FOOD

While browsing recipes at the station last week, Daniel Gritzer's savory vegetable galette caught my eye. Leeks, mushrooms, asparagus and cheese open-faced in a flaky pie crust. No need to even stop at the store on my way home. I had asparagus and mushrooms still unwithered in the fridge and two thick wintered-over leeks in the garden.

In a recent New Yorker Annals of Gastronomy article, Lauren Collins disagrees with Fresh Air's Terry Gross on the best way to start a conversation. Gross says it's "Tell me about yourself." Collins thinks the best ice breaker is "What time do you eat dinner?" When I mentioned this to Nancy Leson , she said "Sounds like a Food for Thought to me."

Nancy Leson's husband, Mac, has always been the paella maker of the two. But this time around, Nancy wanted to give it a try. Paella is one of those dishes like gumbo or cassoulet that court controversy. There are probably as many paella recipes as there are people who will passionately decry them as inauthentic. So since no recipe will ever please everyone the best bet is always to please yourself. "You know that thing you do when you look at umpteen different recipes and then just do what you

I love world travel if I don't have to leave Tacoma to do it. But after hearing from Nancy Leson about DK Market I'm willing to make an exception and journey all the way to exotic Renton. DK is a cavernous, warehouse-style market on Renton's Lind Avenue offering foodstuffs from a dozen cultures around the world.

Nancy Leson's back from Puerto Vallarta and the wedding of her friends Grant and Martha, which her husband Mac officiated. A lovely time was had by all. But let's get right to the food.

I told Nancy Leson that I'm not interested in eating anything that "tastes like chicken" unless it is chicken. That bird has got to be the most versatile eating there is. In this week's episode Nancy and I do a brief rundown, in no particular order, of some of our favorite chicken recipes. Ready? Saddle up, here we go.

"We've been looking at them and lusting after them for at least a decade." That's Nancy Leson talking about the Big Green Egg outdoor cooker. She and husband Mac had always been put off by the price – some models cost more than $1,000. And that's not including accessories. But Mac's friend Alan and Craigslist came to the rescue. Together, they found a reasonably priced, used BGE, which Mac brought home just in time to roast an Easter leg of lamb. Was it any good?

Like most home pizza bakers I've always lamented the puny 500-degree max on my oven. I've had good enough results using a pre-heated pizza stone, and later even better with my pizza steel , but still I dreamt the impossible 800-degree dream.

Don't settle for anything less than neon green in a hot dog relish. Dick Stein tells how to make your own in this encore Food for Thought.

The sordid secret eating habits of KNKX staffers revealed in this encore Food for Thought. "Stein, what do you eat when no one's looking?" Nancy Leson asked. I turned the question back to her and Leson was firm in her preferences. "It's gotta be fatty, salty, preferably both," she said.