Vinegar

What's behind the doors of a chef's home pantry? One imagines a cornucopia of fancy ingredients: jars of colorful exotic salts, nun-massaged pastas, and the handpicked stamens of rare plants. In reality, the professional chefs you know and love probably cook with Morton's Kosher, De Cecco spaghetti, and Hellman's mayo when they're off-duty. The irony is that consumers are heading in the other direction. With so much attention being paid to every detail of our restaurant meals, and food celebrities pointing out the merits of gray salt and pomegranate molasses, consumers are looking for the same quality at home, shelling out big bucks for international preserves, artisan condiments, and heirloom grains.

When Molly Rouse-Terlevich, a Bryn Mawr mother of two, goes to clean the kitchen counter, she reaches for a spray bottle.   In it is a solution of half water, half white vinegar. When she cleans the floor, same stuff. The bathroom, same stuff. She runs vinegar through the dishwasher to reduce the buildup from hard water, and adds it to especially dirty loads of laundry. And she's been at it for several years. "We use it for virtually everything except the cleaning that would require slightly more grit," she said.

Dear Polly: Is it safe to use vinegar to clean stains off a fiberglass shower stall? - O.C.T. Dear O.C.T.: Vinegar can be useful for removing rust stains, soap scum and mineral deposits from fiberglass, acrylic and porcelain bath fixtures. However, it's best to rinse immediately with clear water afterward; don't leave the vinegar on for longer than 10 minutes. Some older porcelain fixtures may not be acid resistant. Avoid using vinegar or any other acid on them. Dear Polly: The tip I would like to share is what to do with the little cards that come with flower arrangements.

Dear Polly: The chrome faucets on my bathroom sink are getting a crusty white lime buildup, especially around the faucet handles and in hard-to-reach places. Is there an easy way to clean these areas? - P.L.E. Dear P.L.E.: Help is at hand in the humble but hard-working form of an ordinary toothbrush and an inexpensive bottle of white vinegar. If wiping with a vinegar-soaked sponge doesn't do the job (and those tiny places certainly are hard to reach!), saturate a cloth or paper towel with vinegar and lay it over the crusty places for a few minutes.

Dear Polly: Can you tell me how to remove a shiny spot from each of the knees of my good wool pants? They're not stains, just shiny spots on each knee. - E.P. Dear E.P.: Try this: Sponge the spots with warm white vinegar, then cover with a damp cloth and press with a warm iron. Allow the fabric to dry completely, then brush gently with a soft brush. This should raise the nap of the fabric so the shine disappears. This is just one of the handy household uses of vinegar. Did you know that you can practically clean your whole house with just two kitchen staples - baking soda and vinegar?

Little-known in this country until about 15 years ago, balsamic vinegar has been warmly embraced by American cooks. We drizzle it on salads and steamed vegetables, sprinkle it on sautes, and use it to marinate strawberries. You can find an array of balsamic vinegars in most supermarkets, right next to the cider and wine vinegars. Prices in specialty stores can top $100 for a small bottle, so it helps to understand the origin and subtleties of balsamic vinegar. Unlike most vinegars, which start with fruit juice or wine, balsamic starts with unfermented trebbiano grape must (crushed grapes)

These days, who doesn't like hot? While salsa takes the lion's share of sales, I have a fondness in my heart for the unsung heroes of singe - hot sauces. These have sprung up as a cottage industry around the country, burning tongues and lips from Alamagordo to Albany. But few, very few indeed, are without the tart smack of vinegar within their formulas. Why should the exclusion of vinegar mean anything to the fire-eating public? Well, for most people it won't make a bit of difference, but for those with a yeast allergy, vinegar may just be the condiment they had to give up. Vinegar is full of yeast.

Your great-grandmother probably soaked her yellowed table linens in sour milk to whiten them. Perhaps the child in you recalls seeing stale bread wiped over the wallpaper at Grandma's house to absorb oily dirt. Certainly we're all familiar with club soda as the first and safest choice for surreptitious stain removal at parties and in restaurants. And everyone must know someone with a box of baking soda in the refrigerator. These are just a few of numerous cleanup tricks that rely on food products.

Gardeners throughout the region are taking up arms in the annual war on weeds. And the stakes are high. Weeds take up valuable real estate, hogging sunlight and sucking water away from the plants you want to grow. That can reduce the desirable plants' yield of flowers or fruit. In addition, certain weeds attract insect pests and diseases. Weeds survive by being incredibly adaptive, much more so than garden plants. They produce more seed, which germinates more quickly and under harsher conditions than do those of garden plants.

Judy Street's business is what they had in mind when the term cottage industry was coined. Working from her 19th-century house on a pretty 17-acre farm in Chester County, Street began her little venture in 1975, maybe 1974 - she's not certain. Today, she divides her time among gardens, kitchen and a large chicken coop turned herb house, brewing and sampling her herb-flavored gourmet vinegars and vinaigrettes, marketed under the label of her home and place of business, Apple Pie Farm, in Malvern.

THE ADAGE says "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. " As newlyweds Eric and Autumn Levine discovered, that wisdom also applies to women. "When we first began dating, he made me these delicious scallops," said Autumn Levine. "I knew then he was a keeper, because I don't cook. " An attorney by day, Eric Levine enjoys cooking on nights and weekends. He has fond childhood memories of his mother's honey-mustard chicken and his father's grilling, but he didn't become interested in cooking until he hit college.

Makes 4 servings 12 small to medium leeks, cleaned, trimmed (about 21/2 pounds) 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, or mixture of half sherry vinegar and half white wine vinegar 1 tablespoon Düsseldorf mustard 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt Freshly ground pepper 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon or dill 1 package (8...

Mustard comes in many varieties and flavors, and there can be, as a recent blind tasting proved, an equally wide range of tastes and colors even within a specific type of mustard. Ditto for the wording on the labels, which can read "Düsseldorf," "Düsseldorf style," or say nothing at all, even when the mustard is made in Düsseldorf. You may need to linger in the condiments aisle and read labels to get some idea of what you're buying. Tasters sampled a variety of mustards in the Düsseldorf style.

You say gazpacho, I say salmorejo . . . On the hunt for gazpacho, we spotted something called salmorejo on the lunch menu at Garces Trading Company. Listed as "chilled tomato soup, with egg yolk and Serrano ham," it sounded a lot like the original item. Turns out, it's a richer, smoother version with a velvety texture, and a soft-pink blush. Chef Gregg Ciprioni takes care to add the sherry vinegar just before serving, to avoid gazpacho's worst flaw - an overly-tangy pucker brought on by dousing it with vinegar too early, before the flavors marry.

1 tablespoon bacon drippings ¼ cup sherry vinegar 3 medium-sized yellow onions, sliced thin 4 or 5 sprigs of fresh thyme     1. Cut the onions into thin slices. Add the bacon drippings to a medium skillet and heat over medium heat. When hot, add the onions. 2. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes, then lower the heat a little and continue cooking. After another 5 to 7 minutes, when the onions are golden brown, pour in the sherry vinegar, add the thyme, and stir well.

When Molly Rouse-Terlevich, a Bryn Mawr mother of two, goes to clean the kitchen counter, she reaches for a spray bottle.   In it is a solution of half water, half white vinegar. When she cleans the floor, same stuff. The bathroom, same stuff. She runs vinegar through the dishwasher to reduce the buildup from hard water, and adds it to especially dirty loads of laundry. And she's been at it for several years. "We use it for virtually everything except the cleaning that would require slightly more grit," she said.

2? cups thinly sliced scallions (greens and whites; from 1 to 2 large bunches) ? cup finely minced, peeled, fresh ginger (or use a microplane or other grater) ? cup grapeseed or other neutral-tasting oil 1? teaspoons usukuchi (light soy sauce) ¾ teaspoon sherry vinegar ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste     1. In a plastic refrigerator container with a top, mix the scallions, ginger, oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and salt. Taste and check for salt, adding more if needed.

Di Bruno's now stocks a line of made-with-love goods called Noble, and it's worth sampling all the "tonics" they craft. Number 3 is a Spanish sherry vinegar, aged in bourbon barrels, that bursts with flavor. Number 1 is a smooth maple syrup like you've never had before. Adam at the Italian Market shop drizzled it on nutty cheese wrapped in Surryano ham and changed my cheese plates forever.   - Ashley Primis Noble handcrafted Tonic 3 vinegar, $29.99 at Di Bruno Bros., 1730 Chestnut St., 215-665-9220 and 930 S. 9th St., 215-922-2876, dibruno.com .

This dish provides a winning combination of spicy, sweet, and sour in an impressively short time. The results come from boiling the green beans in rice wine vinegar, and adding ginger, garlic and crushed red pepper. Simple, but delish.   Sour Beans and Minced Pork 3 cups rice wine vinegar 1 pound green beans, cut into 1 /2- inch pieces (or Chinese long beans if you can find them) 1 1/2 peanut oil 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper 1 pound lean ground pork 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce 1. Bring vinegar to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat.

What's behind the doors of a chef's home pantry? One imagines a cornucopia of fancy ingredients: jars of colorful exotic salts, nun-massaged pastas, and the handpicked stamens of rare plants. In reality, the professional chefs you know and love probably cook with Morton's Kosher, De Cecco spaghetti, and Hellman's mayo when they're off-duty. The irony is that consumers are heading in the other direction. With so much attention being paid to every detail of our restaurant meals, and food celebrities pointing out the merits of gray salt and pomegranate molasses, consumers are looking for the same quality at home, shelling out big bucks for international preserves, artisan condiments, and heirloom grains.