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Steve Jenkins is the most opinionated man in the cheese world and one of the most highly regarded. He's been a regular on the show for years. This week he joins us again but he's not talking cheese. Instead, we'll hear his story - how he stumbled into food at the same moment we Americans became fascinated by it. Steve's new book is The Food Life: Inside the World of Food with the Grocer Extraordinaire at Fairway. The Sterns dine on fish, chips and chowder at Halibut's in Portland, Oregon. Equipment maven Dorie Greenspan, author of Baking: From My Home to Yours, looks at the mortar and pestle. We have the results of a blind taste test of veggie burgers, and Jean Anderson, author of A Love Affair with Southern Cooking, takes us on an old-time picnic.

Recipes | Search all recipes

Classic Pesto of Genoa

It's high season for pesto. Make lots and freeze. In January you'll be glad you did. Get the full recipe.

Two Cucumber and Cheese Salads

These two salads are so refreshing and so good to serve with a simple meal (toasted bagels, cream cheese, and smoked salmon, for instance; or turkey sandwiches; or burgers). Or just grab a baguette and sit down to a big plate of cucumbers and cheese and call it lunch. The cheese is the star ingredient here, so consult your cheesemonger and get something nice. Get the full recipe.

Cumin-Scented Summer Bean Salad with New Garlic and Mint

This healthy salad can often be found in Lynne's refrigerator. It's just right for a light lunch or a side with summer's grilled fare. Get the full recipe.

Chicken Bog

In The Carolina Rice Kitchen: The African Connection (1992), food historian Karen Hess suggests that chicken bog may have descended from la soupe courte of Provence, "an ancient festival dish, calling for mutton, petit sale or other cured pork, onions, aromatics, saffron, and rice." It is, she continues, "not a soup but a very thick stew or a rather wet pilau." Her theory is that with the deletion of saffron and substitution of chicken for mutton, a new dish emerged. Get the full recipe.

Sweet Slaw

To most of the country, coleslaw is crisp and sharp, but down south it's sometimes so soft and sweet it might be dessert. The best sweet slaw I ever ate is that served at Mama Dip's Kitchen in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It's not overly sweet; in fact the balance of sweet and tart is exactly right. Get the full recipe.

Features

Jane and Michael Stern: Halibut's, Portland, OR.

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Regular listeners to the Sterns' segments know that Jane doesn't like fish. The one exception is the fish and chips at Halibut's in Portland, Oregon. She says it's the best in the west.

Chef David McKay is a wizard when it comes to fried fish. He coats the fish with a fragile, almost ethereal crust that gives delicious crunch to the moist meat inside. Chef David even deep fries Alaskan Copper River salmon and it's the dish that keeps the Sterns coming back. Wonderful Dungeness crab cakes and creamy clam chowder are other menu highlights. Be sure to check out the list of elaborate drinks from the bar.

Halibut's
2525 NE Alberta
Portland, OR
503-808-9600

Veggie Burger Tasting

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The Splendid Table crew recently gathered in Lynne's kitchen for a blind tasting of veggie burgers. Brands tasted with the price paid at local Twin Cities stores follow:

Morning Star Garden Veggie Patties, $4.79 at Lund's
Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burger, $5.29 at Whole Foods
Garden Burger Classic, $4.29 at Lund's
Boca Grilled Vegetable Veggie Burger, $4.39 at Lund's
Amy's All American Veggie Burger, $3.99 at Whole Foods
Trader Joe's Vegetable Masala Burger, $2.49 at Trader Joe's

The Winners:
Boca Grilled Vegetable Veggie Burger and Amy's All American Veggie Burger!

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