The Good Book says Noah was the first man to make wine. Whether he did or not we can't really know, but the grain of truth in the story has the first vineyard planted in far eastern Turkey near the borders of modern Iran and Armenia. We know quite a bit about how wine was made at the beginning: it was a product of the homestead, the result of very simple technology, and was consumed pretty much as soon as it had completed the transition from grape juice to wine. Although we know much less about how the earliest wine actually tasted, we can surmise from the foregoing that it was low in alcohol, a little fizzy, cloudy, and - shall we say -- gutsy.

To get a taste of wine made along these lines today isn't easy - but not impossible. This weekend we found the wine pictured above at Richard Kzirian's retail shop, Violette, newly-reopened at its old location on the corner of Mt. Auburn and Belmont Sts. in Cambridge where it now shares space with Anna Sortun's little coffee and (mainly) take-away gem, Sofra. Allez Goutons (roughly, 'come on, let's taste') comes from Catherine and Domique Derain, whose vineyards in Puligny-Montrachet you may wander here. The wine itself ($15) is made from their biodynamically farmed Aligote grapes, but didn't qualify for the proper designation because it's so . . . well . . . authentique (read: low-alcohol, cloudy, fizzy). As for the taste, my guess is you won't have had anything like it -- at least since you last set foot on Mt. Ararat. We antediluvians loved it.

This is what the updated French's Green Bean Casserole looks like these days, rather than the appealing but sloppy thing my mother put down on every holiday table: cream of mushroom soup mixed with the beans, the crisp onions from a can dotted on top. But we loved every bite and it's still, apparently, one of the top side dishes in America.

In honor of their vegetarian guests, the Prime Minister of India and his wife, the Obamas served a vegetarian menu last night at the White House state dinner -- with plenty of flourishes plucked from the vegetable gardens on the lawn.

Choice of main course: Roasted Potato Dumplings with Tomato Chutney, Chick Peas, and Okra or Green Curry Prawns with Caramelized Salsify, Smoked Collard Greens, and Coconut-aged Basmati. Consulting chef Marcus Samuelsson not only planned a meatless menu, he also had the audacity to serve curry to the Prime Minister of India and a host of South Asian guests.

Bravo to all.

White House Menu, November 24, 2009

Potato and Eggplant Salad
White House Arugula with Onion Seed Vinaigrette
2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Modus Operandi, Napa Valley, California

Red Lentil Soup with Fresh Cheese
2006 Riesling, Brooks "Ara", Wilamette Valley, Oregon

Roasted Potato Dumplings with Tomato Chutney
Chick Peas and Okra
or Green Curry Prawns with caramelized salsify with smoked Collard Greens
and coconut aged basmati
2007 Granache Beckman Vineyards, Santa Ynez, California

Pumpkin pie tart
Pear Tatin
Whipped Cream and Caramel sauce
Sparkling Chardonnay, Thibaut Janisson Brut, Monticello, Virginia

Petits fours and Coffee
Cashew Brittle
Pecan Pralines
Passion fruit and vanilla Gelees
Chocolate dipped fruit

Globe contributor Denise Swidey is an expert baker and makes amazing sugar cookies, which she teaches you to do in this video on how2heroes. Everything she touches turns into something amazing.

I spent Saturday afternoon at Tags Hardware in Porter Square, signing "The New Boston Globe Cookbook," alongside Nathan Hasson, an affable gentleman from Porter Square Books who worked the cash box.

One woman came up to us and bought five books. She was getting a spatula for each one to wrap in the bow and was practically done with her Christmas shopping. Lots of Food section readers stopped by to say hello, which was great fun. We sold lots of books.

Tags also hosted Santa and Mrs. Claus, was giving out freshly popped corn, and the place was packed.

I made hummus from the cookbook, which is a recipe given to me by Emeline Aroush, whose husband owns Aroush Tailors in Cambridge. Emeline's version of hummus is especially creamy and lemony. She uses the liquid from the can of chickpeas to thin the mixture. Add more olive oil, lemon juice, and salt, if you like. It's a wonderful spread.

Hummus
Makes 2 cups or enough to serve 8

1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained into a bowl
1/2 cup sesame tahini
Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
Olive oil (for sprinkling)
Paprika (for sprinkling)

1. In a food processor, combine the chickpeas, 1 tablespoon of the liquid from the can, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and oil. Pulse until smooth.
2. With the motor running, add enough of the remaining liquid through the feed tube, 1 tablespoon at a time, to make a mixture that just holds its shape.
3. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon juice, salt, and olive oil, if you like.
4. Spread the mixture in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle with olive oil and paprika. From "The New Boston Globe Cookbook"

Today, we ran an interview with the rapper Coolio, who has a new cookbook out. It was condensed for space. Here is the extended version, for those who did not get enough of the self-titled Ghetto Gourmet.

Ever since the B-Side, the Cambridge bar with the cool vibe and the hot cocktail scene, closed down last November, beer lovers, cocktail connoisseurs, and barflies of all kinds have been impatiently awaiting the next incarnation of the space on Hampshire Street.

The bar scene buzzed with the news that Daniel Lanigan, who started the beloved Amherst beer bar the Moan and Dove, would be turning the Hampshire Street space into another mecca for beer aficionados. But as the beer community kept an eager eye on the boarded-up space, Lanigan ran into one stumbling block after another. Finally, the stars have aligned, and the new bar, called Lord Hobo, is set to open officially tomorrow. The list of beer on draft is pretty spectacular, and the cocktail menu and food menu look pretty good too.

Let's see if it was worth the wait.

Lights! Camera! A few weeks ago, Channel 7 anchor Frances Rivera and her TV crew came to my kitchen to learn how to make turkey pie. The recipe is from "The New Boston Globe Cookbook," which came out last month.

The pie is great for dinner the day after Thanksgiving. Combine leftover turkey with apples in a nice veloute sauce. Cover it with a biscuit crust, which is baked on its own at first, then again on top of the pie; it's beautifully flaky.

Watch for the segment on Frances's "The Dish" on Thursday Nov. 19 at 10 p.m. and Friday Nov. 20 at 5 p.m.

(Yes, she is as beautiful as her photo, and a real sweetie.)

Turkey pie with apples and biscuit crust
Serves 6

The crust for this pie, which is based on leftover roast turkey, is baked separately from the filling, so it doesn’t get soggy. It’s a biscuit dough with lots of fresh parsley. Roll it out so it’s the same shape as your dish (round, oval, rectangular), bake it on a sheet, then finish the baking on top of the creamy turkey pie. The recipe comes from the Dorset Inn in Dorset, Vt.

CRUST
Butter (for the dish)
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup whole milk, or more if necessary
Extra flour (for rolling)

1. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Have on hand a deep 10-inch baking dish. Butter it lightly. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and shortening. With your fingers or the tines of a fork, work the mixture together until it resembles sand. Add the parsley and 1/2 cup of the milk. Use a fork to work the liquid into the flour mixture to form a moist dough. Add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary to form moist clumps.
3. Transfer the clumps to a floured counter and knead lightly, adding a little more flour, if necessary, to shape the dough. Roll the dough into an oblong or rectangle (it should be the same shape as the baking dish). Carefully lift the dough onto the baking sheet.
4. Bake the dough for 10 minutes or until set. Set side to cool.

FILLING
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 leek (white part only), finely chopped
4 cups cooked turkey meat, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage or parsley
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup apple cider
2 cups turkey or chicken stock
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a small skillet, melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Cook over medium heat, stirring, for 5 minutes or until it is golden brown. Set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion, celery, and leek. Cook the vegetables over medium heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until they soften.
3. Stir in the turkey, sage or parsley, apples, and cider. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer the mixture for 5 minutes. Transfer to the baking dish.
4. In another saucepan, bring the stock to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer. Whisk in the butter-flour mixture, salt, and pepper into the boiling stock. When the sauce is smooth and thickened, pour it into the turkey and vegetables.
5. Set the biscuit crust on the filling.
6. Bake the pie for 35 to 45 minutes or until the mixture is bubbling at the edges and the crust is golden brown. Adapted from “The New Boston Globe Cookbook”

I recently re-reviewed No. 9 Park, which the Globe hadn't reviewed since it opened.

I just stumbled on this Chowhound thread, in which No. 9 does not get a lot of love.

A few points in the discussion struck me. But I'll stick to one: the assertion that there was no real reason for me to re-review the restaurant.

I'm curious what you think about this. Personally, I'm a firm believer in re-reviews. When a restaurant opens, the folks operating it know critics will be visiting for the first few months. But after more than a decade without a review, what's to keep a restaurant on its toes? This is precisely when reviewers should be dropping in to assess whether a restaurant that charges a lot of money has any right to still be doing so.

Should reviews exist solely to critique new restaurants or ones that have recently undergone tangible change? To re-review or not to re-review: What do you think?

Coppa was supposed to open last night. I did a drive-by. People were in there, but they were messing around with boxes, not serving up charcuterie and pasta (despite this Food & Wine story that puts its opening in the past tense).

Meanwhile, the long-awaited bar/restaurant Lord Hobo promises to open tomorrow. Will it? You can click here to find out.

Woodward, in the Ames hotel, once had Nov. 18 as its opening date, too. (This just in: The launch party is Nov. 19, and it opens to the public Friday.)

Stoddard's Fine Food & Ale is slated for a Dec. 3 opening.

And Bistro du Midi was aiming to open this month. [Addendum: It's now set to open Nov. 23.]

Anyone want to place a bet as to which will open first?

These are Cortland apples, cored and stuffed with walnuts, cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter, then garnished with a piece of cinnamon stick. Pour a little OJ around the edges and baste them during cooking with the juices in the pan. Sometimes we eat them with yogurt (for lunch!), or drizzle with heavy cream (the baking juices taste like caramel), and last weekend we spooned lightly sweetened fresh ricotta beside them.

There's hardly any prep involved in making them, so they beat apple pie, apple crisp, and apple brown Betty by a mile.

Baked apples with cinnamon and orange juice
Serves 6

6 Cortland apples
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, cut into tiny pieces
1/2 cup orange juice
6 pieces cinnamon stick

1. Set the oven at 350 degrees. Butter a 12-inch baking dish.
2. Core the apples but do not peel them. Set them in the dish.
3. In a bowl, combine the sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, and butter. With a small spoon, press some of the mixture into each apple, packing it in. Pour the orange juice over the apples. Set a piece of cinnamon in each one.
4. Bake the apples for 40 to 50 minutes, basting them with the juices in the pan, or until they are tender when pierced with a skewer. From "The Way We Cook"

That crying you heard in the frozen food aisle wasn't from whiny kids. It was from parents reeling from Kellogg's announcement that a flood in its Atlanta bakery is causing a shortage of products, including Eggo waffles, that might not be restored until the middle of 2010. The link is here http://www2.kelloggs.com/general.aspx?id=3006&terms=eggo but in the meantime we thought we might help the mourning, er, morning routine with a helpful list.

7 other things children should drizzle syrup on while waiting for their waffles:

7 The most annoying noisemaking toy they have. Let them go crazy with the syrup, then sadly explain why it has to be tossed when it curiously goes silent.

6 That 3-year old laptop: Finally, an excuse to get that MacBook Air.

5 Mom's keys: The stickier they are, the harder to lose them.

4 The toothbrush: If that doesn't get them to brush their teeth, nothing will.

3 The alarm clock: Finally, a legitimate excuse for missing that morning meeting.

2 Kevin Faulk's fingers: Without that bobble, Bill Belichick is still a genius.

1 Belichick's playbook: If the pages stuck together, maybe he punts. (Nah)

Posted by Doug Most

I never like pumpkin pie until I made this version from restaurateur Lydia Shire. It's perfect in every way, especially in a simple homemade crust. Look for the recipe in Wednesday's food section, which offers an economical Thanksgiving menu.

I prepped this one late last night, then baked it early this morning. When I get home, it will be sitting on the kitchen counter. Then I have to decide whether to dig in or give it to my neighbors.

Probably both.

This guy is funny but I don't think he's joking. Watch this video.

Tune in Wednesday, 11/11, at 11 a.m. to talk about food and restaurants. (And at 11:11, we can all make a wish.)

I was fiddling with potatoes to decide what to make for Thanksgiving. These are crisps that are quite amazing. You don't have to do anything to them. They're russet potatoes, which are scrubbed, dried, sliced, and drizzled with oil, salt, and pepper.

They're homely before they go into the oven:

Roast them in a hot oven (425 degrees) for 25 minutes, turn with a spatula and continue roasting for 25 minutes, and you get the crisps.

More homely food that turns golden and delicious:

These are plump turkey thighs ($2.99 a pound, each of these weighs about 1 pound, which means 2 for less than $6; that's a good value). They roast nicely and because it's dark meat, they stay moist.

Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and some herbes de Provence or a mixture of dried rosemary, thyme, and oregano. Broil them close to the element for 10 minutes to crisp the skin, then lower the oven temperature to 425 degrees and roast for 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (not touching the bone) registers 180 degrees.

If I ruled the world, I'd make Thanksgiving a monthly holiday. Or at least order everyone in my kingdom to roast turkey every month. And invite a crowd. And have some fun.

I got to the end of the large dish of roasted vegetables (above) and they were looking pretty dreary. They needed a new identity.

I chopped the vegetables coarsely, put them in a pot with lots of chicken stock and a can of white beans, and brought it to a boil. It didn't need a bit more cooking. In the bowls, I sprinkled the soup with crushed red pepper and parsley. The miracle of reinvention.

Icelandic lamb arrived at Whole Foods -- it's in season for another month. I eyed it skeptically (I love American lamb and also like supporting American products). The shanks were half the size of the American shanks sitting beside them. Both cost $5.99 a pound.

But I was too curious about the taste to pass up the little Icelandic shanks. New Zealand lamb is also small and, I think, tasteless. American lamb can have a sheepy quality, which I happen to like.

I braised these shanks in tomatoes and white wine. When you use red wine with strong-tasting meats, I think the sauce becomes too intense. I cooked them for 1 1/2 hours, added a couple cans of white beans, and continued cooking for another 30 minutes. I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I like them.

Braised lamb shanks with white beans
Serves 4

4 lamb shanks
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, cut into slices
1 large Spanish onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 can (14 to 16 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, crushed in a bowl
1 cup white wine
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini beans
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

1. Set the oven at 400 degrees.
2. Sprinkle the shanks all over with salt and pepper. In a large flameproof casserole over medium-high heat, heat the oil and when it is hot, set the shanks in the pan. Brown them without moving for 3 minutes. Turn and brown another side without moving them. Continue until the shanks are browned all over. Remove them from the pan.
3. Add the garlic, onion, salt, and pepper to the pan. Lower the heat to medium and cook the onion, stirring often, for 8 minutes. Add the cumin and allspice. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the tomatoes, wine, and water. Turn the heat to high. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the mixture comes to a boil. Return the shanks to the pan. Add the bay leaf. Cover the pan and transfer to the oven.
5. Cook the shanks for 1 1/2 hours or until they are almost tender.
6. Add the beans and stir them into the liquid in the pan. Recover the pot and return it to the oven. Continue cooking for 30 minutes or until the shanks are very tender.
7. Discard the bay leaf. Sprinkle the shanks with parsley and rosemary. Sheryl Julian

On Nov. 4, the casting team from Magical Elves is coming to Boston to meet applicants for "Top Chef" and "Top Chef: Just Desserts."

Of course you need to be able to work with a camera in your face and have enough personality to get selected. In order for the casting experts to measure this, you need to send a video and a bunch of application stuff to Bravo, or do all the preliminary work and present it to the team on Wednesday.

They'll be at the Westin Boston Waterfront from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can always go online to submit an app (video deadline is Dec 4, www.bravotv.com/casting) but an appearance at the casting call gets you a mini interview.

Sharpen your knives.

When a press release went out announcing the impending opening of Stoddard's Fine Food & Ale, it created a bit of an outcry. It read, in part: "Finally, the gentlemen-only Friday Club at STODDARD’S, on the lower level with a private entry reminiscent of a speakeasy, may quite likely become the city’s most sought-after membership (by invitation only)." Some folks didn't like that gentlemen-only idea much. You know, people like the ACLU and NOW.

It turns out Stoddard's may never have intended the Friday Club to be men-only. The owners say the press release misrepresented their intentions. To clarify things, they've invited the ACLU and NOW over for a beer summit. Stay tuned to find out whether the offer is accepted.