, and easy enough to put together. Preparation time is brief, although quiet patience is required while it cooks: With tougher braising cuts of beef, an hour's slow simmer is good and two hours is better, so plan to start this one well before dinner.

I stayed fairly close to Claiborne's original recipe, although I substituted good-quality olive oil for the generic "salad oil" called for in the New York Times Cookbook, copyright 1961.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves two)

1 medium onion, enough to make about 1 cup chopped
1-2 cloves garlic
1 pound (480g) stewing beef
2 tablespoons (30g) all-purpose flour
Salt
Black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 12-ounce bottle good-quality beer
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or 1/2 teaspoon fresh

PROCEDURE:

1. Peel and chop the onion; peel the garlic and mince it fine. If the beef is not already cut up, cut it into 1-inch cubes. Don't try to "improve" the dish by using tenderloin or a good steak here; you want chuck or a similar braising cut with plenty of flavor that will stand up to long cooking.

2. Put the flour in a bowl and season it to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put in the cubes of beef and toss and stir them until they're well coated with seasoned flour. Remove the meat to a clean plate, knocking off any excess flour.

3. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet and saute the onions and garlic over high heat until they're soft and starting to brown. Remove the onions and garlic to a bowl and put in the dredged beef, adding a little more olive oil if needed. Brown the meat on all sides, then return the cooked onions and garlic to the skillet.

4. Pour in the beer. A good Belgian ale like Chimay, Leffe or Duvel is best; I'd avoid dark beers or very hoppy ales, which would bring unexpected flavors to the dish. Put in the bay leaf and thyme.

5. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover the skillet and simmer over very low heat for one to two hours or until the meat is very tender. Check seasoning, add salt and pepper if necessary, and serve with crusty bread or potatoes.

WINE MATCH: This dish will work with any fruity red wine - it was fine with the Domaine André Brunel 2005 Vin de Pays de Vaucluse Grenache featured in Monday's 30 Second Wine Advisor - but it really works best with good beer, ideally the same beer you used to cook it with.

• Pork chops with pineapple chutney
A savory mix of fruit, onions and curry-style spices makes a great accompaniment to smoked pork or ham.
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Still, millions of happy diners can't all be wrong, and the use of fruit as a flavor accent and contrast with meat, poultry or fish is a custom enshrined in culinary tradition, from sole Veronique (with grapes) to Moroccan beef and prune tagine.

The key, as it is with so many things, is balance. If the flavors of fruit drown out the meat, or if cloying sweetness dominates the dish, then I'll pass, thank you. But keep the flavors in perspective and stay on the savory side, perhaps adding a tart acidic flavor element to balance the sweetness, and the formula works.

Faced with a brace of smoked pork chops and a fresh pineapple the other day, I came up with the idea of using pineapple in a simple, savory, chutney-style sauce with no additional sweetening. Smoked pork has a ham-like flavor, and ham and pineapple are natural companions. Add a squirt of lemon juice to further control any sweetness, and you've got a nicely balanced dish in which the fruit doesn't fight the meat. It would work well, too, with a slice of ham; you could substitute an unsmoked pork chop or even a veal chop, although I think I might tweak some of the spices and other flavors if I went that route.

Here's the recipe. It's quick and simple. If you try it, or come up with a variation, I hope you'll let me know how it goes.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves two)

1/2 of a medium sweet onion, enough to make 1/2 cup (120g) chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 slice pineapple (preferably fresh)
Juice of one Meyer lemon, about 1/4 cup
2 tablespoons (30ml) olive oil
2 thick or 4 thin smoked pork chops
Salt
Pepper
Dried red-pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon (3g) Madras curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

PROCEDURE:

1. Peel and chop the onion; peel the garlic and mince it fine. Cut the pineapple in small dice. Squeeze the lemon. (If you can't find Meyer lemons, try a blend of 3 parts lemon juice and 1 part orange juice.)

2. Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and cook them quickly; it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to cook a thin chop, a little longer for a thin one. Remove them from the skillet and keep them warm.

3. In the same skillet, saute the onions and garlic, adding a little more olive oil (or even just a splash of water) if needed. Season to taste with salt, pepper and a small shake of dried red-pepper flakes.

4. When the onions and garlic are well browned, stir in the diced pineapple, lemon juice, curry powder and cumin. Cook just to warm through, then put the pork chops back in the skillet. Turn them once or twice, and serve.

WINE MATCH: A rich, perhaps off-dry white would be perfect: Think Riesling or Chenin Blanc, or maybe a Chardonnay with a "tropical fruit" flavor profile.

• Omelet, frittata, tortilla
Three Latin cuisines offer three similar-only-different approaches to the simple egg. I like them all.
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But make mine scrambled, poached, fried up or over easy, soft-boiled or hard-boiled; devil 'em or bake 'em, I don't much care. And if you add in a little dairy - butter, cheese and cream are the egg's natural companions in my book - and I'm there, be eagerly waiting with knife and fork.

I've always found it intriguing that just about every Latin culture has its own variation on a classic dish that turns the humble egg into a main course, equally well-suited for brunch, lunch or even a light dinner. In France it's the omelet; Italy has the frittata, and in Spain it's the hearty tortilla, not to be confused with the familiar Mexican flatbread.

Looking back over the FoodLetter archives, I see that I've preached the gospel of all three variations: Spanish tortilla (June 24, 2004); Mastering the omelet (Feb. 6, 2003), and Oven-baked frittata (March 1, 2002).

What's the difference? A casual observer might simply call them all "omelet" and be done with it. After all, all three dishes involve eggs heated in a shallow pan until they come together into a steaming, creamy and custardy mix, and usually filled, topped or stuffed with compatible ingredients that generally include onions and garlic, usually cheese, and on to peppers, potatoes or just about anything you've got in the pantry. Meat, poultry or seafood often show up at the party, and there's nothing wrong with that, although if you're in a vegetarian mood, a frittata, tortilla or omelet loaded with veggies can make a mighty fine meatless meal.

All three dishes offer variations of technique and style, but I would distinguish among them this way: A French omelet is light and very fast. The traditional methond involves putting the eggs into a very hot pan, stirring and cooking quickly until it forms a light and relatively fluffy round. Put down your filling on one side, flip the omelet on a plate so it folds over the ingredients, and you're ready to eat.

Both the Italian frittata and the Spanish tortilla use similar ingredients and procedure. They're usually much thicker than an omelet, and cook slowly and gently on the stovetop with the ingredients mixed in, taking 15 or 20 minutes to finish, in contrast with the quick-cooking omelet that needs only a minute or two.

In my experience, although individual cooks vary in technique, the tortilla is usually cooked entirely on the stovetop, either flipped over toward the end of cooking to brown the top side, or left alone until it's cooked through. A frittata may be cooked in the same way, but is often popped into a hot ovenor under a broiler to finish the top.

I probably make eight or 10 omelets for every frittata or tortilla that I fashion, partly because I love their light, fresh style and partly, frankly, because they're fast. But there's a lot to love about the Italian and Spanish options, especially when you're having it as your main dinner dish.

A classic Spanish tortilla almost always includes thin-sliced potatoes, which add a delightful flavor and textural element that goes very well with the custardy egg. It takes time, though, and both the blessing and the curse of the traditional method is that you start by cooking the potatoes in a scary amount of olive oil.

The other night, in the mood for a tortilla but not for the calories, it occurred to me to use the traditional tortilla ingredients but to make it as a frittata, parboiling the potatoes rather than frying them. I did use a bit of olive oil for a quick saute to keep the flavor in the dish, but was able to cut the amount way back. Here's how mine went. If you try it, I hope you'll check in to our ">FoodLovers Discussion Group forum to let us know how it worked for you.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves two)

2 to 4 small boiling potatoes (new potatoes)
1/2 medium sweet onion, enough to make 1/2 cup (120g)
2 cloves garlic
4 ounces (120g) cooked ham
4 large fresh eggs
Salt
Black pepper
Hot sauce
2 tablespoons (30ml) olive oil

PROCEDURE:

1. Wash the potatoes and peel them (or not, depending on your taste), cut them in half and cut each half into thin, half-moon-shaped slices. Keep them in a bowl of warm water so they won't turn brown.

2. Parboil the potatoes, giving them a couple of minutes in a saucepan full of boiling, salted water. If you sliced them thin, it should take only a minute or two. Drain them in a colander and set aside.

3. Peel and chop the onion; peel the garlic and mince it fine. Cut the ham into small dice.

4. Break the eggs into a bowl. (I think it's well worth the effort and cost to locate locally produced free-range eggs; extra credit if the vendor marks the carton with the date the eggs were laid.) Season the eggs to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and add a tiny drop of hot sauce of your choice.

5. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan, omelet pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the chopped onions and garlic until they're translucent and starting to brown. Then put in the eggs, stir once or twice, and add the potatoes and ham. Stir gently to make sure the ingredients are well mixed, then reduce heat to low.

6. Cook, occasionally shaking the pan gently and slipping a fork or spatula beneath the egg mixture to ensure that it doesn't stick. In about 15 minutes, you'll see that the dish is becoming custardlike. At this point you can let it go for another five minutes to cook through from the bottom; or, if you prefer, carefully cover the pan with a plate and, holding it tightly, flip it over; then slide the eggs back into the pan with the side that had been the top facing down, and cook for a few moments more. Cut into wedges (a pizza cutter works nicely for this) and serve.

WINE MATCH: Egg dishes usually make me think of a crisp, dry white wine, or if there's plenty of dairy (butter, cheese, cream) in the dish, a fuller-bodied Chardonnay or similar rich white. In this instance, though, I thought the ham and browned onions would bring it up to meet a fruity red, and a Southern Rhone favorite, Domaine Oratoire St. Martin 2005 Côtes du Rhône, nicely filled the bill.

• Quick jambalaya
This alternative approach to an old Cajun favorite musters leftovers including previously cooked rice in a quick-and-easy variation.
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When I returned from a little time off recently, I found myself craving simple, natural fare and, somewhat to my surprise, almost desperate for seafood.

A quick trip out to a favorite sushi bar provided quick relief, and as I got back into the kitchen, I found myself making a disproportionate amount of simply prepared shrimp, scallops and fish, pan-seared in olive oil and finished with butter and lemon over pasta or rice.

Simple, delicious pleasures, but not much to write about there. Ditto for a brace of medium-rare, locally produced natural rib eye steaks, called into service when the desire for a good red wine became too much to resist.

I knew my appetite was fully restored, though, when I heard a Louisiana favorite, jambalaya, calling my name. Spicy and hearty, jambalaya has played a repertory role in these columns, as I've featured it at least twice in Jambalaya (July 17, 2003) and Jambalaya Revisited (Nov. 18, 2004).

Those were traditional preparations, though, with Acadian aromatics and meat, poultry or seafood ingredients simmered with uncooked rice so all the flavors come together and permeate every grain in a preparation that you might call Cajun pilaf.

Here's an alternative version that I made in a hurry from leftovers, including a ration of previously cooked rice. I was a little dubious about this approach, fearing that running the cooked rice through another turn in the skillet might yield a gummy, overdone paste. With reasonable care to keep the heat gentle and limit cooking time, things worked out fine. Any time you've got extra rice around, this quick jambalaya comes close to authenticity with modest time and effort. I used Italian sausage as the meat component, but it would work as well with diced ham, boneless chicken bits, shrimp or crawfish.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves two)

2-3 cloves garlic
Red onion, enough to make 1/2 cup (120g) chopped
Celery, enough to make 1/2 cup chopped
Green bell pepper, enough to make 1/2 cup chopped
2 links mild Italian sausage, about 8 ounces (240g) or other meat, poultry or fish as above
Bay leaf
Dried red-pepper flakes
1 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons hot sauce or to taste
1 cup cooked white rice
1/2 cup chicken broth
Salt
Black pepper

PROCEDURE:

1. Peel and mince the garlic. Peel and chop the onion, celery and green pepper.

2. Cut the sausages into rounds and cook them over medium-high heat in a heavy skillet (you shouldn't need any additional fat) until they are browned and cooked through. Remove the cooked sausage to drain on paper towels, and discard most of the fat.

3. Leave a tablespoon or two of the sausage fat in the skillet with any browned bits and brown the garlic, onion, celery in it with the bay leaf and a discreet shake of dried red-pepper flakes.

4. When the aromatic vegetables are browned, reduce heat to medium-low and stir in the tomato sauce and about half of the hot sauce. Heat through, then stir in the cooked rice and about one-half of the chicken broth. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. A few minutes before serving, return the cooked sausages to the mix, adding a little more of the chicken broth if needed. Season to taste with salt, black pepper and additional hot sauce, if necessary.

5. Serve with a salad or green vegetable and pass more hot sauce for those who want it.

WINE MATCH: I held back on the hot sauce a little in hope of facilitating a wine match, but it was a bit much even for a fine Italian-style red from a favorite Central Coast California producer, Mosby Vineyards. A good quality beer would be an excellent, quenching alternative here.

• Turkey pot-pie stew
Winter is waning, but it's not over yet. Here's an easy, warming variation on a comfort-food tradition.
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One of the most consoling winter dishes I can think of is turkey (or chicken) pot pie, a comforting blend of poultry meat and vegetables in a smooth, thick sauce, encased in a pastry shell and baked until it's all steaming.

I'm not much for pastry in home cooking, though. Too much work, too many calories. But the other night, faced with another chilly evening, a leftover roast turkey thigh in the fridge and not much else, I suddenly had an idea: Why not make a turkey pot pie without the pie? All the goodies, hold the crust ... and dollop it over a pile of steaming white rice instead.

Without pastry, and using already cooked poultry, pot pie suddenly becomes easy: Saute onions and garlic, add vegetables and the meat, cook briefly in a little broth, thicken and serve. Just as simple as that, and dinner was on the table in 45 minutes. Here's how it went.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves two)

1 medium sweet onion
2 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
10-12 ounces leftover turkey (or chicken)
Salt
Black pepper
1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen
1 1/2 cups turkey broth or chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons arrowroot (preferred) or cornstarch for thickening

PROCEDURE:

1. Peel and chop the onions, peel and mince the garlic. Slice the celery, peel and slice the carrots. Cut leftover turkey meat into bite-size cubes.

2. Put the onions and garlic in the olive oil over medium-high heat and saute until they're translucent but not brown. Stir in the carrots and celery, season to taste with salt and pepper, and continue sauteing briefly until warmed through; reduce heat to low and cover the pan. Cook covered for about five minutes or until the carrots and celery are softening a bit but still crisp.

3. Add the turkey cubes, the peas, and the broth and tomato paste. Simmer, covered, for 15 or 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender but not falling apart. Add the ground cumin, taste and correct seasoning if necessary.

4. Make a slurry with the arrowroot or cornstarch and water, and stir it in over low heat, a little at a time, until the liquid in the pan thickens slightly. Serve over steaming white rice or, if you prefer, boiled new potatoes or mashed potatoes.

WINE MATCH: Just about any crisp to medium-bodied white wine of your liking should work well with this wine-friendly dish. It was excellent with Vicentini 2005 "Terre Lunghe" Soave, a richer style Soave endowed with fresh tropical fruit and citrus flavors.

• Juicing up burgers
The humble hamburger gets a flavor boost in a couple of offbeat preparations I've tried recently.
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I swore off cheap supermarket ground beef years ago, right after noticing that the fat it exuded in the frlying pan was a fluorescent orange color not found in nature.

Fortunately, we live in an era when quality, locally produced meats and produce are becoming increasingly available. Access to fine, natural, hormone-free local product has put ground beef back in my diet, with nary a trace of orange fat in sight.

I recently picked up a stash of fresh ground beef from Green River Cattle Co. of Greensburg, Ky., and it inspired me to think outside the burger bun to come up with a couple of dinner dishes in which, to my taste, burgers came mighty close to the satisfaction level I would expect of a steak.

Both preps followed similar roads to different destinations: In both cases, I infused bite-size mini-burgers with aromatic flavors. One recipe got a distinct Italian accent with green peppers and onions; the other curried favor with Indian spices.

The Italian-style burgers were almost too simple to need a formal recipe: I seasoned 12 ounces (360g) good ground beef with salt and pepper and plenty of chopped garlic, then formed them into a dozen small burgers, taking care not to over-handle the beef. I made a judgment call to use neither a bread crumb filler nor egg binder in order to take advantage of the good, simple beef. I quickly sauteed sliced sweet onion and green pepper in a little olive oil, then put in the burgers, seared them on both sides - these undersize bites don't take more than a minute or two to cook to medium rare - and finished off the job with a splash of beef broth and tomato paste in the pan, cooking it down to a thick glaze. Served on small ciabatta buns, it made a delicious burger with an Italian touch, and a fine match with an Argentine Malbec.

The Indian version, a simple variation on South Asian kofta, went like this:

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves two)

2 cloves garlic
1/2-inch length fresh ginger
1 medium sweet onion
12 ounces (360g) good quality lean ground beef
Salt
Black pepper
Dried red-pepper flakes
2 tablespoons (30ml) peanut oil
1 teaspoon (5ml) Madras curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 ounces beef broth
2 ounces yogurt

PROCEDURE:

1. Peel the garlic and the ginger and mince them very fine. Peel the onion and cut it in half, then cut each half vertically into thin slices.

2. Put the ground beef in a bowl, season with salt, black pepper and dried red-pepper flakes to taste, and gently stir in the minced ginger and garlic. Gently form the beef into 12 to 16 small patties, or if you prefer, pat it out into a fairly thin rectangle and cut the meat into 1-inch squares. (The latter approach amused me because it turned the beef into a tongue-in-cheek imitation of White Castle or Krystal burgers.)

3. In a large skillet, heat the peanut oil to sizzling, then saute the sliced onions until they're well browned. Take off heat and remove them to a bowl, seasoning them with the curry powder and cumin.

4. In the same skillet, sear the mini-burgers on both sides, just a minute or two on each side. Put the seasoned browned onions back in the pan, add the beef broth, and bring the liquid back to a simmer. Stir in the yogurt, remove from heat and serve with steaming white rice and hot sauce for seasoning at the table.

WINE MATCH: An earthy Malbec went nicely with this dish; if you make it on the spicy side, though, I would go with a Riesling or good but affordable bubbly such as a Prosecco or Spanish Cava.

• Double asparagus risotto
This unusual risotto approach intensifies the asparagus flavor by using the same veggie to produce the cooking liquid, a bright puree and the tender tips as garnish.
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Wrapped up in this short-change package, though, is an interesting risotto tip that I came up with the other day, one that intensifies the flavor of a vegetable main player by essentially doubling its presence, using part of it as an ingredient and more of it pureed in a sauce.

The beneficiary of this treatment in today's report was a bunch of fresh, pencil-thin asparagus, a veggie that will be taking center stage again soon as spring approaches in the Northern Hemisphere. (Please hurry!) It could work very well, though, with other green-vegetable risotto bases such as fresh spinach or green peas.

I'll refer you back to my recent (Jan. 3, 2008) dissertation on veggie risotto,
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor2/food/tsfl20080103.php
for the basic risotto procedure.

Simply explained, it's a matter of sauteeing aromatics and then briefly parching rice, then stirring in liquid, a little at a time, stirring constantly and adding more liquid as needed, until the rice turns al dente tender and develops a beautiful creamy texture. The primary flavor ingredient, which could be vegetables, meat, seafood or cheese, is added during the process, varying depending on its cooking time.

(Italian Arborio or similar medium-grain rice varieties are strongly recommended, as standard long-grain rice, by its nature, won't turn creamy even if you cook it into porridge.)

Here's how today's asparagus rendition is different: The flavor of asparagus is concentrated by bring it to the recipe in three forms, and not a drop of flavor is poured out in cooking water or otherwise goes down the drain.

First, I simmered the asparagus briefly in very lightly salted water with a little garlic and fresh ginger and lemon juice to add aroma. As soon as the asparagus was crisp-tender, I lifted it out, retaining the flavorful green water (extended with more fresh water) to use as the risotto liquid.

Second, I divided the asparagus, reserving the tips and tender ends to add at the end of cooking.

Third, I used a blender to buzz the lower ends of the asparagus spears into a bright green puree, which I would stir in to the simmering rice toward the end of cooking.

Made with an othersise standard risotto procedure, the result was a risotto full of intense asparagus flavor imparted by the broth, the puree and the crisp-tender tips, all three. A dab of butter and a good spoonful of freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese to finish it off, and we had a simple vegetarian dinner so rich in flavor that there was no need for meat. And it went delightfully with a modest but flavorful white Burgundy, Domaine Alain Normand 2005 Macon La Roche Vineuse.

As I said, time constraints prevent me from presenting a full step-by-step ingredient list and procedure this week. If you're an experienced risotto maker, I think you'll find it easy to wing it based on the information I've provided. If you would like to give a try but need a little more support, I've posted this article in our FoodLovers Discussion Group, where you can post questions about it in our friendly online community:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14199

• Perfect biscuits
What could make a better breakfast on a chilly winter morning than a few steaming hot biscuits slathered with fresh butter?
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As I generally do when the focus of this weekly sermon turns to baking, pastries and such, I consulted my bride and resident baking expert, who's been making great biscuits for a long time but nevertheless keeps on searching for ways to bring the next batch even closer to perfection than the last.

This morning's results may have been her best yet: Tall and light, delicate in flavor and feather-light in texture, they almost floated up from our plates to bounce around on the ceiling.

A combination of concepts from an old family recipe, some tips from Alton Brown on Food Network's Good Eats and sheer intuition, this procedure may strike biscuit traditionalists as non-intuitive: It uses regular milk (and 2% at that), not buttermilk; a combination of baking powder and baking soda, and a half-and-half blend of both vegetable shortening and butter.

The result, however, spoke for itself, and I'd put these beauties up against the best Southern roadfood biscuits I've ever had, at country inn or truck stop.

Before we get down to the details, a few tips from the biscuit queen:

• Soft wheat flour makes the best biscuits, and most Southern cooks swear by the White Lily brand. Other quality brands are fine - I'm sure my usual favorite for breads, King Arthur, would work, but don't use high-protein, hard-wheat bread flour, which would be like using a hammer for a job that calls for pliers.

• It is very important to measure baking powder, baking soda and salt accurately in this and all biscuit recipes. More is not better in biscuits, as even a small excess can impart weird chemical flavors.

• Shortening is key to biscuits quality. The butter-and-Crisco combination here has just a slightly higher fat-to-flour recipe than most, but even this small increment seems to help the biscuits fluff up to tender, crumbly delicacy. (Yes, we know that classic Crisco, like many shortenings that remain soft at room temperature, contains trans fat, a scare du jour. We're trying to avoid them, too, but I'm hoping that a small amount in an occasional treat won't kill us. If you're still nervous, look for new zero-trans-fat shortenings ... and please let me know how it works out for you.)

INGREDIENTS:

(Makes eight to 10 biscuits)

2 cups (480g) all-purpose soft wheat flour
3 teaspoons (15g) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teastpoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
1/4 to 1/2 cup whole milk or 2% milk

PROCEDURE:

1. Preheat oven to 450F (230C).

2. Measure the flour into a bowl. Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt, taking care to measure the amounts precisely. Stir to combine.

3. Cut the butter and shortening into pea-size pieces and sprinkle over the dry ingredients. Then, using your fingers, gently work the shortening into the flour mixture - much like making pie crust - until the combined result resembles a pile of soft grains of rice.

4. Then add the milk, a little at a time. Use only as much milk as needed to bring the flour and shortening together in a soft dough. Stir gently, using a large rubber spatula, to combine the wet and dry ingredients; take care not to over-work the dough.

5. As soon as the dough has reached such a consistency that you can form it, use the spatula to scrape it into a ball-like round and turn it onto a floured dish towel on your work surface. Pat it out to about 1/2 inch thickness, and cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter (or a thoroughly cleaned soup can with both ends cut out). If you're feeling lazy, simply cut the dough into squares; the result will taste just as good. After you've cut as many rounds as you can, gently form the leftover scraps of dough into a roughly circular "cook's biscuit."

6. Place the biscuits close together on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 14 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned.

Serve them as you like them, topped with butter or honey or molasses, a round of sausage or a few slices of bacon, a fried egg or even, if you must, milk gravy. If you're looking for a wine match this week, you're on your own!

• Lighten up, old fella
Some of my favorite cookbooks date back to the 1970s, when we sure used a lot of eggs, butter and cream! Here's a lighter version of a favorite Pierre Franey pork chop dish of the era.
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I've still got quite a few favorite cookbooks left over from those days - Julia Child and James Beard, of course; Marcella Hazan for Italian and Julie Sahni for Indian and so many more. Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey of the New York Times were favorites; and Franey's "60 Minute Gourmet" and its sequels - French meals that could be done in an hour - probably influenced my own techniques more than any other. Since I mastered Franey's simple premises, I've rarely if ever spent more than an hour on dinner again.

It's mind-boggling to realize that I've had my falling-apart copy of Franey's first book since it was published in 1979, almost 30 years ago. Time flies while you're having fun, they say, and also perhaps when you're gaining weight.

And therein lies the moral of today's sermon: When I started cooking out of those books back then, did I really use all those eggs, butter and cream? Times have changed in many ways, and so have recipes. Indeed, when Marcella Hazan, now an active octogenarian, published "Marcella Says" in 2004, a full 31 years after her first book, "The Classic Italian Cookbook," she cut way back on cream and butter ... and her recipes were just as good as ever.

When I go back to one of my golden oldies, I find that I can routinely reduce fats to make a healthier, and often a simpler, dish without seriously compromising flavor. (On the other side of this coin, fats taste great, and one primary key to memorable restaurant cooking is simply using pure cream and fresh butter and eggs in quantities that would horrify unsuspecting diners if they knew. This is your call, but for me, if I did that every night I could paint myself silver and go to a costume party as the Goodyear Blimp.)

As a simple example, I've recently experimented a couple of times with Franey's Côtes de Porc Ligègeoise - pork chops in the fashion of Liège, Belgium. Sauteed, garlicky pork chops are draped with a blanket of melted Gruyère cheese and mustards and served sizzling. If this preparation sounds more Burgundian than Belgian, there's a reason for that: In the late 15th century, Liège was subject to Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy and the French kings.

This lighter version eliminates an egg yolk, uses whole milk in place of heavy cream, and simplifies several steps - it's all done in a heavy skillet, skipping a wine deglaze and a run under the broiler, bringing Franey's 60 minute procedure down to just 30 or so.

As always, I urge you to avoid industrial pork if at all possible. Naturally raised "pasture pork" without additives or moistening slime is available in most metro areas now, and it's well worth seeking out even at a premium price.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves two)

2 pork loin chops, about 1 inch thick and 8-10 ounces (240-300g) each.
Salt
Black pepper
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon (30ml) olive oil
2 ounces Gruyère cheese, enough to make 1/2 cup (120g) when grated and loosely packed
2 tablespoons (30g) seeded Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon (5g) Colman's dry mustard
1 tablespoon whole milk
Dash hot sauce

PROCEDURE:

1. Take the pork chops out of the refrigerator a little ahead of time. Season them lightly with salt and pepper on both sides and leave them on a plate for a half-hour or so before cooking.

2. Peel the garlic cloves and smash them with the side of a chef's knife. Put them with the olive oil in a heavy skillet (black iron is best) large enough to hold both pork chops in one layer and place it over high heat until the garlic sizzles and becomes aromatic.

3. Put in the pork chops and cook uncovered over high heat, turning them occasionally, until they're well browned on both sides, about 10 minutes. Cover the pan and reduce heat to medium-low and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the chops are just done but still juicy. You want to cook them through to the bone - authorities recommend an internal temperature of 160F (70C), although this includes a bit of a safety margin. A rosy pink center is entirely safe as long as the juices run clear.

4. While the chops are browning (or, if you prefer, do this in advance), grate the cheese, put it in a small bowl, and mix it with the mustards, milk and hot sauce to taste. Stir well, then form the cheese mix into two golf-ball size rounds; flatten each gently into a thick disk.

5. About five minutes before the pork chops are done, lift the lid and place one round of the cheese mixture on top of each chop. Re-cover and allow to cook gently until the cheese melts just enough to spread out and cover the chops. Remove immediately to warmed plates and serve; plate with a bit of the accumulated pan juices if you like.

WINE MATCH: I've made variations on this twice recently, once with the obvious choice, a decent if modest Burgundy, Frederic Mugnien's 2005 Bourgogne Pinot Noir, and another time with a perennial favorite, Mas de Gourgonnier 2005 Les Baux en Provence. In both cases, the intense but balanced Old World fruit and earth over crisp acidity and soft tannins made an excellent match. Alternatively, this Belgian heritage dish would make a great match with one of the hundreds of excellent beers of Belgium, perhaps a tangy, potent Abbey ale.

• Spaghetti alla carbonara
This favorite Italian dish brings the breakfast flavors of bacon and eggs to the dinner table, and it works just fine, if not authentically, with the adaptation of American smoky bacon.
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I also tend to be a bit of a snob for authenticity, and I'm plenty irritated by the recent tendency to use "Tuscan" as a trendy catch-all term for just about anything Italian that doesn't have red sauce on it, and for some things that do.

But one favorite Italian dish works just fine, for my tastes, with a distinctly American adaptation. Today, let's talk about spaghetti alla carbonara, a quick and delicious mix of hot pasta, crispy bacon and a very simple sauce of fresh eggs and grated cheese that quickly cooks upon exposure to the heat of pasta just out of the pot.

"Alla Carbonara" translates as "charcoal-maker's style," an apparent reference to 19th century workers who toiled in the woods, tending the long, slow fires that converted hardwood into charcoal for cooking and heat. This simple dish was hearty yet quick and easy to make with ingredients that the workers could bring from home and hold for lunch.

In Italy, "bacon" means pancetta, a delicious concoction of cured, salted and often peppered pork belly that looks like American bacon but is never smoked. You can make a great carbonara with pancetta, and it will be authentic.

But listen close, and I'll tell you a secret: I like my carbonara even better with the distinctly smoky flavor of American bacon. There. I've said it. It's inauthentic, and I don't care. Smoky bacon and eggs rank high among American comfort-food dishes, and dressing my spaghetti with these tasty treats brings breakfast flavors to the dinner table. I've got no problem with that, no problem at all.

Here's my usual recipe, which can be made with smoky bacon or pancetta as you wish. It's so quick and easy that you can just about pull together all its parts during the time it takes your pasta to cook.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves two)

3-4 strips American smoky bacon or 2 ounces Italian pancetta
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon (15ml) olive oil
4-6 ounces (120-180g) spaghetti
1/4 cup (60g) grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Black pepper
Nutmeg
2 eggs, preferably freshest possible free-range
2 tablespoons heavy cream

PROCEDURE:

1. Cut the bacon or pancetta into thin strips. Peel and smash the garlic cloves. Brown the garlic over medium-high heat in a skillet or saute pan; discard it, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook the bacon until it's crisp. Remove from heat; leave the bacon in the pan, but spoon off all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and, when it comes to a full boil, cook the spaghetti until al dente, typically 7 to 10 minutes depending on thickness.

3. While the spaghetti cooks (or do this in advance if you don't like working under pressure), grate the cheese, put it in a small bowl, and season it with freshly grated black pepper and nutmeg. Break the eggs into a cup, add the heavy cream, stir in the grated cheese mixture and whip it gently with a fork until all the ingredients are mixed.

4. Just before the spaghetti is done, spoon 2 or 3 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water into the egg mixture, stirring briefly. Reheat the pan containing the cooked bacon and remaining fat. Quickly drain the pasta in a big strainer or colander, then put it in the skillet with the bacon and fat, reducing heat to very low. Pour in the egg mixture and toss with two spoons until every strand is coated and the egg mixture barely cooks. Don't overcook; it's better creamy than dry.

WINE MATCH: The dairy flavors pretty much call for a white, and the smoky bacon suggests a richer-styled white. It was fine with a modestly priced, textured blend of Carignan Blanc and Vermentino from Southwestern France, Domaine du Poujol 2006 "Pico" Vin de Pays de l'Heurault.

• Fish en papillote
From France through New Orleans, this simple, healthy cooking method is worth a try ... even if you substitute foil for the traditional parchment envelope.
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As time went by, though, the network shed one more serious cooking show after another. I wish I didn't have to use terms like "dumbed down," but it's hard not to notice that a lot of the network's programs and personalities seem to be recruited from "American Idol." No thanks, not for me.

But as long as Food Network keeps on broadcasting Alton Brown's "Good Eats," it won't lose me entirely. Of all the programs on cable television's 500 channels with nothing much to watch, this is the one show that I faithfully record, to make sure I don't miss an episode.

As I wrote in a review years ago - nothing much has changed - the host of "Good Eats" is "Lovably goofy ... passionate about food and food science. This half-hour program may sometimes veer toward the bizarre, but I love the way Brown focuses on a specific ingredient in each program and covers it in loving detail, from historical and cultural background to recipes. This is food education at its best, made palatable but never 'dumbed down.'"

It's surprising how often I'll watch "Good Eats" and be inspired to try something I see. The other day, for instance, on an episode titled "The Pouch Principle," he took on cooking en papillote. Fish (and other good things) wrapped with veggies and aromatic flavors cooked in their own vapors by steaming in a parchment envelope!

This brought warm memories of old New Orleans and the signature dish pompano en papillote flooding back. It's good, it's easy, and it's incredibly healthy, as you can cook with very little oil for flavoring or, if you like, no fat at all.

The basic procedure is very simple indeed: Place a portion of fish - or poultry, meat, even tofu should work - on a bed of aromatic vegetables like onion, garlic, fennel or you name it, and a selection of compatible aromatics, from citrus slices to spices and herbs. Wrap it up in a neat envelope of parchment paper (or, if you like, aluminum foil) and pop it in a hot oven until the contents cook through in their own flavorful steam. Take it out, rip it open and serve ... what could be easier?

You can look up Alton's recipes from this episode on the Food Network Website at this long link:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/
show_ea/episode/0,,FOOD_9956_23807,00.html
Or, if you're a Food Network subscriber, "The Pouch Principle" will air again Monday, Jan. 28, at 11 p.m. US Eastern time, and Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 2 a.m. EST.

Here's the version I came up with after watching the program. I used a chunk of mahi mahi because it had come in fresh that morning, but you could substitute just about any fish that suits you.

I suggest looking for (or cutting) a piece of fairly even thickness throughout, and not overly thick. This was a fairly good-size chunk, about 1 1/2 inches at the thickest point, and it took surprisingly long to cook. A full 30 minutes at 425F, wrapped in foil, wasn't really long enough, and I ended up finishing it off in the microwave. Please don't tell anyone about this. Next time, if I have a piece that thick, I'll butterfly it by slicing it horizontally almost all the way through and opening it like a book.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves two)

1/2 sweet onion, enough to make about 1/2 cup (120g) sliced
1-2 cloves garlic, to make 1 tablespoon (15g) minced
Fresh ginger root, to make 1 tablespoon minced
Dried red-pepper flakes
1 lemon, preferably a Meyer lemon
1 lime
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon (5ml) roasted peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Dash hot sauce
12-16 ounce boneless fillet of mahi mahi or other firm, mild fish
Salt
Black pepper
Several sprigs parsley

PROCEDURE:

1. Preheat oven to 425F (220C).

2. Peel the onion and cut it into julienne slices. Peel and mince the garlic and ginger root. Put these vegetables together in a small bowl and season with a dash of dried red-pepper flakes to taste.

3. Cut about half of the lemon and lime into thin slices, and squeeze the rest, which should yield about 1/4 cup of juice. Put the juice in a cup and whisk in the soy sauce, peanut and sesame oil and hot sauce to taste.

4. Rinse the fish, which should be scrupulously fresh, and pat it dry. As noted, if the fish is more than about 3/4 inch thick, it may be better to butterfly it or cut it horizontally into two thinner slices.

5. Spread out a large piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper (well over twice the size of the fish) and spread the raw sliced onions toward one side, spreading them out in a pile about the same size as the fish. Sprinkle about half of the minced garlic-ginger mix on the onions, and put the fish on top, skin-side down. Season the fish with salt and freshly ground black pepper, taking care not to over-salt. (Remember, the soy sauce will also add salt to the dish.) Sprinkle the rest of the garlic and ginger on top of the fish, neatly line up the lemon and lime slices on top, and pour on the liquid mix. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley, and fold the parchment paper over it all to make a tight envelope, folding over the edges to make the packet fairly airtight. (Alton staples the edges, a modern idea but not a bad one.)

6. Put the package on an ovenproof dish and put it in the preheated oven to bake for at least 30 minutes. Remove, open the paper (watch out for escaping steam). Enjoy the wonderful aromas, and enjoy the fish, with crusty bread or rice.

WINE MATCH: I suggest a reasonably full-bodied white wine. The offbeat Charles Smith 2006 "Holy Cow" Columbia Valley Chardonnay from Washington State was fine.

• Pasta in spinach cream
I like spinach so much that I sometimes wish I could use it as the heart and centerpiece of a meatless dinner. And hey! Why not?
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I just wish I could get as fired up about heading in to the kitchen and whipping up something creative from broccoli or brussels sprouts as I do about fooling around with meat, poultry, fish or even tofu.

If you want some of my beets or cabbage, I'll gladly share. Sneak some of the kale or collards off my plate, and I'll nudge it in your direction to make it easier for you.

But spinach - fresh spinach, please - is a whole 'nother story. I've loved it all my life, so far back that my mother tells me I used to call for it by name ("finnich") when I was only 1 or 2. Spinach is just about the only vegetable that brings me back for more, and if you try to nab some of my portion, I'll object.

I like spinach so much that I sometimes wish I could use it as the heart and centerpiece of a meatless dinner. And hey! Why not?

Looking for a light dinner the other night to match a lovely Cal-Ital white (Mosby 2006 Santa Barbara Traminer), I came up with a spinach-based pasta dinner that worked just fine. Quickly told, I mixed chopped fresh spinach with lots of garlic into a light Italian-accented Mornay sauce, kicked it up with a selected team of aromatics, dolloped the result over fettuccine, and ended up with something akin to a cross between old-fashioned creamed spinach and a (relatively) low-calori Alfredo.

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves two)

1 bunch fresh spinach, enough to make about 1 to 1 1/2 cups (240 to 360g) when steamed and chopped.
Sea salt
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon (15ml) olive oil
Dried red-pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon (3g) freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Asian "five spice"
Black pepper
2 tablespoons hot-pepper vodka (or plain vodka with a dash of hot sauce)
1 teaspoon tomato paste
4-6 ounces (120-180g) fettuccine
1 cup (240ml) whole milk, or 7/8 cup lowfat milk and 2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 ounces butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese

PROCEDURE:

1. Rinse the spinach very well, taking care to remove all grit. Put it in a large saucepan with just the water clinging to the leaves. Sprinkle on 1 teaspoon (5g) sea salt, cover, and cook over high heat for just a few moments. Remove from heat immediately when the spinach wilts, and drain it completely. Chop the spinach fine.

2. Peel and mince the garlic. Put it in a saute pan with the olive oil and a shake of dried red-pepper flakes. Cook over medium-high heat until the garlic is translucent but not brown. Stir in the chopped spinach, then season with the grated nutmeg and the "five spice," salt and black pepper to taste. (Taste before salting, as the salt used on the spinach may have been enough.) Heat just until warmed through, then stir in the red-pepper vodka and tomato paste, and set aside.

3. Start the fettuccine cooking in a large pot of boiling salted water and cook until al dente, typically 8 to 11 minutes depending on the brand.

4. While the pasta cooks, make a quick Mornay sauce: Warm the milk while you melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter stops bubbling, quickly whisk in the flour, whisking to eliminate all lumps; then the warm milk, continuing to whisk until the sauce thickens. Stir in the grated cheese and mix until smooth. Then put in the reserved spiced spinach; stir to blend. When the pasta is done, drain it well and stir it in to the spinach sauce. Check for seasoning and serve immediately.

MATCHING WINE: This worked very well with the Mosby 2006 Santa Barbara Traminer mentioned above. It would be fine with a Riesling or "grassy" Sauvignon Blanc, and should pair with just about any lighter-style white wine.

• Coq au Riesling
This quick variation on a classic Alsatian dish is French comfort food, made to go with Riesling.
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Country fare of Burgundy brought into the formal dining room, this hearty dish features a chicken - or better yet, traditionally, an old rooster who's outlived his usefulness - long-stewed in red wine with mushrooms, onions, garlic and herbs until the old bird finally turns wine-dark and, at last, tender.

Over in Alsace, where France meets Germany in a picturesque, too-often war-torn region along the Rhine, the locals make and drink white wine, mostly, so it's not surprising that the local variation on coq au vin is made with white wine - specifically, the intensely flavored local Riesling. The result, coq au Riesling, is essentially similar to the Burgundian red-wine dish save for the color of the wine and the addition of an enriching dollop of cream; but its personality is almost completely different.

Like coq au vin, it's originally intended to be made with an old rooster, not a thing one is likely to pick up at Whole Foods. This variation that I whipped up on a whim the other day is perhaps not truly authentic, but it's certainly inspired by the Alsatian dish. It uses chicken parts - ideally chicken thighs, whose robust dark meat comes a little closer to the style of the original than bland white meat - for a quick rendition that can be brought to the table in an hour.

INGREDIENTS: