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Women.com presents

Food editor at Redbook magazine, Tamara Holt
Cooking Ideas

January 24, 2000

Tamara Holt, cookbook author, teacher and food editor at Redbook magazine, will answer your questions and talk with you about your cooking ideas and needs.

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HomeArts: Welcome to our chat with Tamara Holt, the food editor at Redbook magazine. Today this cookbook author and teacher will answer your questions and talk with you about your cooking ideas and needs. Welcome, Tamara!

Tamara Holt: Thanks! Glad to be here, although frankly I must admit I'd rather be sitting in front of a warm fire with a cup of hot cocoa or a nice bowl of hot soup, snuggled up under a warm blanket, but I suppose that's what weekends are for. Cold weather cries out for warm, cozy foods like chili and soup and stew. The February issue of Redbook features all sorts of great one-dish meals, hearty stews, steamy soups, and comforting casseroles. So, pick up a copy if you don't already have it, it'll keep you warm through the winter without too much time slaving at the stove. Does anybody have any questions about one-dish meals, winter foods, or anything else for that matter?

LatinoLady: What's the best way to make Mexican roast pork?

Tamara Holt: I don't have a recipe off the top of my head, but a couple of my favorite Mexican cookbooks include anything by Rick Bayless, who has done a fabulous job of translating traditional Mexican cuisine to the American kitchen, and two beautiful cookbooks by Zarela Martinez, one on the cuisine of Oaxaca. I'm sure any one of those cookbooks would include a great recipe for Mexican roast pork.

Pokey: What are some slow-cooking tips? For example, a winter stew.

Tamara Holt: Pokey - I think the secret to a great winter stew is having lots of great flavored ingredients that will mingle together in the pot to create a patchwork of flavors. The reason that cafeteria-style stew or those from a can or frozen taste so blah is that there's one flavor that dominates. What's important is to have a really nice balance of ingredients, both in flavors and textures. If you search through the women.com food site (www.food.homearts.com/food) for my "Making It Healthy" column, I did a story on stews which is filled with great tips. But here are a few other ideas -- you don't always have to use the best products or the freshest produce if you want to make a stew more convenient. The flavors blend together enough that frozen vegetables can do quite well. The one thing to be sure of when you are slow-cooking any kind of meat is to make sure that the mixture never comes to a full boil, because at that temperature protein gets tough, so never let it come above a simmer.

ChiChick: What makes a salad a 'winter salad'?

Tamara Holt: As with any other dish when defined by its season, it always has to do with the ingredients available in that season. So, for example, a winter salad may contain cabbage, roasted pieces of squash, apples, or hearty greens. They are also things you would want to eat in that season. Think spinach with a warm dressing, or any salad that is sprinkled with dried cranberries, and the like.

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