Zucchini, a member of the Cucurbit family, can produce a group of chemicals which create bitterness.

Question: We love zucchinis and cook them several ways. The other day, though, some zucchinis turned out unpleasantly bitter in a dish of sautéed zucchini and onion. Is there any way to lessen the bitterness or perhaps prejudge the condition before cooking? – A West Palm Beach reader

Answer: Zucchini and cucumber are two commonly used vegetables that can sometime be a bit bitter. Both cousins belong to the Cucurbit family, which also includes such favorites as pumpkin, melons, gourds and other squashes. The fault really lies in their gene that causes all cucurbits to produce a group of chemicals called cucurbitacins, the agents that cause the bitterness; the more of these, the more bitter the veggies will be.

By careful breeding selections, modern commercial growers have reduced these chemicals to the point that the slight remaining zing to these veggies has come to be considered as a mark of distinction. And I love it. Any more though and it becomes uncomfortable. At higher levels cucurbitacins can in fact cause physical discomfort, and even serious problems.

The bitterness is more likely to occur in home-grown fruits (yes, zucchini is a fruit) because home gardeners have less control over conditions such as optimum watering, fertilization and monitoring the pH level of the soil than those who grow zucchini and cucumber commercially. Such environmental stress often triggers the undue growth of the bitterness factor.

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Fishing out smaller slices of bread from the maws of the toaster can be a nuisance, even worse if they get stuck. Don’t ever try to pry out a stuck slice with a fork or a metal tong, unless you crave an occasional electric shock to jolt you back to reality.

I found this all-plastic tong at a discount store for $3.99 minus my 10 percent seniors’ discount. It can be used to delve into the toaster’s jaws as well many other duties a sturdy tong can be called upon to discharge, including pulling stuff from toaster ovens.

Making a sauce is not as simple and sure-fire as one may think. Not to speak of the elaborate and time-consuming sauces of the classical French cuisine, even light and simple modern ones may often prove elusive. You naturally want it to be flavorful, and complement the dish that it will go with; but you also want the consistency and appearance to be good enough not only to please your palate but your eyes as well.

A case in point. My wife, Kaisari, made an asparagus sauce the other day – puréed bits of asparagus with some chicken stock, butter and a touch of cream – to be served over braised asparagus spears and sautéed pieces of chicken breast. The sauce had fine flavor, but the consistency seemed somehow off – the puréed vegetable kind of swimming in a rather thin sauce, not quite separate yet lacking the silky appearance and smooth mouthfeel of a well-turned topping.

In a situation like this, there are several avenues of rescue you could take: Thicken the sauce with a slurry of cornstarch or arrowroot; whisk in a few pats of cold butter as the hot sauce starts to cool; or bind it with an egg yolk beaten with some cream and whisked into the hot sauce, off heat.

She chose to accomplish the job with an easier alternative of the third option – beating in a small amount of mayonnaise as the sauce cooled. After all, mayonnaise is a very stable emulsion of egg yolks and oil (preferably olive oil) and some flavorings. Don’t however use low-fat mayo or let the sauce come even near a boil when reheating. Poured over the tender yet crunchy spears of still-green asparagus, the sauce had fine flavor as well as smooth mouthfeel. Mission accomplished! Really!

Question: In the membership warehouse club where I often shop, I couldn’t find any unsalted butter, which I normally use. What adjustment do I have to make to recipes that call for salt-free butter when using salted butter? Is there any other difference between them besides the salt? – K.R., West Palm Beach

Answer: The main reason salt is added to butter is to increase its shelf life, since salt is a preservative. It also may have a flavor role since our palates are used to equate saltiness with flavor. Many recipes call for unsalted butter because of its supposed freshness, owing to a shorter storage time. Another reason is that the amount of salt added during manufacture may vary from brand to brand.

In every other way, there is no difference. On average, about three-eighths of a teaspoon of salt is added to every stick of salted butter. So if you are substituting salted butter, it will come out about even if you omit a quarter teaspoon (which is easier to measure) for every stick used.

NOTES FROM OUR KITCHEN: TOASTER TONGS
Fishing out smaller slices of bread from the maws of the toaster can be a nuisance, even worse if they get stuck. Don’t ever try to pry out a stuck slice with a fork or a metal tong, unless you crave an occasional electric shock to jolt you back to reality.

I found this all-plastic tong at a discount store for $3.99 minus my 10 percent seniors’ discount. It can be used to delve into the toaster’s jaws as well many other duties a sturdy tong can be called upon to discharge, including pulling stuff from toaster ovens.

Question: I use a programmable coffee percolator regularly. Should it be cleaned beyond just washing and rinsing the carafe? If so, how? I have heard of the vinegar treatment, but won’t that leave an odor? – Via email

Answer: Drip coffee makers have many parts, besides the visible carafe, which channels the hot water through pipes, filters and grounds baskets into the jug. Many of these are not accessible to consumers. Over time, components of the ground coffee – including bits of the ground and the oil it contains accumulate on these hidden places and become rancid, giving the brew an off flavor.

The minerals in the water used can also deposit calcium buildup inside, which is even more difficult to clean. Bad buildups can even lead to machine malfunction.

Consider it like the plaque buildup in our arteries if we are nonchalant and careless about what we put into our mouth. Our food, too, goes through all those infinitely more complex pipes and baskets to finally feed our hearts and our bodies.

Keeping the innards clean is thus important for both body and machine, coffee or otherwise. The cheapest and most easily accessible solution for this purpose remains the ancient one: Vinegar. And here, too, it is good for the body as well as the machine. In fact, Mr. Coffee warns consumers not to put anything else in their machines for cleaning except vinegar.

What you do is use a 50-50 solution of water and vinegar (after long neglect, use full-strength vinegar for the first time), fill the water chamber as usual and run the machine through a full cycle. Wait for an hour or two, letting the vinegar minions arm-twist the recalcitrant scales, and then run the machine again through two cycles with plain water, or until the water comes out odor-free. Some parts may also be accessible to a thin flexible pipe brush to dislodge large buildups.

But vinegar unquestionably has a strong odor as well as taste, so some aficionados may demur. For them, odor-free, taste-free commercial cleaners are available, but they can be very expensive. The machines should be cleaned every 40 cycles if the water is hard or about every 80 cycles with normal water.

So if your machines are high-priced and you can afford the cost, go for it. One brand sold by Williams-Sonoma is Full Circle descaling powder or tablets for about $10 a pack, good for two cleanups. For a $15 gadget, you might as well opt for a new one.

As for the carafe, which can get dirty quickly if you hold it in the warming position for long, a tablespoon of neat bleach, swirled around with a nylon pad, will do an instant and thorough job. Just wear gloves and rinse the jug well. Perhaps a dilute bleach-water solution (10 percent bleach) once in a while can be tried; it will be specially effective against any mold or bacterial accretion. But do run enough plain water cycles to get rid of any lingering odor.

Notes from our kitchen: Mechanical food chopper

I am often a pushover for most new gadgets, as opposed to my wife, Kaisari, who is of a more practical persuasion.

So when I saw a mechanical food chopper that was compact enough to be unobtrusive (my wife’s minimum condition), I went for it – at just under $5 with my senior’s discount at Ross.

It has a self-contained cup base to hold the chopped items and a set of sharp stainless steel blades that come down and rotate with every quick push of the spring-loaded top lever.

Dismantling and cleaning kill the fun, though. Give me a sharp santoku anytime.

As promised last week, here is the full recipe for chicken cutlets, as well as some additional hints on how to serve a satisfying meal in quick time without buying expensive store-prepared items. I will offer the tips before sharing our family’s prized recipe.

I assume that any cook who presumes to serve a decent meal would have several items already in the fridge and pantry – such as fresh vegetables like carrots, red and green bell peppers, celery, leaf salad and herbs, as well as potatoes, onions and garlic .

Here are some other items that we always have handy in the fridge: yogurt (I love the rich and creamy Cabot’s 10 percent milk fat Greek-style yogurt; also because it is co-op owned, not by big business; it makes a wonderful lassi, with crushed ice and fresh or frozen mango); a variety of cheeses, including grated Parmesan and bagged shredded mixed cheese; premium orange juice and grape juice (especially if you don’t use wine).

In the kitchen cabinet: canned Swanson’s chicken and beef broths, especially for use as the base for quick soups and sauces (we buy by the case from Costco); cream of mushroom soup for a quick sauce, doctored your way; canned beans, including black, pinto, garbanzo, etc. (for a salad with some cooked rice and sauteed chopped onion); evaporated milk (and perhaps a can or two unsweetened coconut milk, if you are adventurous); canned pineapple; extra virgin olive oil; balsamic vinegar; dried mushrooms, perhaps shiitake.

Here’s the recipe, which is a part of the Indian subcontinent’s Anglo-Indian heritage, the best gift of which to Western cuisines was the original Worcestershire sauce.

Chicken Cutlets

1 pound ground chicken breasts

1 slice good quality old bread, crumbed

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds (optional but preferred)

1 small onion, diced one-eighth inch

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon grated onion

1 tablespoon fresh mint or cilantro, or both, chopped

Salt to taste and generous grindings of fresh black pepper

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 egg, beaten until smooth

Dry bread crumbs, plain or Italian style

Take the ground chicken and crumble into a stainless steel bowl. In a separate bowl, toss to blend the fresh bread crumbs with the ground coriander . Mix in the diced onion, garlic, ginger, grated onion, chopped mint and salt and pepper with the bread crumbs.

Mix the fresh bread crumbs mixture with the ground chicken, lightly but thoroughly, adding the Worcestershire sauce; mix in enough beaten egg to make things hold together, about half an egg or more.

Divide the mixture into 8 to 10 balls on a large plate or tray. Oil hands and work each ball into a flat teardrop-shaped patty, about a quarter-inch thick. Dip the patties into egg wash and dredge with the dry bread crumbs spread thinly on a sheet of wax paper (opened-up empty cereal bags are ideal for this).

Turn the cutlet with a scraper and gently press the crumbs on both sides, and adjust the teardrop shape, which actually gives cutlet its name. (Here, it is best to borrow another pair of clean hands, preferably belonging to your significant other, but older children will do, if you can coax them away from their iP hones or iPads.)

As you shape and crumb the cutlets, place them on a lightly oiled tray (or one lined, with the same wax paper). If you have more than what the tray can hold in a single layer, lay a second deck, with wax paper separating the two. Tray-freeze until solidly frozen, then pack in freezer bags. You can sauté, in a small amount of oil with a pat of butter before freezing, but sautéing later keeps the taste fresher.

The cutlets can be prepared as needed in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil/butter mixture and cooked until golden brown.

In addition to the cutlets, we always have in the freezer some grilled chicken breasts and beef steaks, either done in the pan or outdoors. You can serve these in a host of delectable ways, in sauces or as is, with a quick vegetable side dish.

Gholam Rahman is a former staff writer for The Palm Beach Post. Send questions to gholam_rahman@pbpost.com or call (561) 820-4550 or (800) 432-7595, Ext. 4550.

My wife, Kaisari, and I both enjoy cooking, and do so often. But with so many things to do in our retirement, we cannot find time – or inclination – to cook for every meal. We don’t eat out much, either. And canned and manufactured frozen foods are consistently disappointing, not to speak of being expensive and sub- par in the health department, bar a precious few.

Our solution to this quandary is, and has been for a long time, to cook for the future – that is, to cook enough for several meals. If the food is delicate and won’t freeze well, we will sometimes have the lunch leftover for dinner.

For foods that will keep reasonably well in the fridge for a day or two, we serve it perhaps the next day, or the day following. For others, we freeze in individual two-serving portions as soon the foods have cooled, serving them perhaps the next week or even next month.

Proper freezing, thawing saves quality

If you follow some basic guidelines for proper freezing, their quality will remain acceptably good. It is important that you freeze foods in suitable containers or bags. I prefer freezer bags, because I can press out most of the air from them; it is oxygen in the air that robs the quality of stored food, frozen or otherwise. A vacuum-sealer gadget should work even better.

You also have to know which foods will not freeze too well, potatoes or cream for instance, although they keep not too poorly in puréed soups.

Proper thawing, too, will help save food quality; for most foods, that should be done overnight in the fridge. But certain items should go straight from the freezer to the oven or fryer. Proper reheating is also important; you must know which food can be microwaved, which should be done in the oven and which on the skillet or in the pot. A reliable toaster oven is essential, since you don’t want to fire up the big one for just reheating 2 servings. It not only will save energy but, more importantly, time as well.

Add new flavors and ingredients

When re-serving meals, there is one neat trick you can pull to make the meal appear and taste fresh, or at least fresher – add a new flavor or some new ingredient as you reheat it. It can be just a delicate touch of a new herb or your favorite wine or wine vinegar; or additions such as separately sautéed peas or chopped vegetable or even cooked pasta or rice. A light touch here plays better.

The kitchen cabinet plays a role, too. A good selection of dried herbs comes very handy – not just the basic parsley, which really adds little in its dried form, but more assertive ones such as oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, dill, mint etc., or perhaps an Italian seasoning mix. Lay off the seasoning salt, though.

If you have some fresh herbs such as cilantro, basil and mint (standard in our kitchen), all the better. A bunch of fresh store-bought cilantro will keep fresh for a week, stood up in a tall glassful of water in the fridge; basil much longer, even out on the counter.

Another way of serving a gourmet meal in minutes is to have certain basic foods in the freezer. These can be quickly defrosted in the microwave, or if you are prone to plan ahead, as my wife is, the item or items can be defrosted overnight in the fridge.

Here are some such staples that we have, biding time in the freezer: Well-marinated and barbecued or pan-grilled chicken breast halves that can then be served in a variety of ways: whole with a salad, or sliced and sauced in several ways.

Barbecued or pot-roasted beef (some cheaper cuts offer great flavor), can be served the same way as above. Plain pilaf or its fancier cousin, the chicken pilaf – cooked with nuts, raisins and, of course, saffron – or just plain cooked basmati rice freezes quite well.

The secret weapon: Cutlets

Our secret weapon, however, is what is known in Indian cuisine as "cutlets." They are commonly made with ground chicken, but ground beef can make fine cutlets, too. (For some very special occasion, they are fashioned out of minced prawn, with the tails inserted into the narrower ends of the teardrop shape as decorative handles; they are rarely frozen though.)

To make "cutlets," a little bit of fresh bread crumbs, diced onion, chopped cilantro and/or mint, together with ground spices and Worcestershire sauce are mixed with the ground chicken or meat. They are shaped into thin tear-drop patties and coated with dry bread crumbs.

We tray the cutlets first, then pack them in freezer bags. Take out what you need, sauté them in oil and a pat of butter, and voilà! You have a gorgeous meal that you can serve with cooked fresh or frozen veggies and garlic toasts.

Next week: I’ll give you the full recipe for cutlets, as well as some other helpful hints .

NOTES FROM OUR KITCHEN

Tray-freezing prepared foods first before placing them in freezer bags keeps the items separate. You can then easily take out whatever you need without having to thaw.

To do so: Brush a baking tray with oil, lay a single layer of the cutlets or whatever without crowding; if you have more, lay a second deck on top, separating the two with parchment or foil. Freeze for a few hours until solid, then pack in a freezer bag, taking out as much air as you can.

Question: I have several recipes, and I also see that on cooking shows, where the bits sticking to the pan after meat has been sauted are dissolved with a small amount of wine, and the sauce to accompany the dish is made out of it.

However, I do not want to use wine. What can I use instead that would approximate the result? – A Greenacres reader

Answer: There can be many reasons why one would not want to use wine, an important one being religious restrictions, which is true in my own case. Alcohol is forbidden for Muslims, although there are claims that cooking on the relatively high heat used for the sauce reduction causes most of the alcohol to evaporate. Much of it remains, however, and practicing Muslims eschew its use even in cooking. There can, of course, be medical reasons also.

In any case, There are some viable alternatives. The results may not be exactly the same, but they won’t be too different. It is the caramelized residue sticking to the pan – which is known in French as fond (pronounced fahn) – that gives the sauce its real flavor after the bits have been deglazed with some liquid. And this flavor comes not only from the caramelized bits of meat or poultry but also from the herbs and spices that were used to coat it.

The deglazing liquid really plays the second fiddle. Wine is often used because it not only adds its own flavor but in all likelihood the same wine will be served alongside, carrying the same note . If wine is not your cup of tea, here are some substitutes:

• A flavorful broth – beef broth for a meat dish or chicken broth for a chicken recipe. It can be homemade, made from the beef trimmings or chicken bones. Or it can be canned; our favorite is Swanson’s.
• Water, with a dash of the same herbs and spices that were used for the meat or poultry. Add a pat of butter, or cream, to lend some complexity and body.
• Fruit juices – apple, orange and especially grape juice, which is what wine is made out of. I would add a tablespoon or two of balsamic vinegar to add a bit of bite. Lime or lemon ju ice will work too.

Whichever one you choose – perhaps a combination – thorough scraping of the fond and then reduction of the added liquid will help concentrate the flavor and thicken the resultant sauce. In case you need to thicken it further, use arrowroot or cornstarch.

Q. I have two questions for you: Can you use fish other than cod to make fish cakes? Also, can you use potato flakes or another potato product in place of fresh potatoes? – Estelle F., Delray Beach

A. The short answer is yes to both. Not to speak of the celebrated crab cake, which you may not count as fish, there are a number of other firm fishes that yield very good cakes, among then tuna, salmon, halibut, sea bass, etc.

In fact, cakes can be fashioned out of almost any seafood, including shrimp and lobster, and of course crab .

We serve fish cakes made out of the convenient canned tuna very often. For any fish cake you need something to hold it together, in addition to eggs. I prefer microwaved potatoes, but bread crumbs or even flour can be used. Coating the formed cakes with flour helps hold the shape and develop a crust when sauteed.

For your second query, I would opt for fresh potatoes for most uses, including mashed, but potato flakes and potato flour come in handy for many recipes.

For instance, in the fish cake recipe either the flakes or the potato flour will work admirably. They are often used for thickening sauces and gravies as well. And they can be kept in your pantry for times when you don’t have fresh ones.

NOTES FROM OUR KITCHEN: BREWING TEA

We are tea drinkers. And if you like a full-flavored brew, as we do, tea bags are not a good option. Loose leaves are your cup o’ tea; but cleanup afterward can be a chore .

This $10 clear plastic-stainless steel teapot has a large and deep wire-mesh insert that allows for perfect brewing.

For cleanup, you just pull out the wire cup and dump the spent leaves.

The Super Bowl has unquestionably become a huge international event, sporting or otherwise, with the broadcast reaching more than 200 countries in 33 languages.

More than a third of all Americans will be tuning in on Feb. 5, and the vast majority will be watching at home with family and friends – and with foods galore, mostly of the snacking kind.

In keeping with the event’s growing international appeal, why not include an Indian snack item, the samosas, which are daily winning the hearts of everyday Americans.

It is a deep-fried triangular turnover, and the thin, crispy wrap can enclose many things from meat and poultry to a variety of vegetables, even cheese or sweet fillings.

Here is the recipe for a simple potatoes-and-peas filling that has consistently found favor with my American friends.

Traditionally, the dough is homemade, but the widely available frozen empanada discs work admirably well as the wrapper. This simplified filling works well for everyone.

Vegetable Samosas

Makes 6 to 8 servings

1 10-disc package frozen empanada dough

FOR THE FILLING:

3 medium potatoes

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

1 medium onion thinly sliced

2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

2 to 3 grinds fresh black pepper

Take out the empanada dough; thaw according to package directions. Meanwhile, microwave potatoes until three-fourths cooked. Peel and dice into large pieces; set aside. Heat oil in a skillet and fry cumin seeds until fragrant. Add onion slices and saute, stirring, until lightly browned. Add garlic and pepper flakes; saute 30 seconds more.

Add the peas and salt and pepper and saute for a minute or so until peas are partly cooked. Add the diced potatoes in batches, mixing in gently with the rest, without quite mashing the potatoes. Saute for a minute or two, turning with a nylon spatula until the filling is thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Separate one disc from pack; keep the rest under a damp towel. Roll the disc to stretch about half inch on all sides. Cut it into 2 half moons.

Now comes the tricky part: Pick up 1 semicircle and using both hands, twirl it into a cone, with the middle of the straight side forming the sharp point. There will be a bit of an overlap as one side goes around the other. Press the overlap slightly to seal.

Fill the cone with a tablespoon or so of the potato filling, so it is reasonably full but there is enough room at top for the edges to be sealed. My wife, Kaisari, seals the top with a braided rope design, which looks easy, but try to do it and you will learn that it takes quite some learning, preferably at the feet of your mother while still a child. So, just press the edges between your finger and crimp with a fork.

Once all of them are done and that will be 20 cones, deep-fat fry until just a shade darker than golden brown. If you aren’t up to even making the cones, place the filling on one side of the disc, bring the other side over and seal. You will then get 10 half-moons. Serve them, either way, while still hot, with a dipping sauce, which can be just bottled red pepper sauce. Or make a cocktail: 6 tablespoons ketchup, 2 to 3 teaspoons red pepper sauce and 2 to 3 teaspoons A1 steak sauce.

Recipe by Gholam Rahman.

In last week’s column, in an answer to a question from a Lake Worth reader, we provided basic information on food nutrition labels, including how the numbers are calculated.

This week we look at skepticism over the accuracy of the labels’ figures.

The uncertainty enters from two directions.

For one, these are just averages; but there can be wide variance from one apple to another, depending on the season, soil and fertilizers used as well as variety and weather condition. One fish – even if you narrow it down by species – can differ substantially from another of the same kind, depending on season, water condition, available feed etc.

The other uncertainty comes from the latitude allowed by the regulators to manufacturers – 20 percent more or less either way, which really makes the stretch 40 percent, a big deal.

However, this is absolutely not to say that the nutrition labeling is useless, but just that you should be aware of the possibilities. The information in it is best used as a rough guide and as a tool for comparison with similar products.

For instance, one cereal may have 0 grams of sugar and another 10 gram, or 5 grams of fiber vs. 1 gram. It is important that you learn to read and understand the information.

It is, however, essential that you also read the ingredients listing, particularly so if you have some special health concerns, like diabetes or allergy.

The label may say 0 gram of sugar, but then stealthily list 7 grams of alcohol sugar, which really translates to about half as much or 3.5 grams of sugar.

Manufacturers are required to list even traces of allergic substances such as peanuts. But there may be some catches: "spices" or "flavorings" may hide your allergens – so call or write the company for fuller disclosure.

Don’t get hung up by the nutrition numbers. Use them as a sensible guide and eat everything that you enjoy and can tolerate. But eat and drink everything in moderation, as the legendary New York Times food editor Craig Claiborne used to say. Moderation – that is the key word.

NOTES FROM OUR KITCHEN: SINGLE-CUP BREWER

For brewing leaf teas and tisanes, this single cup brewer is a nifty device.

Its large wire mesh bowl sits deep into the cup or mug and allows the hot water to course through the loose leaves.

Let it sit for as long as you wish; covering with a saucer can aid in getting a darker brew.

When making green tea, I plunge the wire basket up and down several times to get all the flavors out.

To clean the mesh of tea stain, pour a tablespoon of bleach into a cup and place the brewer in; allow it to sit for 15 minutes.

Gholam Rahman is a former staff writer for The Palm Beach Post. Send your questions to him at gholam_rahman@pbpost.com or call (561) 820-4550 or (800) 432-7595, Ext. 4550.

If you watch TV, or read newspapers and magazines, you cannot miss the fact that the growing collective avoirdupois of our population is threatening to weigh down the country under water. That may be a slight hyperbole, but the financial consequences of the health problems this trend is triggering are no less dire. Our self-esteem as a nation is taking a nose dive, too.

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Question: I read somewhere – and I don’t recall where – that you can buy some kind of liquid that you can use to wash away all the chemicals and pesticides from fruits and vegetables. Can you tell me what it is and where to get it? – Marsha F., Palm Beach

Answer: A variety of so-called fruit and vegetable cleaners are available on the Internet and TV shopping networks. And I’m sure you can get some in supermarkets and home and garden shops as well.

Veggie Wash, Eat Cleaner and Ausson Natural are some products I saw on the Net, priced from $4 to about $7 for a 16-ounce spray bottle. Each sport a long list of tall claims that need to be taken with an equally large grain of salt.

And here is what the Food and Drug Administration says: "Washing fruits and vegetables with soap or detergent or using commercial produce washes is not recommended."

Using them may give you a false sense of security, not to speak of wasting money from today’s tight food budget.

Here are some common-sense suggestions:

Pick fruits and veggies with care, choosing unblemished products without cuts and bruises, and avoid overripe fruits. Store them in the refrigerator promptly. Wash them thoroughly under running water; shake off and pat dry tender vegetables and fruits, including salad leaves.

For hard-skinned fruits such as apples, oranges and lemons/limes, rubbing (and I mean rubbing) them dry with a coarse kitchen towel will take off even more of the unwanted things.

If you are squeamish and have the time, soak the things you have suspicions about in a diluted solution of water and vinegar for two to five minutes before washing and drying as stated above.

The wax coating on many fruits, and even vegetables, is also a matter of concern for some. The microthin coating, of FDA-approved food grade wax and other products, is really designed to replace the natural protective oils that normally cover the fruits and veggies but is washed away when they go through the cleaning cycle after harvesting.

The wax coating is difficult to wash away; peel if you would rather avoid it. One caveat: Do not eschew healthful fruits and vegetables just because you imagine that they are tainted and over-processed.

Q. I stewed a chicken yesterday in lots of liquid. We ate the chicken and forgot the wonderful broth, which stayed overnight on the counter. Can that broth be boiled again and safely used, or should it be discarded forthwith? – John, Jupiter

A. There are two considerations here: Does that "wonderful" broth still smell fragrant and appetizing? Or has it developed an off flavor? If it has, discard it pronto, and chalk it up to education.

If it still smells appetizing, the question then will be whether it’s safe. Or have some pathogens found the broth equally wonderful and taken up residence there? In all likelihood, that is the case. At least, we have to assume that it is contaminated.

But all is not lost. You can make the still-fragrant broth safe, too, by bringing it to a rolling boil, as you yourself have suggested. All pathogens should be kaput by that time. But to be doubly safe, hold the boil for a minutes or so. The slight concentration will only make the broth more appealing.