Hazelnut

  Grilled Russian kale with yogurt dressing and toasted hazelnuts Total time: 25 minutes Servings: 4 Note: Adapted from Travis Lett of Gjelina. Lett suggests Russian kale from Coleman Farm or Flora Bella Farm. Our recipes, your kitchen: If you try this or any other recipe from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen, we would like to know about it so we can showcase it on our food blog and occasionally in print. Upload pictures of the finished dish here.

Researchers say that they have found the active ingredient of the cancer-fighting drug Taxol in hazelnuts, a discovery that could lead to alternatives to current production methods. "This is potentially good news for cancer patients," said Angela M. Hoffman, a member of the research team at the University of Portland in Oregon, who presented the study Wednesday at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

For several months now I've had three hazelnuts sitting on my desk. They are not at all alike. One is your usual-looking round hazelnut; one is the same only a lot larger, and the most interesting is the third, which is long rather than round, almost like an almond. The first one I'd recognize anywhere, for it's the variety that's most common, the Barcelona. The second would surprise me by its sheer size if I didn't know it was an Ennis, a variety that naturally runs large.

Those who enjoy breaking a bit from tradition can serve Pumpkin Mousse as the finale to Thanksgiving dinner. Hazelnut Butter Crunch, spooned under and over, complements the fluffy mousse.

  NOTE: Master Class columns are intended for ambitious home cooks, and some of the recipes may call for special ingredients or equipment. When that is the case, we will provide an alternative method for the main element of the dish so it can be prepared even without this ingredient or equipment. Meyer lemon-cured salmon with spring vegetables Total time: 1 hour, plus overnight curing and tempering times Servings: 4 Our recipes, your kitchen: If you try any of chef Thomas Keller's recipes for the L.A. Times Test Kitchen, please share your photos of the finished dish so we can showcase them on our food blog and occasionally in print.

DAVID GREMMELS and Cary Bryant could be considered the accidental cheese makers. Three years ago they were scouting for blue cheese to stock a wine bar they planned to open in Oregon when they happened on Rogue Creamery in Central Point, which had been making a Roquefort-style cheese since 1957. They tried it, they liked it and then the 75-year-old owner, Ignacio Vella, dropped a bombshell: "Gentlemen, if you want my cheese, you're going to have to make it yourself. I'm going to close it down."

If you were asked to name a food that is perfect just as is, a good piece of chocolate might come to mind. But pair chocolate with one of four particular flavors -- mint, orange, hazelnut or coffee -- and you have a first-class food-world paradox: perfection enhanced. And there's a bonus to doing a little flavor matchmaking: The perfect thing called chocolate has in fact evolved and gotten even better over time.

What does it take to get a Miller Lite in this town? Portland leads the nation in turning up its nose on blue-collar lagers in favor of hoity-toity brews in hues of amber, brown and black. In fact, ordering up an ordinary beer in some places can draw a haughty stare. "If you had the choice between SPAM and filet mignon, which would you choose?" said local beer drinker Spike Cornelius. "That's the problem with the typical mass-produced American beers. They're insipid."

Do a Google search for "Nutella," the Italian hazelnut-chocolate spread that comes in a squat jar like peanut butter and is often found right next to it in grocery aisles, and you'll get about 5 million results. Which is about twice what you get when you Google "chocolate chip cookies" -- and several times as many as the phrase "Valentine's Day chocolates." You might want to remember that this weekend. Because Nutella isn't just junk food with a European pedigree.