All We Can Eat

How civilized does this look? (Lynn Brownlie)

In my column this week, I discuss old recipes and old tastes; in particular, the original recipe for the Aviation Cocktail as found in Hugo Ensslin's 1917 book, "Recipes for Mixed Drinks" (just reissued in a lovely facsimile edition by Mud Puddle Books).

As recently as two years ago, there were two hurdles to making a real Aviation: (1) the original recipe was not widely known, and (2) the purple-hued, floral-scented creme de violette was not available. Now you can buy Rothman & Winter brand Creme de Violette, imported by Haus Alpenz.

But another purple-hued, violet-scented liqueur also was an early-20th-century staple, and for many of us, it has become sort of the Holy Grail of lost liqueurs. 

The name is Creme Yvette. I've mentioned it before, in a column about the competitive game of Liquor Store Archaeology that my brother and I play. It's often called for in classic cocktail recipes, particularly in the Blue Moon and the Aviation (keep reading).

Well, it seems the wait is about over.

Seafood finally did in Tennille Middleton, the only Washington area cheftestant in this season of "Hell's Kitchen" on Fox TV.

She made it as far as the final four and had a great start at the beginning of Tuesday night’s show, but at the end she was the target of chef-host Gordon Ramsay’s standard kiss-off: “Take off your jacket and leave Hell’s Kitchen.”

After winning the individual competition at the show’s start, she ran into trouble at dinner, first with rubbery scallops and then with fish that seemed to have just about everything wrong with it.

“Tonight was the worst night I’ve had in Hell’s Kitchen, and I’m devastated,” she told the camera during one of the interview segments.

She rebounded impressively near the end of service, but it was too late. Middleton, 28, the executive chef at Sweetwater Tavern in Falls Church, was sent packing.

Ramsay had kind words for her as she handed over her chef's jacket.

“I am so proud of you,” he said. “You fought back like I’ve never seen anybody in Hell’s Kitchen fight back. The greatest comeback. Never forget that.”

-- Jane Touzalin

A new market is headed for the Woodrow Wilson Plaza of the Ronald Reagan Building. (James M Thresher -- The Washington Post)

When it rains, it pours. With just weeks left in many farmers markets' seasons, downtown Washington is going to get another farmers market -- this time at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

The General Services Administration is funding the new market, called Capital Harvest on the Plaza. Equinox co-owners Todd and Ellen Gray are consulting, bringing onboard a host of local producers; 18 vendors are scheduled. The market will open twice this fall: on Friday Oct. 16, and Friday, Nov. 13, from 1 to 5 p.m. (Festivities will kick off at 12:30 next Friday.) In the spring of 2010, if all goes according to plan, the market will be weekly.

A feature of this market will be prepared foods, ready for workers to take home, according to Ellen Gray.

When you're in the market for plums -- one of the main components of tomorrow's recipe -- cookbook author Aliza Green advises buying fruit that is neither too soft nor too hard. Ripen it at room temperature till the skin loses its shine. Ripened plums can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Pork and Plums
4 servings

1 tablespoon canola oil

3 or 4 (1 1/2 pounds) boneless center-cut pork chops, trimmed of excess fat, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 medium shallots

6 firm black plums (about 1 3/4 pounds)

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar or sauvignon blanc vinegar

1 or 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (may substitute raw sugar or 1 tablespoon light brown sugar)

Leaves from 2 sprigs thyme

Leaves from 2 stems flat-leaf parsley, for garnish (optional)

Questions? Bring 'em on.

-- Bonnie Benwick

Tennille gets yet another earful from Gordon Ramsay during an episode of "Hell's Kitchen." She is one of just four remaining cheftestants. Will she go home tonight? (Fox)

Watching a photo of your face go up in flames on nationwide TV has got to be unsettling. Whether that will happen to Tennille Middleton tonight is a secret she won’t divulge.

She can’t, of course. Cheftestants on Fox’s "Hell's Kitchen" and other such shows practically agree to be boiled in oil if they spoil the suspense. But Middleton, the executive chef at Sweetwater Tavern in Falls Church, can discuss some things about the show. And what she most wants to talk about, it seems, is her personality.

“I’m a pretty lovable person,” she insists.

That brash, foul-mouthed, f-word-slinging Tennille we see during the interviews on the show?

Editor in chief Ruth Reichl was "stunned" by the news about Gourmet. (Richard Drew -- Associated Press)

The online world was alternately "shocked" and "saddened" by the news that Gourmet magazine was, as several writers put it, toast.

It seemed that every writer (even ones who had never had the "honor" of writing for the august food magazine) had something to say about the 68-year-old publication. In one hour, there were 4,200 tweets on Gourmet's demise.

The debate, if there was one, seemed to center on whether Gourmet deserved its violent end. (Editor in chief Ruth Reichl was said to be "stunned" by the news.)

On the whole, the answer seemed to be no.

Fromage fort tastes great when it's broiled on baguette slices, top, or straight from the crock, above. (Domenica Marchetti)

Notes from the cheese world: A Canadian goat’s-milk cheese named Cinderella (Le Cendrillon), was named best cheese in the world at the 21st annual World Cheese Awards.

The log-shaped, ash-covered cheese from Quebec beat out 2,440 other entries from 34 countries to claim the coveted Grand Champion title in the world’s largest cheese competition. It was the first time ever that a Canadian cheese won the top spot.

Sad news for food lovers today: Conde Nast announced that after 68 years, it will close Gourmet. The decision, chief executive Chuck Townsend said in a memo, is part of an effort to "narrow our focus to titles with the greatest prospects for long-term growth." (Read the full memo here.)

The news came as a surprise to many (including me). For months, there had been speculation that the luxury publisher would shutter either Gourmet or Bon Appetit, which was redesigned in 2008. But most bets were on the latter. Ruth Reichl, Gourmet's editor in chief, is a powerful brand in the food world. Gourmet's mix of recipes plus food politics and offbeat travel stories was unique in food publishing.

Townsend said the magazine will cease monthly publication but that Conde Nast remains "committed to the brand." It will continue to back Gourmet's book publishing and television production arms. Gourmet's recipes will remain on Epicurious.com. No word on the fate of Gourmet's excellent Web site, Gourmet.com.

What do you think? Did Conde Nast make the right choice? Will you miss Gourmet?

-- Jane Black

Update: Mediaite has posted a memo from Memo from Drew Schutte, senior vice president and chief revenue officer at Conde Nast Digital, that indicates that Gourmet.com will continue to publish at least until the end of the year.

The cold frame at Green Spring Gardens. (Adrian Higgins -- The Washington Post)

The days shorten, the weather turns a little crisp and the first leaves begin to drop, but the vegetable garden at Green Spring Gardens has weeks and months of bounty ahead of it. The cold frame, fashioned from boards and black plastic tubes, is a machine that will allow vegetable harvests through the long fall and into the dead of winter. When the weather turns cold, the young cool-season vegetables within it will be protected from killing freezes by a plastic row cover that allows water and light to penetrate but raises temperatures inside by as much as 10 degrees. You could achieve the same results using clear plastic, but you would have to vent it on mild winter days to prevent overheating.

The carrots were sown about a month ago and are now robust, though not ready for harvesting. They take about 2 1/2 months in the fall (earlier for the baby stage) but can be stored in the ground through the winter and taken as needed. Cindy Brown and the crew have sown arugula and spinach, both of which can be taken at the baby stage through the fall or allowed to mature in March and April. They have also sown fava beans, which will be harvested in mid-spring.

This week's bounty from Great Country Farms. (Sarah Hamaker)

It’s bound to happen to members of community-supported agriculture programs: Sometimes you just draw a blank when it comes to a particular vegetable, and for whatever reason – maybe you’re fresh out of time or energy – you just can’t bring yourself to try to find a recipe for it.

That’s what happened this week to one of our CSA Scouts, who ended up having to waste some of her greens. I can identify, because every so often the pace gets the best of me and, as I’ve said before, my crisper becomes my rotter. That’s one of the reasons I’m so in love with cabbage and potatoes: They stick around for weeks on end without looking any worse for wear. Sometimes, I need that kind of time; how about you?

Fellow CSA-ers out there, do you ever find yourself wasting food? If not, what are your secrets?

While you think of pithy comments, here are the CSA Scout reports for the week:

Michelle Obama and White House chef Sam Kass have actively supported farmers markets such as the new Vermont Avenue market. (AP -- Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Growth in the number of U.S. farmers markets is accelerating, according to figures to be released later today by Department of Agriculture. Over the past year, the number has grown by 589 markets, or 12.6 percent, from 4,685 in 2008 to 5,274 in 2009.

The numbers are especially dramatic because they represent a single year; the last time the USDA charted farmers market growth, it was for the two-year period between 2006 and 2008, when the number grew by 6.8 percent. "The increasing growth each year really underscores the public's interest in locally grown food and connecting with their farmers," Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan said in an interview. "It's good news."

The growing interest in farmers markets is driven by consumer concerns about food safety and a renewed focus on healthful eating. Last month, the Department of Agriculture launched an initiative dubbed "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food," designed to help develop local and regional food systems and spur economic opportunity for small farmers.

Michelle Obama also has drawn attention to markets and the importance of eating fresh fruits and vegetables. This spring, the first lady became the first since Eleanor Roosevelt to plant a garden on the White House lawn. Last month, she helped to christen the new market on Vermont Avenue, several blocks from the White House.

There were just 1,755 farmers markets when the Agriculture Department first began tracking them in 1994. USDA officials are hopeful that new initiatives, such as Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food, will help increase the number of markets and access to fresh, local food.

"Maybe I need resources from USDA to aggregate products to bring to the city. Maybe I need help figuring out how to help [those on public assistance] pay at the market," Merrigan said. "We need to reorient what we do to support this burgeoning interest on the farmer and the consumer end."

Merrigan also is hopeful that the growing number of farmers markets will help entice children to eat more fruits and vegetables, though she noted that there is not enough research to make a direct link. In her own nutrition research at Tufts University, where she worked before coming to Washington, she saw that children who worked in gardens at school were more willing to try and more likely to consume fruits and vegetables.

"Farmers markets are just one small piece," she said. "But we're excited about them."

-- Jane Black

Kaffir lime leaf. (Monica Bhide)

True story: I called a certain organic grocery store to ask whether it carried kaffir lime leaves. The response: “Is that some kind of a cleaner?”

I figured the employee on the other end of the line had not understood me, so I decided to try the store in person. “Why do you want them?” asked a store clerk. “Don’t you know it’s illegal to sell them in Virginia?”

Really?

I don’t think I have ever encountered so much misinformation about an herb. Granted, for many of us kaffir lime leaves are not as commonplace as mint. But in the Eastern part of the world, they are part and parcel of everyday cooking.

Starbucks was hit hard when the Great Recession made consumers question their $4 lattes. But the Economist reports that the coffee behemoth may be making a comeback. Coffee drinkers appear to like 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, a spin-off "inspired by Starbucks." So do investors: This year, the stock is up 120 percent, compared to about 25 percent for the S&P index.

Metrocurean's Amanda McClements reports on a potential boon for DC's street cart scene: a new business, Food Chain, that cooks up a range of creative dishes such as Caribbean bean burritos, coconut rice and, soon, Thai food, and delivers it to existing carts.

Think culinary gimmicks are a modern invention? A four-month archeological dig in Rome has revealed what experts think are the remains of a rotating restaurant. Guardian blogger Felicity Cloake follows up by putting gastronomic tackiness in context.

Apparently, the high fructose corn syrup industry is mad and isn't going to take it any more. This week, the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom launched a TV ad campaign that features actors dressed as an ear of corn, a sugar cube and a honey bear standing in a police line-up. The "victim" in the commercial is unable to identify the sweetener responsible for making him "gain the weight" because, the ad says, all three sugars are nutritionally the same.

-- Jane Black

Barton Seaver is rocketing to national stardom. (Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)

Congratulations to Barton Seaver. In its November issue, Esquire Magazine will name him "chef of the year" and Blue Ridge, Seaver's farm-to-table restaurant in Glover Park, one of the best new restaurants in the country.

Seaver's magnetism is strong. In May, I profiled Seaver and his quest to redefine and simplify sustainability. "I'm not trying to save the fish," the chef, formerly of sustainable seafood restaurant Hook, told me. "I'm trying to save dinner."

But is Seaver really the country's best new chef? This award puts him in the same category as Dallas's Stephan Pyles, New York's Michael Psilakis (whom we will write about later this month) and San Francisco's Dominique Crenn. Esquire critic John Mariani calls him "a voice of reason at a time when priggish, competing factions – from vegans to slow-food zealots – deal more in polemics than real solutions." Among the "masterful creations" that Mariani praises are Seaver's "aged country ham, a perfect chicken potpie with hot rosemary-flecked biscuits, and sweet-potato fritters with honey mustard."

Local critics seem to disagree.

Pumpkin Sandwich Cookies. (James M. Thresher for The Washington Post)

Pumpkin is the king of autumn. I love it almost enough to forgive Mother Nature for the change of season. It is my lone comfort when I have to pack away the sandals, T-shirts and wrap skirts. One of the few silver linings I see in fall and winter is baking with this amazing squash. My house is always inviting and cozy when the warm scent of pumpkin is wafting from the oven.

These Pumpkin Sandwich Cookies, from a Land O' Lakes recipe, are the perfect combination of caky cookie and cinnamon-cream cheese filling. Be sure to use pure canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling. (For other pumpkin-infused inspirations, try my family's Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie or Ev's Pumpkin Bread.)

These cookie sandwiches are a little more involved than making simple drop cookies, but not as much work as making a cake that requires more care and diligence in mixing the batter. They're especially good for packing in lunch boxes, as long as there is a chilled drink or ice pack to keep the cream cheese filling cool.

As you may know, I usually don't bake small. (Remember my Man-Catcher Brownies.) Dainty is sweet, but why bother when you're just going to eat three of the sweet wee things? You can make these bite-size, as directed in the original recipe or you can make them 2-inchers, as I did. Directions for both ways are in the following recipe.

-- Leigh Lambert

Washington's own Tennille Middleton squeaked through another round of Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" last night, acknowledging that she dodged a bullet to make it into the final four. It wasn't so much that she was great, just not as bad as the two who got nominated for expulsion. (For the record, chef-host Gordon Ramsay gave Suzanne the boot, and Ariel was allowed to stay.)

So it gets even tougher from here on in. But Tennille, as she's known on the show -- last names aren't used -- has shown a pretty tough persona during this season's run, and plenty of bloggers and chat room pundits have her making it into the final round. Of the remaining cheftestants, Ariel is inconsistent, and Dave has an injury that threatens to do him in. Kevin is quietly competent and seems a shoo-in for the finals.

Tennille, who has been the executive chef at Sweetwater Tavern in Merrifield for more than four years, landed her spot on the show after tryouts late last year. Which brings up some more breaking news: Casting for the next "Hell's Kitchen" season opened Monday. Fox says it's looking for "America's culinary elite who not only have the SKILLS, but the STAMINA to cook alongside the infamous CHEF GORDON RAMSAY." Their capital letters, not mine. There's a 10-page application form and a slew of qualifications that must be met. Then there's an audition process. From what Tennille told me, it's grueling but worth it. Care to try?

You'll hear more about Tennille on this blog next Tuesday before the next episode. Stay tuned.

-- Jane Touzalin

Did you know that just by asking a great question during the Food section's weekly Free Range chat, you can become the proud winner of a fab new cookbook? That's just one of the benefits of joining us every Wednesday from 1 to 2 p.m., when we field queries, toss out information, bat around ideas and try to hit a home run. Come to think of it, our percentages may be better than the Nats'.

We also have pinch hitters. Today's guest, ready to discuss kids' lunches, will be Lisa Barnes of Petit Appetit.

Despite our best efforts, we can never manage to answer every question during the hour. Here's one we couldn't get to last week:

Cauliflower: I recently tried baking cauliflower and it was . . . not good. Should it be parboiled first or something? I used a low temp and tested it every 20 minutes or so until it was soft, but it took forever and was close to tasteless.

Forty minutes is pretty quick for this Sirloin and Black Bean Chili, start to finish. The trick here is to cook the steak separately then add it just before serving; the meat stays tender this way.

As long as you're headed for the checkout lane, pick up some baked tortilla chips or fixings to make corn bread.

1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak (can be in 2 or 3 pieces)

4 to 6 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 medium sweet onion

1 medium green bell pepper

2 medium cloves garlic

1 small jalapeño pepper

5 or 6 ripe tomatoes (medium-size)

Two 15-ounce cans of black beans, preferably Eden brand

1 tablespoon olive oil

Leaves from 6 to 8 stems cilantro

Questions? We're here to help.

-- Bonnie Benwick

Flying Dog Brewery's Justin Livengood, Stephanie Kerchner, Josh Mishell, Rachael Tremaine and Bob Malone with their medals in Denver. (Flying Dog Brewery)

Last Saturday afternoon I was sipping on a Dogtoberfest Marzen at Das Best Oktoberfest at National Harbor. “Delicious,” I pronounced it. And it was the only beer there that made me go back for seconds. “But it’s got too a little too many hops for the style.”

Shows how much I know. About the same time, the brewers of this beer were stepping to the podium to receive a gold medal for the brew in the “German Style Märzen” category at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

Flying Dog's Horn Dog Barley Wine, Dogtoberfest Marzen and Gonzo Imperial Porter all won gold medals. (Flying Dog Brewery)

The festival bills itself as the world’s largest commercial beer competition: This year’s tally saw 3,308 beers from 457 breweries competing for gold, silver and bronze medals in 78 categories. Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Md., scored a grand slam: In addition to the gold medal for its Dogtoberfest, the company won top honors for its Gonzo Imperial Porter (Imperial Stout category) and Horn Dog Barley Wine (Aged Beer), plus a silver for its whiskey-barrel-aged Gonzo (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer).

The slew of medals earned the company and brewer Bob Malone the honor Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year.

All Saint-Marcellin really needs is a good baguette. (Domenica Marchetti)

I guess it is a good thing I am a sucker for packaging. Otherwise I might have walked right by the little round of Saint-Marcellin. But it was tucked so perfectly inside its tiny blue terra cotta pot that I couldn’t stop my hand from grabbing it and putting it in my shopping cart.

At $7.99 for 3.5 ounces (100 grams) of cheese, my impulsive purchase did not come cheap. But it was a worthwhile splurge. Saint-Marcellin is considered one of the best cheeses produced in the Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France.

Its “intensely nutty (imagine black walnuts) and rustic flavor combined with an unctuous texture represent to me the very essence of France,” writes Steven Jenkins in his "Cheese Primer" (Workman Publishing, 1996).

Indeed, Saint-Marcellin is a soft-ripened, pasteurized cow’s-milk cheese with a rind so delicate that, once you puncture it with a knife or a spoon, it practically melts into the runny interior paste. That crock, you see, serves a purpose.

The cheese is at its runniest when it is fairly young, and in fact it should be enjoyed within a month or two of production, as it loses its extravagantly silky texture and gooeyness as it ages. Its flavor is reminiscent of good brie, but with lots more character. It tastes, as Jenkins describes, of black walnuts, as well as mushrooms and earth. It is buttery, but with a slightly bitter finish.

All of these characteristics make it — to me, at least — a perfect cheese to enjoy on a crisp early-fall afternoon. The first time I bought Saint-Marcellin, I served it with ripe Black Mission figs, which I sliced in half and arranged on a plate, with the crock of cheese in the center. The second time I decided I wanted nothing more than a fresh baguette, slightly warm, to accompany the cheese. I let the cheese sit out for a couple of hours and by the time I served it, it was so runny a spoon was required to scoop it onto the bread.

(Yes, I splurged twice. But now I have two baby crocks in my pantry!)

What is your most recent cheese discovery?

-- Domenica Marchetti

Rose Levy Beranbaum, chuckling her way through a challenging demonstration. (Bonnie Benwick – The Washington Post)

Pound for pound, Saturday's 2009 National Book Festival on the Mall was mightier than Baltimore’s 14th annual book festival, which was held Friday through Sunday. For cookbook fans, though, Charm City was the place to be. (The Mall event seems to host fewer cookbook authors each year; no public sampling is allowed at food demos, so maybe that’s a factor. Boo to that.)

Baltimore’s event put on 22 food-related presentations over the course of three days, including Ingrid Hoffmann of Food Network’s “Simply Delicioso,” Tara Mataraza Desmond, author of “Almost Meatless,” and Dale DeGroff of “The Essential Cocktail.” Some lasted a full 90 minutes, not counting the book signing afterward – with lots of sampling.

At Green Spring Gardens in Northern Virginia, a cart of greenhouse goodies for fall planting. (Adrian Higgins -- The Washington Post)

Anyone who thinks the veggie garden goes away in the fall hasn't been paying attention. In Washington, a productive vegetable garden can work year-round. Garlic, onions, kale and spinach winter over quite happily, but that's getting ahead of ourselves. The autumn garden is a blend of old and new: old, in the way that long maturing vegetables such as winter squash are ripening their fruit, and new in that there is still time for putting in hardy greens. Radish seed sown now will mature by Halloween.

The cart is loaded with greenhouse-grown seedlings ready for planting, and includes kale, cabbage, lettuces and fennel. Lettuces will take a few degrees of frost, cabbages and kale will take a fair few more. Arugula can be sown directly in the garden or in pots now for a long fall harvest. It would have been smart to sow carrot seed a month ago, but you could still do that and get baby carrots for Thanksgiving as well as the prospect of carrots through the winter (with a protective straw mulch).

The heat of September is still coaxing the gorgeous creamy yellow blossoms of the okra. Cindy Brown at Green Spring Gardens thinks people should plant it ornamentally as a substitute for its relative, the hollyhock. Hollyhocks get beaten down by disease and look awful at this time of year. The okra is looking fresh and clean, and has the added benefit of producing the edible pods. We think of peppers as summer vegetables, but their true season is early fall.

CSA bounty from Good Fortune Farm, Bull Run Mountain Farm and Great Country Farms. (Betsy Bajwa, Sharyn Fitzgerald, Sarah Hamaker)

Farm subscriptions are starting to take on the taste of early fall, which is natural because, well, it’s early fall. So besides the potatoes that I continue to covet, some community-supported agriculture program members are getting apples and sweet potatoes, while corn, tomatoes, eggplants and peppers – the stars of summer – continue to appear. It’s a welcome thing, because sooner or later they’ll be gone.

I might not be getting potatoes in my Karl’s Farm delivery, but this week I did get another of my fall favorites: butternut squash. And just in time, as I’m testing recipes that use it for my next Cooking for One column.

Here's what other CSA Scouts (the three stalwarts who weren't on vacation this week) are reporting:

Aperol Spice, a cocktail made with clove syrup. (Monica Bhide)

Unfortunately, my very first memory of cloves is associated with pain. It was excruciating. I must have been about 10, with a horrid toothache. My father wrapped two cloves in some cotton and told me to bite on it with the tooth that hurt. Ouch. I did, and a few minutes later the pain subsided enough for me to feel human again.

Luckily, other people in this world have kinder, gentler memories of this lovely spice. “My mother loved any kind of spice cookie with cloves in the recipe. I think I inherited that from her,” says Karen Adler, one-half of the BBQ Queens (with Judith Fertig) whose newest cookbook is “300 Big & Bold BBQ & Grilling Recipes” (Robert Rose, 2009). “As I began to bake, I would do combinations of cinnamon and cloves for more flavor. I also like to pickle olives, and a small bunch of cloves in the pickling juice adds a wonderful earthy dimension of flavor. When I began barbecuing, I found that cloves added to barbecue rubs or sauces added a very nice depth of flavor.”

And you thought a water tasting was weird. In San Francisco, writer Anne Zimmerman reports in Culinate how she tasted, OK smelled, dirt to see if the food that came from it had similar flavors. The answer: Yes.

The AP's Ryan Foley looks at Wisconsin farmers' backlash against author Michael Pollan, who spoke in a stadium usually "reserved for presidents and rock stars."

At Atlantic Food, Eleanor Barkhorn ponders chef empires and asks: When does a chef stop being a chef? "Does a chef belong in the kitchen, and does he become something else once he expands his 'empire' elsewhere?" she writes. "Or are television shows, cookbooks, and more a beneficial part of a chef's creative development?"

In this week's New Yorker, Susan Orlean examines our obsession with backyard chickens and her own attempts to raise them in an Eglu plastic coop. (Subscription required for the article but you can always watch the video.)

-- Jane Black

Volunteers glean corn for the needy at Parker Farms. (Bread for the City)

The economic outlook may be improving, but local food pantries are still struggling. Demand is up. So is the pressure to offer more fresh fruits and vegetables that often cost more than canned varieties and processed foods.

Bread for the City is solving the problem through an innovative gleaning program. Each week, between 10 and 25 volunteers visit a local farm to gather fresh produce: cucumbers, corn, cherries, apples, broccoli, even kiwis that would otherwise be thrown away.

Since July, the non-profit has collected more than 25,000 pounds of produce and saved $20,000 it would have otherwise spent on canned fruits and vegetables. By the end of the growing season, it hopes to save $60,000.

Whole Orange-Poppy Seed Cake. (James M. Thresher -- The Washington Post)

Inspired by a recent Free Range chatter who asked about kicking a cooking rut, I thumbed through some old cookbooks of mine. My suggestion had been to take stock of recipes already on hand instead of surfing the Web or buying food magazines. Most of us have plenty of material to choose from in the cookbooks on our shelves at home; I'll admit I have some recipe collections I have NEVER cooked from (for shame!).

One baking book that falls into this category is "The Sweet Melissa Baking Book," by Melissa Murphy (Viking Studio, 2008). I had brought it home with the best of intentions. When I did at last crack it open, her Whole Orange-Poppy Seed Cake caught my attention immediately. There's something appealing about throwing a piece of fruit, peel and all, into the food processor to become part of the batter.

After weeks of trying different strategies for my experiments in the live tweeting of "Top Chef: Las Vegas," I think I found the one that works. Tonight at 10, I'll be tweeting my snarkiest best, complete with nicknames old (BroVo = the Brothers Voltaggio; Webelo = Mattin) and new (Perhaps Kevin is Scruffy, Eli is Squiggy and Jennifer is Saucy?). And I'll do it from the comfort of a new Twitter feed, @WaPoFoodLive. That way I can clog the feed and post spoilers to my heart's content, knowing that only the forewarned will be playing along.

As always, follow in the space below or catch up afterward.

-- Joe Yonan

Harvested apples, waiting to be turned into Calvados at the Roger Groult distillery. (Jean-Roger Groult)

In my column today, I once again recommend trying Calvados as a cocktail ingredient this fall, both in drinks like the Jack Rose or Apple Brandy Old-Fashioned and also as the perfect after-dinner sipper.

Calvados, for those who didn't catch my column on apple spirits last year, is a brandy produced from apples in Normandy. It is governed by an AOC, the French quality standard for agricultural products from particular geographical areas. Within the broad Calvados AOC, however, there is an appellation called Pays d'Auge that is considered to produce the very best quality. Calvados is made from predominantly bitter and bittersweet cider (not eating) apple varieties that are native to Normandy, and all of it must be aged at least two years. In Pays d'Auge, the rules are a bit stricter, and all of the spirit from there must be double distilled in an alembic pot still from cider that has fermented for at least six weeks.

Happy Wednesday, all. Get psyched for another of our great Free Range chats. Assuming Lisa Yockelson wasn't up too late baking, she'll be joining us at 1, and we're also expecting Gastronomer columnist Andreas Viestad to check in.

Remember, if you can't be with us in real time, you can ask a question in advance right on the site and then check the chat transcript later.

Chances that we'll get to it are pretty good, but there are always more questions than we can handle. Hence this weekly feature, which today answers a leftover query about milk.

(Bill O'Leary -- The Washington Post)

This recipe comes from Barbara Seelig-Brown's new "The Diabetic Seafood Cookbook" (American Diabetic Association); if you are not on a restricted diet, try this with guava or apricot nectar instead of using the cup of fish stock or bottled clam juice. You can save a few minutes' time by purchasing shrimp that is already peeled and deveined, but be sure to buy shrimp that is not cooked. The rice really takes no time; the Asian-cook technique of adding a few slices of ginger while the rice cooks lends aroma and flavor.

Shrimp and Asparagus Stir-Fry

3-inch piece ginger root

1 cup uncooked basmati rice

12 ounces jumbo (U-15) raw shell-on shrimp

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup dry white wine (such as sauvignon blanc that you could also serve with the meal)

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 cup fish stock or bottled clam juice (may substitute guava or apricot nectar)

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 or 3 medium cloves garlic

1 pound asparagus

Questions? We're here.

-- Bonnie Benwick

Channon Mondoux, food historian; at right, she demonstrates a recipe with an interesting past. (Bonnie Benwick -- The Washington Post)

What did you eat last night: leftover brisket? A cuisine that is Lean?
I had 16th-century Turkish.

The venue was the cooking demo room at Sur La Table in Pentagon Row, not Topkapi Palace. But chef Channon Mondoux’s dishes were transporting nonetheless. The Michigan food historian and personal chef was invited to be part of the festivities involved in Turkish Restaurant Week, leading up to Turkish Festival 2009 on Oct. 4.

The story of how Mondoux, a 45-year-old mother of three with family roots in Ontario, Canada, came to know so much about the food served to Suleyman the Magnificent says a lot about her research abilities. In the past six years, she has been able to trace documents that verify the recipes and culinary practices of the Ottoman ruler’s palace kitchens – some of which were recently discovered after hundreds of years.

Mondoux characterizes the cuisine as mostly simple and clean-tasting; her theory is that it is “of the moment” and should be eaten soon after it is made. She has produced a multi-media cookbook on DVD called “Celebration at the Sarayi: Reliving a Feast in the Palace of Suleyman the Magnificent” (TEC Publishing). Turns out, the sultan ate variations of five recipes at every evening meal: soup, meat, burek, baklava or tart and sherbet – that last one consistently pronounced “sure-BET” during her demonstration. So she shared some of those with the group of 20 or so.

I can't resist grilled baby Swiss with tomato on country white bread. (Domenica Marchetti)

There’s something about September — the cooler morning air, the back-to-school routine — that puts me in the mood for a grilled cheese sandwich. As we all know, it is the ultimate comfort food: warm and rich and oozy, and, if made correctly, it has just the right amount of crispiness to the pan-grilled bread.

But what kind of bread? And, more importantly, what kind of cheese? And no, the answer is not those plasticky individually wrapped singles on Wonder; at least not for me, and I hope not for you. Not as long as there are sweet nutty Swisses, sharp cheddars and aged Goudas to choose from, not to mention Italian country, whole-grain to Black Russian breads.

When I was a kid, the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich in our house was grilled mozzarella and prosciutto on Italian bread. Although mozzarella is mild in flavor it possesses the best stretching qualities, and when you’re a kid that counts (actually it counts when you’re a grownup, too).

Servers from Volt restaurant trek up the hill from the barn’s kitchen to the dinner tables situated above. (Nicole Wolf -- SOTA Dzine)

When the invitation to Volt chef Bryan Voltaggio’s late-summer farm dinner went out, its chunky price tag -- substantially more expensive than other farm-to-table events held around Washington -- made some folks wonder whether the food, wine and setting would measure up.

Late summer in the veggie garden at Green Spring Gardens looks a bit like a New Orleans party that's gone on too long: Everyone's having a good time and not really caring what they look like. The Swiss chard is impossibly big and a bit flaccid, the Sungold tomatoes are sprawled and fruitful, and the cowpeas are clambering over each other.

Carrots sown about a month ago are doing well, and Cindy Brown invited me to taste the tiny purple flower clusters of the malabar spinach. They call to mind the flavor of beets, and Cindy likes to use them to perk up salads.

The vegetable of the week is the sun-loving, late-season crop we call cowpea, or black-eye pea or crowther pea. Name it what you will, it is one of the Southern legumes that needs a lot of heat and a long season to flower and fruit. If you live in New York, fuggedaboutit. It is like the asparagus or yardlong bean or the lima bean; you need to live below the Mason Dixon Line for a reliable crop in September into October.

Subscribers' bounty from Great Country Farms (top right and bottom left), Bull Run Mountain Farm (bottom right) and Good Fortune Farm (top left). (Sarah Hamaker, Betsy DeMarco, Sharyn Fitzgerald, Betsy Bajwa)

I'm starting to get a bit jealous when I read what other CSA subscribers are getting in their boxes these days. Don't get me wrong: I'm happy with the quality and, to a lesser extent, the quantity of produce I'm getting from Karl's Farm, but some of my favorite things have been missing. For the most part, I haven't gotten tomatoes, and unlike some other community-supported agriculture program subscribers, who are getting pounds upon pounds of potatoes these days, my box remains spud-free.

It's a shame, really, because I'm something of a potato freak. My love for the sweet varieties is well documented, but I don't scoff at a white potato, either, particularly one that I have time to roast until it's fluffy, then embellish with all manner of toppings.

Thankfully, I'm able to get my fix from farmers markets, and that should be the case even once my Karl's CSA ends, since I'm lucky enough to live just a few minutes' walk from the Dupont market, where potatoes overwinter.

Here's what our other CSA Scouts are reporting this week:

A collective "whew!" was expelled in the Atrium at the Old Ebbitt Grill in downtown Washington last night, as vendors, supporters and friends celebrated the brand-spanking-new farmers market that is close (in more ways than one) to the White House.

In case you didn't catch the first video with first lady Michelle Obama's opening remarks, here it is:

After the market closed at 7, FreshFarm Market co-directors Ann Yonkers and Bernardine Prince led a posse to their party, where folks clinked glasses and enjoyed some tasty hors d'oeuvres (more on that in a minute).

It looks like our colleague Dana Milbank found the prices a bit hard to take, but a steady stream of customers kept buying in waves throughout the four-hour afternoon session, making it FreshFarm's most successful market opening ever. "At some point near the end we counted 700 people who had come through" in one 30-minute period, Yonkers said. "We're ecstatic." She said several vendors sold everything they'd brought, or had come closer to it than they expected. "We even ran out of Double Dollars" -- used to match the first $25 in food stamps and other supplemental programs for families and seniors.

Around town, any market with 19 vendors qualifies as generously sized, but Yonkers was quick to point out the wide expanse of road -- "58 feet!" -- between the two rows of stands set up on opposite sides of the 800 block of Vermont Avenue. That allows everyone a bit more breathing space than, say, at FreshFarm's packed Dupont Circle market on Sundays. (We especially liked the free lavender soap hand-washing setup in front of the stand for Welsh Gardens of Warrenton.)

Mark Toigo of Toigo Orchards in Shippensburg, Pa., was pleased with the day: "We did really well. This could be cool for us." Toigo's already got a firm corner on several markets around the D.C. area, including Clarendon, Annandale, Bethesda, Reston, Lorton, Takoma Park, and Penn Quarter, just a few blocks from this new gig.

Robin Shuster, market maven of Bloomingdale and 14th and U Street, and her husband Jeff came to the new market about an hour before it opened, and stayed for the party. Casing the competition? "Of course I wish them the best!" she said, standing in the buzzy crowd of 100 or so. "I watched the waves of workers come out of those buildings about every hour. Steady foot traffic is definitely a bonus."

But enough about all that. We were happy to see that the party food was up to the occasion. The Old Ebbitt kitchen, under executive chef Robert McGowan and Clyde's executive chef John Guattery, used all local food, including apples, pears and tomatoes from Toigo and pork from Eco-Friendly Farms, which also sells at FreshFarm markets. The party-sized dishes included roast pork tenderloin with corn salsa; thin-crust veggie pizzas with roasted vegetables and goat cheese; cheesy potato-tomato tarts; practically perfect crab cakes; Honeycrisp apple jelly squares; and little plum turnovers, reminiscent of Southern fried hand pies, flaky on the outside and tart-sweet within. One of us couldn't help himself and ended up having six.

The boldface names we spotted included chefs Jose Andres, Todd Gray and Janis McLean, Rancho La Puerta founder Deborah Szekely, Ellen Haas of Foodfit.com, Edible Chesapeake's Renee Brooks Catacalos, Mel Davis of Citronelle, Annie Boutin King of the Ritz-Carlton and Susan Soorenko of Moorenko's. There was word that White House garden guru Sam Kass might just make a showing, but it didn't happen, at least not by last call.

-- Bonnie Benwick and Joe Yonan

Herbes de Provence does lovely things to roasted tomatoes. (Monica Bhide)

I don’t think I have ever actually used a specific recipe that called for herbes de Provence. I remember buying this superbly aromatic spice mix years ago when I visited the south of France. I have used it and refilled my stash many times over, but never really followed a recipe for it. I sprinkle it on breads before baking, on vegetables before roasting and even on meats. It never disappoints.

But I wondered if those were indeed the best ways to use it, so I decided to speak with a superstar chef who spent part of his childhood in Provence: Eric Ripert of the New York Times four-star Le Bernardin. “When I was a kid, I have a memory of walking the hills in Provence and harvesting the herbs with my family to make our own blend," he said. "It would usually be at the end of the summer when the herbs were already dried on the hills. The smell when you walk in the hills was really strong. I remember it to this day.”

Ripert, whose "Avec Eric" television series just debuted on PBS, loves herbes de Provence because he finds it lends a very original flavor to meat, fish and vegetables. So I asked him the million-dollar question: What’s in it? Don’t get me wrong. I know it has lavender and rosemary and many other spices, but seems like each time I ordered a dish with this ingredient in the different parts of France, the dishes tasted different to me.

Looks like medicine, works like a charm. (Bill O-Leary -- The Washington Post)

Bakers who live in the small Virginia town of Warrenton (pop. 8,877) have an especially sweet life. They can walk into Rhodes Gift and Fly Shop on Main Street and pick up a bottle of freshly made, secret-recipe vanilla extract.

The story of how this came to be starts with pharmacist J.W. Rhodes, who devised the formula and began selling his own extract in 1938, at his Rhodes Drug Store. It was only available during the late fall and winter holidays, when the need to make cakes and cookies was at its peak. It was packaged in medicinal bottles that made it seem like a tonic for whatever might ail a pudding or eggnog. Rhodes kept the recipe to himself, and started a tradition that has lasted more than 70 years.

After he died, a man named Russell Herring owned the store (from the mid-1960s to mid-’70s); he inherited the recipe and kept making the extract. Warrenton resident Duane Thompson worked at the drug store as a pharmacist for a few of those years, moved away and returned to buy it in 1976. The extract has been solely his to produce since then. One other person knows the recipe, he says, but that person's promised not to tell.

Geraldine's Chocolate-Date Cake. (Leigh Lambert -- The Washington Post)

Are you traumatized by special occasions that require a sweet ending? Do you always offer to bring a salad to potlucks? If so, Beth Lipton's "You Made That Dessert?" (Globe Pequot Publications, 2009, $15, paperback) could be your salvation.

She has excellent taste (and by that, of course, I mean she shares my taste). Nothing is too fussy, but much to her credit she doesn't succumb to pre-fab shortcuts. This is a book for anyone truly interested in gaining some baking skills and understanding what's going on without getting a degree in chemistry.

She covers a little bit of everything with chapters on cookies and bars, cakes, custards and puddings, pies and fruit desserts, candies, and sauces and frostings. She even includes a final chapter entitled "Emergency Desserts (Don't Panic!)." This is basically cheese and chocolate; a good reminder of what you can do in a pinch.

As I flipped through, I found I was marking more recipes to try than I passed over. I settled on three:

Geraldine's Chocolate-Date Cake. Its wonderful blend of flavors -- coffee, dates and chocolate -- enticed me. The dates act both as a sweetener and a moistener for the cake.

Warm Gingerbread Pudding Cake seemed right for the season, as we had that cool rain rolling in last week. It's one of those "impossible" cakes with liquid poured over the batter before it goes into the oven. This magically turns into a gooey bottom layer. Let me tell you how good this smells when it bakes and how perfect it is with a dollop of whipped cream. Bliss.

Warm Gingerbread Pudding Cake. (Leigh Lambert -- The Washington Post)

Great Big Coconut Cake. This bundt was not as successful. It looked promising with the layers of flavor provided by coconut milk and flaked coconut. But the amount of leavener killed it for me. The cake rose to a perfect height, but tasted more like a biscuit. Not a bad thing, in truth...just not what I wanted.

I plan to try several other recipes in the book, including Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pie, Molten Dark Chocolate Cakes, Silky Chocolate Nutella Mousse and Mocha Cream Pie.

Nowadays, I don't add many new cookbooks to my shelves because there are just so darn many competing for attention -- themed, specialty, holiday, allergy, you name it. Even with precioius little space, this is one I'll make room for.

-- Leigh Lambert

Another week, another episode of my favorite reality show of the moment (now that Runway is in shark-jumping territory over at Lifetime): "Top Chef: Las Vegas," where the VoBro rivalry is dominating the narrative arc to make some mighty fine television. OK, the level of talent this year is also partly responsible for keeping things pretty interesting.

What would another week be without another shift in Tweeting strategy from yours truly? Well, we old-media types can't help but play around with all the new-media possibilities before we settle on something that works. This week, I'm taking a cue from Chris Cillizza and The Hyper Fix to introduce WaPoFoodLive, the Twitter feed where I'll be conducting the Tweet-fest tonight. This way, don't you know, our followers on the good old WaPoFood feed (and my own personal feed) don't have to worry about either the clog or the spoilers. If you're into this live-Tweeting idea and enjoy the fun, sign up to follow me here.

As always, you can also follow the updates in the space below. catch up with all the updates after the jump.

-- Joe Yonan

The Pretty in Porto. (Bill O'Leary -- The Washington Post)

The venerable port house Croft has entered the cocktail market with a downscale "pink" port. I mentioned cocktail recipes using the new Croft Pink port in my column this week.

Here is a recipe called Pretty in Porto, which uses Croft Pink for reasons of color as well as taste. It was created by Jim Meehan (recently named American Bartender of the Year) from the New York speakeasy PDT (recently named World's Best Cocktail Bar). Pretty in Porto is a unique cocktail for a number of reasons, besides the pink port. Most significantly, the drink calls for kirschwasser (or kirsch), a cherry eau-de-vie, as its base spirit. Some readers — particularly those who've attempted a real Swiss fondue — may have the remainder of a bottle of kirsch somewhere deep in their cabinet. Also, this cocktail calls specifically for Peychaud's bitters, not the usual Angostura or orange bitters. Besides its different, gentian-based herb profile, Peychaud's pinkish-red color keeps with theme.

-- Jason Wilson

Pretty in Porto
1 serving

We found Croft Pink port at Paul's of Chevy Chase in Northwest Washington (202-537-1900).

Adapted from Jim Meehan, mixologist at PDT in New York.

Ice
1 1/2 ounces kirschwasser
3/4 ounce Croft Pink port
3/4 ounce freshly squeezed ruby red grapefruit juice
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Twist of grapefruit peel, for garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add the port, grapefruit juice and bitters; shake well, then strain into a cocktail (martini) glass. Garnish with the twist of grapefruit peel.

Per serving: 144 calories, 0 g protein, 17 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 2 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fiber, 16 g sugar

Happy Wednesday, all. Today's Free Range chat should be terrific, with guests Sally Sampson to talk about her homemade fast-food challenge and David Hagedorn joining us to answer questions about his elegant and inventive Rosh Hashanah dinner. As usual, there'll be prizes, so tune in at 1, when we'll will be on hand to answer your questions.

But not all of them. We always run out of time before we can dig our way to the bottom of the question box. Here's one we couldn't get to last week before the hour was up.

Catlett, Va.: My mom taught me to cook. She always said you should leave the oven door slightly ajar when broiling (electric range). Is this correct?

Well, my mother said to leave the oven door closed. And in this case, it turns out that both moms were right.

In general, you broil with the door slightly open when using an electric oven, but you close it when broiling with gas.

I've heard several theories about why it's beneficial to broil with the door ajar. The most common is that if the door is closed, the heat is trapped inside the oven and you're essentially just baking, not broiling. But really, you can't prove that by me. I haven't found that, for example, a steak broiled under an electric coil is any better than a steak broiled under a flame.

As to why you don't leave a gas oven door ajar, that's easier to explain. The control knobs are at the front of the stove, and high heat rising through an open door could damage or maybe even melt them.

Regardless of which kind of range you own, you should always, always check the owner's manual for the recommended broiling procedure. Every manual I found online states clearly what the door position should be. Not only do most electric ranges call for an open door, but their doors have a "broil stop" that allows them to stay ajar at a specific angle. So though I'm not doubting your mother, go dig out out your manual and check it out. It never hurts to be sure.

-- Jane Touzalin

Maccheroni With Sweetened Broccoli
4 servings

A green-grape puree makes all the difference.

Salt

12 ounces dried maccheroni or tubetti pasta (narrow, straight-sided)

1 cup seedless green grapes

1/2 red onion

1 medium (about 10 ounces) broccoli crown

3 tablespoons olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup golden raisins

1 cup dry white Italian wine

2 tablespoons pine nuts

3/4 cup freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese

Questions? We're here to help.

-- Bonnie Benwick

Apples Honey Cake Bread Pudding With Butterscotch Sauce. (Bill Webster -- The Washington Post)

Whether or not you choose to make honey cake -- either for Rosh Hashanah, or because, after four days, you're curious about just how good/bad the previous Cake-Off recipes could be -- you might come across 9-by-5-ish loaves of it in the bakery department of your favorite grocery store. Why, a guest at your holiday buffet may present you with just such a loaf.

In the spirit of the New Year, here's what you can do: Cut it into cubes, add a custard, some sauteed apples and bake it up like a bread pudding. Serve it warm, with a butterscotch sauce.

That's what Dallas cooking teacher Tina Wasserman suggested. She's another Friend of the Food section with a just-released cookbook, "Entree to Judaism: A Culinary Exploration of the Jewish Diaspora" (URJ Press).

Majestic and Moist New Year's Honey Cake. (Bill Webster -- The Washington Post)

A recipe from Marcy Goldman simply had to be included in this challenge. The Montreal baker just released anniversary editions of "A Treasury of Jewish Baking" and "The New Best of BetterBaking.com." Last week, her "Treasury" was included in Epicurious.com's seven favorite Jewish cookbooks, mentioning her Majestic and Moist New Year's Honey Cake as a standout.

To our tasters, this cake seemed the most traditional in flavor and texture. Rich with coffee, brown sugar and just short of the full treatment of holiday spices (cinnamon, allspice, cloves), Goldman's recipe also calls for 1/4 cup of whisky: It adds flavor, she says, akin to the old "bubbe trick" of adding schnapps for "High Holiday-ness." Those who knew from honey cake considered this a very good rendition of what they'd had in the past. Those who didn't particularly like honey cake, however, found it a bit heavy.

The recipe's unchanged in the updated cookbook, but when I contacted her, she did suggest a few worthwhile tweaks....

A deal on Romas from St. Anthony's Farm; an impressive array from Sue's Pies & More; conveniently sized delicata squash from Waterpenny Farm. (Bonnie Benwick -- The Washington Post)

The Saturday farmers market in Warrenton, in business since 1975, is downright neighborly. Located in a parking lot at the corner of South Fifth and Lee streets, it calls itself a “Virginia-grown” market; that means producers can help out small local family farms throughout the commonwealth by bringing their goods to sell as well.

The vendors vote on the length of the season (this year, through Nov. 28) and appoint a head vendor on site, for the times when the market manager can’t be there.

This weekend was one of those days, as market manager Mickey Rhoades was participating in a community yard sale in Culpeper.

The welcoming late season bounty of Green Spring's vegetable garden in Northern Virginia. (Adrian Higgins -- The Washington Post)

We focused on tomatoes a couple of weeks ago, but if Hollywood is known as Tinseltown, then Washington has to be Tomatotown. Everyone grows tomatoes, so we make no bones about returning to our favorite berry now that the season is reaching its fruitful peak.

In my own garden, I'm growing varieties that Thomas Jefferson tended. Arguably, he popularized what had been until his day a little grown and a greatly feared member of the nightshade family. When I was at Monticello in April, I picked up seed of Costoluto Genovese and other heirloom varieties. I got them in late, which seems to have been the key to a successful harvest. Folks who jumped the gun and put in tomato seedlings in late April, early May found their plants rotting or stunted due to the cold and wet spring.

Farm-subscription bounty from Great Country Farms (top left and bottom right), Bull Run Mountain Farm (top right) and Spiral Path Farm. (Betsy DeMarco, Sharyn Fitzgerald, Sarah Hamaker, Michelle Forman)

I had a slight scare reading the CSA Scout reports this week when I opened the e-mail from Rita Fox, which began, "Last week of summer share." Is the summer really over? Well, it sure feels like it outdoors, and in Fox's world, it's official.

I've been continuing to enjoy my community-supported agriculture deliveries from Karl's Farm, but frankly, I'd been taking them for granted until Rita's reminder jolted me back to reality. This is not going to last forever. Granted, Rita's summer share at Olin-Fox Farms is for just a nine-week season, while mine at Karl's is for more than twice that, but still. I'm already starting to miss it.

I did draw some comfort, however, when I read another note from Rita, with another reminder: "We've already signed up and paid for fall and winter, too."

Here's what she and other CSA Scouts are reporting this week:

Black Ankle Vineyards near Mount Airy. (Sarah O'Herron)

Fans of the Bethesda Central Farm Market will have a chance to taste some local wine with all that local produce this Sunday, Sept. 13, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., when Black Ankle Vineyards will be pouring and selling its new Leaf Stone Syrah. According to market organizer Mitch Berliner, it is the first time a winery has been allowed to participate in a farmers market in Maryland.

That may seem strange, considering a vineyard is nothing if not a farm. But of course, we’re talking alcoholic beverage here, so the laws and politics are different.

Berliner said he wanted wineries to participate in his market because wine should be part of the “eat local” movement. He picked a good winery to feature; Black Ankle just won the Maryland Governor’s Cup for the second year in a row with its 2007 Crumbling Rock, a Bordeaux-styled blend. Not bad for a winery that just opened its doors in 2007. The 2006 Crumbling Rock won the Governor’s Cup last year.

The entrance to Black Ankle. (Dave McIntyre)

The 2007 Leaf Stone Syrah is no wallflower; it took “Best of Category” as best syrah in the recent Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition, and created quite a buzz among the judges, including me. (“Leaf Stone” is another way of saying “Crumbling Rock,” and is emblematic of the soil at the Black Ankle vineyards, near Mount Airy.)

As I wrote about Black Ankle a year ago: “This is not your father’s Maryland wine.”

Don’t miss this chance to taste the wine, because you won’t see Ed Boyce and Sarah O’Herron, the husband-and-wife team behind the winery, at the farmers market on a regular basis. Maryland law allows a winery only three special permits per county per year, and this is using up one of Black Ankle’s, Boyce said.

Berliner hopes to change that when the Maryland General Assembly convenes in January. It could be an exciting year for Maryland wine lovers, with hopes high that legislators will also ease restrictions on having wine shipped directly to consumers’ homes.

For now, though, taste the Leaf Stone Syrah on Sunday. If it catches your fancy, there will also be a Farm Market dinner on Monday, Sept. 14, at Redwood restaurant in Bethesda Row, featuring Black Ankle wines. Cost is $75 per person.

-- Dave McIntyre

Nova Scotia Honey Orange Sponge Cake. (Bill Webster -- The Washington)

Hoo-boy. You may notice this slice of honey cake heaven is oddly shaped. That's because all did not go according to plan. What was described as "light" could not be contained. This could have been operator error -- When I pulled it out of the oven, in my head I sounded similar in tone to some e-mails we get at the Food section: "I followed the recipe TO THE LETTER!" Or maybe my oven doesn't do well at temps below 350 degrees. Or it could be the result of some very successfully beaten egg whites.

The recipe comes from "Cooking Jewish," a thick paperback full of family and friends' dishes, by Judy Bart Kancigor, a California author who grew up in New York. This particular honey cake was baked by her mother, Lillian Bart, who sounds like a candidate for one of those "strong Jewish women" posters found in Judaica gift shops. (She, in turn, got it from her Canadian friend Corinne, who lived in Nova Scotia; hence the name). Just last week, Kancigor posted some maternal memories on Workman's Facebook site: a four-day chicken soup her mother had adapted from a family relative, the way Bart taught her daughter to clean a kosher chicken, and the ways in which Bart "accepts with grace all of life's challenges." Lovely.

Judy, Judy, Judy.

A little bit of nutmeg in Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli goes a long way. (Monica Bhide)

Um, okay, so it is time to admit the truth: Nutmeg is not one of those spices that calls to me from the spice cabinet.

Yes, I have used it in classic Indian dishes, and in American recipes such as eggnog and butternut squash risotto. But it is not a spice easily accessible in my kitchen. I am sure it is hidden somewhere behind all the jars from when I used it last . . . perhaps well over a year ago.

But I do know folks who swear by the taste, so I decided to investigate and see what I was missing. And what better person to talk to than James Peterson, the highly prolific teacher, photographer and award-winning author of many cookbooks.

“On a recent trip to India I was lucky enough to see nutmeg, round and nutlike, being separated from its outer coating of mace," he said. "The mace forms a filigree pattern around the nutmeg that’s very reminiscent of Art Nouveau. Unfortunately, by the time the nutmeg makes it to our shores, the mace has been removed and is usually sold powdered. As far as I can tell, the flavor of mace and that of nutmeg are completely indistinguishable."

Ah, yes, of course: mace! How could I forget? In Indian cooking they are the twins; where there is one, the other is bound to show up. (Originally from the Spice Islands, nutmeg is now likely to come from the island of Grenada.)

Two of the best-known food brands in the area -- chef Jose Andres and Ridgewells -- are teaming up to bring Spanish, Mexican and Mediterranean flavors to a wider audience, both parties announced this week.

The partnership, called Jose Andres Catering with Ridgewells, takes advantage of the popularity of Andres’s menus at Jaleo, Oyamel and Zaytinya restaurants and the muscle and experience of the 82-year-old catering company, which is based in Bethesda and recently fed as many as 11,000 cocktail revelers at once.

The arrangement also solves a problem for the Spanish chef, who says he gets hundreds of requests a year to cater food from his sundry restaurants but until now lacked the proper support. “I’m not in the business of saying no,” says Andres. Beginning next month, customers will be able to choose from menus featuring the aforementioned cuisines plus the celebrity chef’s more experimental ideas from the exclusive Minibar. The last option is billed as “Jose Andres’ Way.”

Does this mean we’ll be seeing foie gras lollipops in clouds of cotton candy at future parties? Possibly. To prepare for the union, Ridgewells purchased a cotton candy machine, as well as seven-foot-wide paella pans and mini-fryers, allows the company’s principal and chief executive, Susan Lacz.

-- Tom Sietsema

Ann Cooper wants to "blow up" the current school lunch system. (Ann Cooper)

She calls herself the Renegade Lunch Lady. And this week, Ann Cooper is storming Washington.

In town to promote the Lunchbox, a Web site developed with Whole Foods Market that offers tools and recipes for school food directors, Cooper is meeting with policymakers, Department of Agriculture officials and giving a flurry of interviews. Her message: That we have to "blow up" the current school lunch program and start from scratch.

And as Cooper likes to say, "oh, by the way," that's going to take a lot more money.

Cooper started out as a chef in fine-dining restaurants. But she earned her reputation when she went to Berkeley and overhauled the school lunch program. Greasy pizza and chicken nuggets were out. Cooking from scratch was in. This year, she moved to Boulder. School has just begun, but already the new menu items, including pasta Bolognese and barbecue chicken sandwiches, have helped increase sales, she said.

This year, Congress is set to reauthorize child nutrition programs, including $12 billion for school meals. And like many, Cooper is making the case that better food for kids is part of creating a healthier society. But in an interview, Cooper also discussed more controversial issues, including how government standards actually increase calories on the lunch line, why the USDA should no longer regulate school lunch and why chefs, not dietitians, should take charge of school lunch. Excerpts follow:

Oregon's Kosher Maven's Honey Cake. (Bill Webster -- The Washington Post)

When I asked Joan Nathan to choose from among the many honey cake recipes she's included in her cookbooks over the years, this was the first one that came to mind. (Sure, her work appears in the New York Times's Dining & Wine pages around major Jewish holidays, but the hometown food luminary has been a longtime friend of the Post's Food section.)

The maven was Runi Hyman, a Portland cook who fed transients for about 50 years, including many soldiers during World War II. Nathan ran Hyman's original recipe in the 1994 "Jewish Cooking in America." It called for what seems to be a double sifting of flour, a separation of egg yolks and whites, with the whites beaten to firm peaks and folded into the cake batter. It spent an hour in the oven.

In the years before she published the 1998 expanded edition of "JCA," Nathan got feedback from her readers and amended the recipe substantially: one sift of all dry ingredients; no more separating the eggs; combining the sugar and all wet ingredients, beating them for a full 5 minutes, and a baking time reduced to 50 minutes.

How'd my go at it turn out?

Bon Appetit could not source slicing tomatoes that met its fair labor standards. (Julia Ewan -- The Washington Post)

In April, food service company Bon Appetit Management drew a line in the sand. If it could not find a tomato grower that provided good working conditions and fair wages, there would be no tomatoes at the company's more than 400 restaurants and cafes.

Good news. It's got them.

This week, Bon Appetit signed a deal with Alderman Farms, a tomato grower in Boynton Beach, Fla. As part of the deal, Alderman agreed to pay its workers a higher rate than the 45 cents per 32-pound bucket that is the industry standard. It also promised to ensure that working conditions, such as access to bathrooms and drinking water, meet a standard that workers' groups allege are absent at many large commercial farms. Meanwhile, Chipotle Mexican Grill also announced on Wednesday that it had reached a deal with one of Florida's largest tomato growers to raise the wage by a penny a pound for workers who harvest tomatoes.

Alderman Farms is a relatively small operation by modern standards. It farms about 1,000 acres, more than half of which are tomatoes. Bon Appetit buys about 5 million pounds of tomatoes annually. "There are some things here that we will fine tune so we can document what's happening," said Tom Wilson, Alderman Farms' sales manager. "But we didn't have to change much to meet their code of conduct."

There is one catch. Alderman does not grow the round slicers traditionally put on hamburgers and at the salad bar. It's too difficult to compete with imports from Mexico, said Wilson. Instead, Bon Appetit chefs will have to make do with smaller cherry and grape varieties. "Our focus is on fair labor practices and our chefs really embraced the challenge," said Maisie Greenawalt, Bon Appetit's vice president. "They said, 'Get us the grape tomatoes and we'll figure out what to do with them.' "

Olive-Rosemary Bread. (Leigh Lambert -- The Washington Post)

Gluten-free baking is big and getting bigger, with a plethora of cookbooks from which to choose. This one sounded good: Elana Amsterdam's "The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook" (Celestial Arts, 2009). As the title implies, all its recipes use almond flour in place of wheat flour.

Amsterdam is very specific about brands, adamantly steering cooks away from Bob's Red Mill almond flour, which is unfortunately the only one I could find in stores. She does list Web sites for ordering. Be warned: Almond flour is not cheap. But if you are a celiac sufferer, it might be worth the purchase.

The book is a spinoff from her blog, at www.elanaspantry.com. She studied Ayurvedic cooking for three years and applies many of the same principles to her approach. She uses whole food ingredients with a European sensibility.

I sampled three recipes: Chewy Chocolate Cookies, Chocolate Chip Scones and Olive-Rosemary Bread. The cookies were a bit flabby, the scones were dense and moist, yet not very "sconey." But the quick bread was a pleasant surprise: a nice, dense loaf perfumed with herbs that would be great for sandwiches.

I'm not sure I would make those three recipes in lieu of the "real things," but I'm always glad to have some items in my repertoire that will answer special needs with good taste. Now I'm curious to try other recipes that call for almond flour, and seeing as how I ordered a five-pound bag of it, I expect I shall.

-- Leigh Lambert

"Top Chef: Las Vegas" fans, follow us again tonight for live Tweets of the show, starting at 10 p.m. As I did last week, this will be spoiler-free for you DVR-ers (and those in other time zones), and I'll keep it down to one every few minutes so as not to hyper-clog the feed. You can follow the most recent updates below see the collected Tweets after the jump, or sign up to follow WaPoFood on Twitter.

-- Joe Yonan