Onion

Reader: Just wondering if you've been back to Table 31 since your original 3-bell review. Seems like there's a lot of (deservedly) negative buzz over there with all the menu and management changes. It seems like you're quick to pile on a chain (Del Frisco's) that doesn't live up to the hype, but if it's a Philly guy whose work may have been respectable in the past (Scarduzio) he's given a free pass. Craig LaBan: I'm not a "free pass" kind of critic, and there are plenty of chefs, chained and local alike, who will tell you that past successes do not guarantee future bells.

IN SOME WAYS, it's no surprise that local grocer Jeff Brown was Michelle Obama's guest of honor at last night's State of the Union address. The first lady, who is championing fresh food with a White House vegetable garden, would naturally be a fan of Brown's Shop Rite stores. Brown has brought a number of his supermarkets into poorer neighborhoods that traditionally must rely on high-priced bodegas and convenience stores. This may seem a small thing, but it's revolutionary for a number of reasons: It ensures that poor urban neighborhoods have access to fresh produce and fresh foods.

There is a good Arabic proverb that, like even a bad Arabic proverb, sounds better in the original: Yom asal, yom basal. One day honey, one day onion. When I think about my year as a Peace Corps volunteer in Jordan a few years ago, it's difficult to summon a more suitable idiom than that. As an American in the Hashemite Kingdom, I seemed to field daily grievances about Iraq, Israel, George Bush, Saddam Hussein, and just about anything related to America. "Why send war to Iraq and peace to Jordan?"

Brisket or rib tips The only trouble with the awesome sandwiches on the late-night (and soon-to-be lunch) menu at Percy Street Barbecue is deciding which one to go with. The chopped beef brisket model is - as the name says - a fistful of chef Erin O'Shea's shredded, tangy-sauced, six-hour-smoked brisket, topped with sliced sweet onion rings and kosher dills on Texas toast, which is - unlike the name's implication - thickish, untoasted white bread. The rib tips version has the same get-up, but features toothsome, meaty nuggets from the short pork ribs at the ends of a rack ("pinky" ribs in the trade.

Dress up your dogs with these gourmet toppings. 1 large Spanish onion, sliced thin 1 small can tomato puree 1 cup Heinz chili sauce 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds 1 teaspoon ground cloves 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon bacon fat ...

By Holly Herrick Gibbs Smith. $19.99   I love Southern food and farmers' markets, so I was intrigued when I came across Holly Herrick's new book combining two of my favorite things. The concept of the farmers' market, with its glorious just-harvested produce, did not jibe with my notion of how the traditional Southerner cooks vegetables, mostly with butter, bacon, mayonnaise, and marshmallows. To the book's credit, there are no recipes with marshmallows, but there tends to be some real over-handling of the ingredients.

When your garden kicks into produce overdrive, there's nothing like salsa to absorb the bounty. Throw the ingredients in the food processor and pulse a few times - that's all there is to it. Here are two versions of the classic Italian "green sauce" that will put your fresh-grown herbs to tasty use, plus several other salsa recipes with unexpected ingredients such as plums and curry. These boldly flavored sauces can be used as a dip or to accompany grilled fish, chicken or lamb dishes.

Put your crock pot to good use with these recipes, the first from Mount Airy schoolteacher Maryann Domanska. CROCK-POT POT ROAST 2 pound boneless beef pot roast 1 cup red wine 1 cup warm water, with 1 cube beef bouillon mixed in 1 tablespoon Maggi Seasoning Sauce (or Worchestershire sauce) 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon salt 4 medium baking potatoes, chopped 1 onion, diced 4 whole carrots, chopped 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, chopped The night before: Marinate pot roast in red wine and refrigerate.

This recipe is adapted from "Positively Ageless: A 28-Day Plan for a Younger, Slimmer and Sexier You," by Cheryl Forberg. It is high in omega-3 fatty acids, but low in saturated fat. GRILLED SALMON WITH ALMOND POMEGRANATE SAUCE Sauce: 1 teaspoon olive oil 1/2 yellow onion, chopped 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/8 teaspoon each, ground: cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper 1/2 cup chopped almonds, lightly toasted 1 cup fat-free...