Food

Asian carp may indeed be poised to destroy commercial fishing as we know it in the Great Lakes, but Reggie McLeod likes his smoked or pickled. The Vietnamese community cooks carp in coconut milk with lemongrass and chili peppers. The Polish like to draw out the pungent fishy odor by soaking it in milk and onions. At Joe Tess Place in Omaha, Neb., which has proudly served deep-fried carp sandwiches since the 1930s, it's presented on rye bread with fries and handmade coleslaw.

A portion is a portion is a portion -- unless, that is, it's a giant, super, king or grande portion, in which case it's probably trouble. Over the last 30 years, portions have grown by heaps and mounds in restaurants across the country and in many homes as well. During that same time, the waistlines of Americans consuming those mega-meals have grown more and more generous too -- to the point that now two-thirds of American adults are considered overweight.

During a recent visit with my sister and her family, we were invited to share Shabbat dinner with our cousins. My sister volunteered to bring dessert. Because the meal would be kosher, with chicken the main course, that meant making something parve -- without any dairy ingredients -- in keeping with the Jewish dietary restriction not to mix meat and milk. Normally in this circumstance I would bake a nondairy classic like mandelbrot. But my sister flipped through cookbooks and stumbled on a recipe for something called Crazy Chocolate Cake.

Tucked away along a canal beside an imposing mountain grows an 80-acre orchard of oranges so enchanting that each winter I make a pilgrimage to its secluded site. What I find so special is not just the beauty of the grove, typically shrouded in tule mist, with sticky, reddish-brown clay soil, and dark green trees radiant with neon-orange, intensely aromatic fruits. It's also the curious history behind this planting, little known even to longtime locals, though it recently has become California's primary source for sour oranges, the kind used in marmalade.

What's the most expensive dinner in America? An omakase meal of pristine, perfectly sliced sushi, the fish flown in from Tsukiji market in Tokyo and prepared for you personally by a Yoda-equivalent sushi master? Or maybe a 12-course tasting menu from a Michelin three-star French chef, each plate a culmination of several components made by an army of kitchen staff? Not exactly. It's most likely $500-per-person Japanese hot pot -- yes, hot pot. A popular style of Asian home cooking, hot pot comes from a nearly 1,000-year-old culinary tradition of dipping sliced meat or seafood and vegetables into bubbling broth, supposedly à la Genghis Khan.

One of the more pleasing developments of the last decade has been the long-overdue beginning of a national conversation about food -- not just the arcane techniques used to prepare it and the luxurious restaurants in which it is served, but, much more important, how it is grown and produced. The only problem is that so far it hasn't been much of a conversation. Instead, what we have are two armed camps deeply suspicious of one another shouting past each other (sound familiar?). On the one side, the hard-line aggies seem convinced that a bunch of know-nothing urbanites want to send them back to Stone Age farming techniques.

Dear SOS: My husband and I recently moved from Beverly Hills to Dana Point. For many years we enjoyed Basix Cafe in West Hollywood. I would love to have the recipe for their salmon burger. It's one of our favorites. Nancy and Clif Huxford Dana Point Dear Nancy and Clif: These salmon burgers incorporate a touch of lemon juice and chopped capers for fresh, bright flavor. Basix serves the burgers on brioche buns with coleslaw and a little tartar sauce. Salmon burgers Total time: 30 minutes Servings: 4 Note: Adapted from Basix Cafe in West Hollywood.

Now that we're squarely in 2010, we can look back on 2009 and the hundreds of recipes published in the Food section and call it the year of meltingly delicious caramelized onions, or the year we fell in love with quinoa all over again, or the year we discovered we could make fantastic, crisp-crusted pizza at home. Let's just say it was another banner year in The Times' Test Kitchen. We've chosen our 10 (or so) favorite recipes of 2009, remembering how many times we sneaked into the kitchen during testing for Julienne's graham cracker chewy bars or Paula Wolfert's sizzling shrimp, both of them instant hits.

The hungry and the curious follow the greasy, but alluring, scent of batter frying in hot oil to Charlie Boghosian's stand at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona. When they arrive, the menu stops them in their tracks: deep-fried Twinkies, deep-friend Oreos, deep-fried avocados, deep-fried pickles, deep-fried olives and more. Boghosian sees himself as not just a fried-food salesman, but as a fried-food innovator. He recently saw possibilities in churros, the already deep-fried sugary treat.

Nina Lamb may be partially responsible for some of the greatest rock music ever recorded. Her contribution? Cheese-and-spinach phyllo rolls. "The Doors would go into their studio to rehearse or record," Lamb says, "and they'd get hungry and they'd call me at, maybe, midnight. They'd say, 'Can you bring us down some phyllo?' So I'd bake a bunch and take it down to them. I started making it and keeping it in my freezer." As the wife, and then ex-wife, of the legendary Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records, Lamb served as the label's de facto chef, preparing food not only for industry parties for artists as diverse as Jim Morrison and Judy Collins, but also sending over snacks whenever her favorite acts felt the urge.

Lentil chili with merguez Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes Servings: Makes 16 to 20 (1-cup) servings Note: Merguez sausage can generally be found at gourmet and cooking supply stores. Harissa can generally be found at gourmet and cooking supply stores, as well as select well-stocked supermarkets. 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 large onion, thinly sliced lengthwise 2 teaspoons chopped ginger 1 teaspoon chopped garlic Zest of 2 lemons 2 sticks cinnamon 4 teaspoons cumin 4 teaspoons smoked paprika 1 tablespoon turmeric 1 teaspoon cardamom 1/4 cup tomato paste Juice of 1 lemon, more to taste 3 (14.5-ounce)

It's been called both a "bowl of blessedness" and the "soup of the Devil," and it's the stuff of legend. Frank and Jesse James reputedly downed a few bowls before pulling some of their heists -- and supposedly spared one town because of it. O. Henry spun a short story around it, and Will Rogers allegedly judged a town by its quality. It's said Eleanor Roosevelt tried -- without success -- to get the secrets of one recipe, and that Lyndon B. Johnson remarked that the kind concocted outside his home state of Texas was "usually a weak, apologetic imitation of the real thing."

After polishing off his French dip sandwich at Philippe the Original in downtown Los Angeles, Bert Muñoz redirects his attention to the meaty chili dripping down the sides of a 1950s-era melamine bowl and onto his cafeteria tray. With quick flicks of his wrist, the chatty 37-year-old co-owner of Dolores Canning Co. scoops up brick-red spoonfuls without spilling even a drop onto his white knit shirt emblazoned with the company logo. "I'll walk by a hot dog stand and can tell it's our chili just by the smell of it," Muñoz says proudly of his bloodhound-like ability to ferret out the family's product at Los Angeles-area street vendors and restaurants.

Three-bean and hominy chili Total time: About 2 hours Servings: This makes 20 to 24 (1-cup) servings Note: The chili is best made 1 day ahead to allow the flavors time to marry. Achiote paste is available at Latin markets. 3 poblano chiles 3 jalapeño chiles 1 to 2 dried New Mexico chiles, stemmed, seeded and ground (grind using a coffee grinder, or substitute 1 heaping tablespoon New Mexico chile powder), more as desired 2 tablespoons ground cumin, divided, more as desired 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground oregano, divided, more as desired 1 teaspoon ground coriander, more as desired 1/4 cup oil 3 large onions, diced and divided 1 tablespoon minced garlic 2 teaspoons achiote paste (or ground annato seeds)

Hatfield's opened Monday on Melrose Avenue: The white tablecloths, the toques worn by chef-owner Quinn Hatfield's kitchen staff and the tasting menus and painterly plating might be indicators of fine dining, but at the bar one can kick back to the emo rock and enjoy a cocktail or three. The new Hatfield's is twice the size of the former Hatfield's on Beverly Boulevard, with an enclosed patio, private dining room and that full bar complete with lounge seating. Along with Quinn Hatfield's California-French menu and wife Karen's desserts, there are a slew of cocktails created by general manager and beverage director Peter Birmingham (of Norman's, Il Grano and Pourtal)

Dear SOS: I had the most wonderful corn bread at the Hotel Condon in Condon, Ore. Is it possible to get the recipe? Bea Nash Gold Beach, Ore. Dear Bea: This corn bread is packed with flavor. It is made with cheese and chopped chiles and is finished with a drizzle of honey. And it's large enough to bake for company -- each recipe makes a 10-inch round. Hotel Condon corn bread Total time: 1 hour, plus cooling time Servings: 16 Note: Adapted from chef Gail Stanfield of the Hotel Condon in Condon, Ore. 3 eggs 1 (15-ounce)

Antojitos Carmen Restaurant LOCATION 2510 E. César E. Chávez Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 264-1451; on Twitter @antojitoscarmen . PRICE Huaraches , pambazos and other antojitos , $3 to $4.50; Tortas, alambres and burritos, $3.99 to $7; breakfast and lunch specials, $4.50 to $6.50; atole and other drinks, 50 cents to $4.50. DETAILS Open Monday through Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday through Sunday 8:30 a.m. to midnight.

Bowl of red Total time: About 4 hours Servings: This makes 20 to 24 (1-cup) servings Note: The chili is best made 1 day ahead to allow the flavors time to marry. Achiote paste is available at Latin markets. For a deeper, smoky flavor, roast the dried chilies until aromatic before rehydrating. Dried chiles are available at Mexican markets. 6 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded 2 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded 3 dried New Mexico chiles, stemmed and seeded 2 dried chipotle chiles (not packed in adobo sauce)

The way it used to be, on almost any given evening an irrepressible assemblage of Mexican food vendors would flood a Boyle Heights parking lot in what seemed like seconds. Empty tables suddenly were covered with tubs of masa and astringent salsas, and griddles glowed with immediate heat. Before you knew it, diners would be perched on plastic chairs and crumbling curbs, their fingers stained an inky, huitlacoche -rich black. Couples quickly huddled around cups of goat consommé as kids eyed the cinnamon-dusted ridges of freshly fried churros.

Turkeys, the only domesticated animals from the New World that are now used globally, were actually domesticated twice -- once in Mesoamerica as was previously believed and once in what is now the southwestern United States. The new findings, reported this week by Canadian and American researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, come from a DNA analysis of ancient turkey bones and coprolites, the polite name for fossilized excrement. Surprisingly, the researchers found that both strains of domesticated turkeys are now extinct, replaced by more highly inbred strains.