Blog Posts by Andrew Knowlton, BA Foodist, Bon Appetit Magazine

Dear BA Foodist,

I'm trying to make the most of what I have in my cupboard, which happens to be a lot of canned tuna. I've overdosed on tuna salad. Got any other ideas?
Molly Nicks
Austin, Texas

Dear Molly,

A few months back, I decided to take the "Week Without Shopping" challenge led by eGullet, an online food message board. The rules were basic: Make a week's worth of meals using only what you had in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. The goal was simple: Save money and clean out all those forgotten ingredients. I went even further, trying for two weeks. Everything went well until I came to the seven cans of American Tuna (americantuna.com), pole-caught wild albacore tuna packed in San Diego. I quickly e-mailed my friend and chef Chris Cosentino of Incanto in San Francisco to request his bright ideas. He sent me five simple but smart recipes. My favorite, spaghetti with tuna, is below. Inspired by the success of that dish, I've asked four of my favorite chefs for canned

This Labor Day Weekend, think outside the 'cue. Grill these items for remarkably easy, wholly unexpected, and thoroughly delicious appetizers, garnishes, and side dishes.

GRAPES
Small clusters won't fall through the grate and will get even juicier and sweeter over the heat. Serve as a garnish with pork or sausage.
Try this: Beer-Brined Grilled Pork Chops

CHEESE
Briefly grill small wheels of soft cheese (such as Brie) uncut, in their rind, until just melting. Haloumi or queso fresco cheese work as well. Serve with other cheeses and fruit as an appetizer or simple dessert course.
Try this: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Stacks

ROOT VEGETABLES
Steam or parboil root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, turnips, potatoes, or sweet potatoes until slightly tender. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and your choice of herbs. Grill over medium heat until charred.
Try this: Grilled Smashed Potatoes

FRISEE
Toss lightly in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and cook over medium-hot grill just to

Dear BA Foodist,

I recently dined at a certain celebrity chef's restaurant in New York. When asked if the chef was in the kitchen that particular night, the waiter looked at me as if I were joking. "Nope, he rarely is these days,"he said. I don't care that much about getting an autograph, but I do want to get the best possible food. If celebrity chefs aren't doing the cooking, am I being served an inferior meal?

--Derek Catalbo, Portland, OR

Dear Derek,

Surprisingly, quite the opposite. If you see a celebrity cooking in his or her restaurant, politely excuse yourself and go elsewhere. Okay, that's a bit harsh. But here's my reasoning: Many celebrity chefs don't cook. They used to. They still know how, but after years of 15-hour days in the kitchen, the last thing they want is to work the line night after night. It may be disappointing for the Food Network fanatic not to see her favorite chef at his own restaurants, but rest assured, it's not usually the star chef who makes the food

Dear BA Foodist,

When a restaurant's reservationist says, "Sorry, we only have tables available at 5:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.," am I being told the truth? Or, as I suspect, are they playing hard to get?

--Reagan Sims, NEW YORK

Dear Raegan,

As someone who makes reservations on a daily basis and gets this response more than half the time, I understand your frustration. I'll make it worse. No, they are not telling the truth, but that lie is one that must be told, and here's why. A restaurant is a business and must make money, or it won't be around long. Restaurants make money by serving as many covers (restaurant-speak for individual diners) as they can, which is maximized by turning tables (restaurant-speak for how many times a table is reseated) as often as possible. How many covers a restaurant will serve depends on the seating capacity; three turns in one night is very good.

The Top 10 Best New Restaurants in America.

One restaurateur I spoke to said as many as 80 percent of

Grilling is supposed to be fun, easy, and carefree. Alas, too often summer cookouts are ruined by scorched chicken, burnt hands, and frizzled nerves. Anyone can grill, but it helps to learn from the errors of others. Here are the 10 most common grilling mistakes and how to avoid them.

Mistake #1: Forgetting to Prep your Ingredients. Before you even light the grill, make sure all your ingredients are chopped, mixed, peeled and ready to go. (This is called "mise en place"--everything in place--and it's the #1 step for any good cook.) The last thing you want is to be dicing chives as your steaks go up in flames.

How to avoid the flames and other tips for grilling safely.

Mistake #2: Crappy Tools. I'm not one for fancy grilling gadgets, but a few basic tools will do amazing things for your cooking skills (and help you avoid third degree burns): Long-handled tongs; a heavy duty, long-handled spatula; and a few kitchen towels are essential.

Mistake #3: A Dirty Grill Repeat after me:

Dear BA Foodist,

Do restaurants really serve bread and butter leftover from a table to other diners?--Dee Pace, Arlington, VA

Dear Dee,

Why is it that some folks believe all restaurants are secretly out to get us? "The 'daily special' is just a ploy to sell food past its prime." "If you send food back, it'll return with an additional surprise ingredient." "The markup on wine is highway robbery." And then there's the bread-and-butter question, which I get surprisingly frequently. The truth of the matter is that, yes, some restaurants recycle bread and butter.

Everything you need to know about making bread at home.

Disturbed? Disgusted? Before you call the health department let me explain. I've never known or heard of a restaurant reserving "used" table butter or bread to another table, though I'm pretty sure the practice does happen. You need only notice how many people lick the butter knife to know how wrong that is.

Saving leftover table butter or bread for kitchen purposes is a

Dear BA Foodist,

On the cooking shows I watch, all of the chefs are using conventional pans. I have almost all nonstick pans. Which is better to cook with, and why are the professional chefs generally not using nonstick?--Tina Cook, Truckee, CA

Dear Tina,

High-quality nonstick pans are quite useful, especially when it comes to cooking things that have a tendency to--duh--stick, like dishes involving eggs, fish, and dumplings. Every good home kitchen should have at least one for just such preparations.

The Well-Stocked Kitchen: All the cooking essentials you'll ever need.

But home kitchens and restaurant kitchens are not the same thing. Nonstick pans may lack the durability of your average uncoated skillet. Restaurant pans are used and washed several times during the course of a dinner service--nonstick pans could be destroyed pretty quickly under those circumstances. Plus, chefs like to cook with spoons and other steel tools that can mar the surface of nonstick pans. For the same

Dear BA Foodist,

You're the tipping expert, right? Should I tip when I get takeout? What about delivery? Should I give a few bucks extra to the guy who brought me pizza in the rain?
--Jason Thrasher, Athens, GA

Dear Jason,

A few months back, I answered a question regarding tipping at restaurants. The responses (both supportive and downright angry) were many. Tipping policies, it seems, are second only to politics in divisiveness. So, thanks for your question.

Setting the record straight on tipping: How much to leave when dining out.

Living in a big city, I order my fair share of takeout and delivery. Tipping for takeout is easy. Leave a couple of bucks, no matter how cheap or expensive the tab. If you're a regular, it never hurts to give a little more. Delivery is another matter. I know plenty of well-to-do folks who order delivery almost every night and never tip more than a buck and change. That makes me sad, because even though delivery people don't serve you as waiters and