When Consumer Reports recently reported that those bags of triple-washed salad greens are really not pristine, cooks find themselves split into two camps: Those who believed and didn’t wash and those who always felt that “triple washed” didn’t necessarily mean clean.

I’m not as fastidious in the kitchen as some, including a friend of mine. She uses a fork or spoon while cooking, then stops in mid-action to take the utensil to the sink, wash it with dish soap and put it into the dishwasher.  I feel this interrupts the creative flow.

But I do always wash those triple-washed salad greens. Not that I think the packer is lying, that the greens weren’t really washed three times — I just can’t imagine that washing and packing something as delicate as lettuces on such a major scale offers too many opportunities for the unwanted to happen.

The report didn’t find pathogens such as E. coli, listeria or salmonella. But other bad bugs turned up.

“Several industry experts we consulted suggested that for leafy greens, an unacceptable level of total coliforms or enterococcus is 10,000 or more colony forming units per gram (CFU/g) or a comparable estimate. In our tests, 39 percent of samples exceeded that level for total coliforms and 23 percent for enterococcus,” said the report.

I wash salad greens in a roomy, stainless steel colander, splashing them around in cool water and shaking them as dry as I can by hand. Some use a salad spinner and that’s fine. I like to shake as much water off as possible, then repackage the greens in a clean, zip-lock bag. The few drops of water remaining on the lettuces seem to help keep them crisper — at least when you use them in the first couple of days.

That brings us to one of the suggestions in Consumer Reports. In addition to washing the salad greens or spinach, you should look at the “use by” dates and pick up a box where that date is as far in the future as you can find. (I do this with dairy products, too, even though I always have the slightest feeling that I’m cheating by taking the containers further back on the shelf.)

Also, and this is just common sense, try to keep the greens away from raw meat, or unwashed counters or cutting boards. In fact, I’d say that where salad and raw meat are concerned, one might wish to be as meticulous as my friend.

This recipe, says chef Clive Berkman, is perfect as a side for any grilled food.

Potato Pancake

3 large gold potatoes
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided use
3 shallots, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Cut potatoes in thin, round slices (1/8-inch thick). Use a mandolin if you have one.

Melt one-half of the butter in an oven-proof omelet pan and lightly caramelize the chopped shallots. Remove shallots and add the rest of the butter to the pan. Layer the potato slices around the pan so that they completely cover the bottom of the pan. Brush with melted butter, season lightly with salt and pepper to taste. Make another layer of potato slices, brush with butter, season. Now, make one layer of all the shallots. Continue building two more layers of potatoes, brushing each with butter and seasoning, until all of the potatoes are in the pan.

On medium heat, cook the bottom part of the pancake for 3-4 minutes. Be careful to not let it burn. Take pan off stove and put into the oven, uncovered. Bake until potatoes are golden brown, at least 30 minutes (this could vary depending on how thick you cut the potatoes and how big your pan is). Allow pancake to cool slightly. Flip pancake onto a serving platter so that the crunchy bottom side is up. Cut into wedges.

Dress it up: Use truffle butter in the bottom of the pan when adding potatoes.

Makes 4 servings.

Adapted from “Creating Empty Bottle Moments” by Clive Berkman

Get lunch and get back to work with Pavil’s new 40-Minute Express Lunch. Also, check out a brand new menu at Watermark Grill. Many of the Watermark items have been changed, says chef Scott Cohen – and seasonal fish is always the name of the game.

The 40-Minute Express Lunch offers any entrée, entrée salad or sandwich from the menu to which you can add a choice of soup of the day or the Signature Pavil Salad, for an extra $2.95. Just let the waiter know you want the “express.”

At Watermark, says Cohen, the fish offerings on the menu reflect what is currently in season. This is in following with Watermark’s concept of keeping the fish and shellfish offerings as fresh as possible. Look for an array of new items. The 40-Minute Express Lunch also is available at Watermark Grill. Order from a printed, two-course menu.

Pavil is at 1818 N. Loop 1604. Watermark Grill is at 18740 Stone Oak Parkway.

For years, Clive Berkman kept empty wine bottles that reminded him of great celebrations in which he played a part. Now, the Houston chef has put those moments, along with the wines, menus, recipes and stories, in his book, “Creating Empty Bottle Moments” (Baxter Press, $30).

Berkman was at last week’s Ben E. Keith food show in the San Antonio Convention Center, signing books and talking food.  In his book, the restaurant manager/chef and catering consultant reminisces about meals he cooked throughout his career for celebrities, wine makers, sports figures, rock stars and theater greats.

If you like to see recipes in the context of a complete menu, this book offers interesting combinations to help you plan your own meal.  (Here and there some of the recipe ingredients are not exactly in the order of use, though, so it’s a good idea to read through them carefully first.) His recipe for a Potato Pancake is one that serves four and is suggested as a good side for grilled meats.

But what Berkman has done in this book is to share not only triumphs and failures in the kitchen, but the many ways he learned from people he encountered throughout his career. Along with memories he delivers cooking and hosting tips that are philosophical as often as they are technical.

For example, he says, “Waiting is a lost art in our culture. … In the restaurant business and in every other aspect of life, we often find more meaning in the process than in the conclusion. … The conclusion of the meal isn’t the goal. The focus is the entire process involving creativity and interaction.”

Good thoughts for anyone to consider, from a writer who obviously put much thought and heart into creating those “empty bottle” moments.

The food distributor Ben E. Keith filled the San Antonio Convention Center Wednesday with an array of the latest in prepared foods, from appetizers and corn dogs, fried sweet potatoes and deep-fried green beans, tamales and French pastries to fried catfish and marinated steaks.

The annual gathering, from one of the largest full-service, institutional distributors in the nation, also showcased new appliances, packaging and equipment for restaurants and other food service businesses.

Schwan’s Foods was offering tastes of their new pizza with a whole grain crust; Bueno Foods passed out tamales, while another booth showed off a new breakfast product: a pancake rolled around a sausage on a stick, dipped in a cornmeal batter and deep fried. Blue Bell offered ice cream and frozen novelties, including a new Neapolitan ice cream sandwich.

Lamb Weston, one of the largest purveyors of potatoes in the world, put out a plateful of french fries to show how they held up under the hot lamps (very well), and their sweet potato fries. “One of the biggest trends today is the sweet potato. We believe in sweet potatoes so much we’re building a sweet potato plant in Louisiana,” said a representative at the booth.

Matthew Seiler of Maine Root sodas offered samples of his root beer, ginger brew, sarsaparilla and more, all made with organic evaporated cane juice imported from Paraguay. In six years, his lineup has gone from his home state clear across the country. “We’re nationwide now,” he said. (One restaurant that sells Maine Root Ginger Brew is Romeo’s Italian Grill & Bar, 115 N. Loop 1604 E.)

It may seem odd to showcase Pioneer products in the company’s hometown, but not everyone knows the extent of its lineup, said Kelly Crull, who is in charge of foodservice sales for South Texas. “Sure, they know our pancakes, our biscuits and our gravy,” he said. But they might not know the company’s line of sauces, including a cheese sauce that could be turned into a cheese ball.

The event wasn’t all about prepared foods, however.

A stage at the center of the hall was used for demonstrations, talks and a chef competition.

One of the speakers was cookbook author and food critic Robb Walsh, who discussed Texas oysters with chef Scott Cohen of Pavil and Watermark Grill. Walsh later autographed copies of his book, “Sex, Death and Oysters,” which tells of his lengthy love of the tasty bivalves. He also had the galley proofs of his latest book, “The Tex-Mex Grill and Backyard Barbacoa Cookbook,” which is due out in May from Broadway Books.

Each of the events on the stage was broadcast on big screen TVs that could be seen throughout the hall as well as on KeithTube, the company’s new method of using video to showcase products and techniques to customers and consumers.

Jim Smith, a market manager for General Mills, took to the stage to discuss how restaurants can better market their products, from being involved in their neighborhoods to making use of social media.

Restaurants need to use new ways to get the word out about their business. “It’s not by word of mouth anymore, it’s with Facebook, e-mail and Twitter,” he said.

Listening from a table near the stage, restaurant owner Charlie Gonzalez, who owns Chentes Mexican restaurant in Alice, said he was getting  good information from the presentation.

“Nowadays,” he said, “everything is helpful.”

My husband, David, was driving back from Austin a couple of weeks ago and stopped into a wine store to check out the bargains on his way home.

He brought with him two half-bottles of a respectable Chateauneuf du-Pape, vintage 2004, and we opened one. It was very good.  So, on his next trip to Austin he said he’d picked up more of the famous Rhone red wine since the closeout price was an amazing $2.99 a half bottle.

This time he bought more than just two bottles. But when we opened another a few days later, the odor of badly corked wine assaulted our noses instead of the rich aromas we’d enjoyed previously.

Was this a case of “you get what you pay for”?

As I got a fresh glass and poured a different wine, my first thought was that this bottle might be an indication of why the wine was so way-on-sale. Maybe there had been a flurry of complaints at some point, hurrying the remaining inventory on its way to the bargain bins.

Or, was it just proof of the assertion that out of, say, 100 bottles with cork closures, 3-4 are likely to be bad? (Some say as many as 10 will be bad, but there are no statistics to support the statement.)

It is true that half bottles, at 13.5 fluid ounces, age more quickly than full bottles.  This is partly because the size of the cork and neck on a half bottle, and the amount of empty space between cork and wine inside the bottle,  is the same as those on a regular, 27-fluid-ounce bottle. That means the same amount of oxygen is working on half the amount of wine.

But, would corked wine be the result of the relatively higher ratio of air to wine? Isn’t this fault the result of a tainted cork?

We called Don White at Seazar’s Fine Wine & Spirits, 6422 N. New Braunfels Ave., to hear his thoughts.

“That seems to indicate the cork was at fault, unless it was a batch problem,” said White.  “If it was a batch problem, you could get a whole case of wine that had matterized.”  Also, he noted, half bottles wouldn’t necessarily have a higher rate of corkage than whole bottles.

Discussing vintage, White noted that while 2004 wasn’t considered a great year in the Rhone, where this wine was made, it was considered a classic year. A full bottle of Chateauneuf Du Pape would do well with 10 years of aging. This half bottle, at 6 years old, was probably just at the peak of its drinkability.

Considering the price and the fact that it was only a bottle that was bad (so far) we already knew we were well ahead of the game, as White noted.

“You got the wine at way below cost, so if you get a bad bottle or two, just write it off. But I wouldn’t plan a party around it,” White added.

Another point or two…

Thanks to my favorite wine guru, Jancis Robinson, I learned a new wine word today: ullage. Not a term one hears everyday, whether you’re a wine geek or not. “Ullage” is the word for that space I referred to earlier, the trapped air in the neck of the closed bottle between the cork and the wine.

A point on wine ettiquette: If you have ordered a wine at a restaurant and it is corked or otherwise flawed, the sommelier will be happy to open another bottle of the same wine or another wine entirely. If the sommelier opens the wine and you decide that you just don’t like it, however, that’s too bad. You should not expect the sommelier to bring you something else and not charge for the opened bottle.

The first-ever Cocina de las Americas, a one-day community event, will be held on the grounds of the Pearl, 312 Pearl Parkway, on March 14.  Chefs will vie for a prize, competing Iron Chef style, to make the best Spanish Paella, the country’s famous rice dish.

H-E-B/Central Market are presenting sponsors of this community event, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America.  Co-chairs of the event are Chef Johnny Hernandez of True Flavors and Dya Campos, Director of Public Affairs for H-E-B.  The San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and New World Wine and Food Festival also are supporting and promoting the event.

The public is invited to enjoy live entertainment and sampling of food from Spain, including sangria, Spanish hams and cheeses and an array of tapas, or Spanish small plates, prepared by CIA San Antonio students.

All food and beverage stations will be located in the Fountain Plaza. Live entertainment will be in the Main Stage Train area.

Chefs will compete with a full pantry of ingredients while guests can watch the cooking action in full swing.

Proceeds from ticket sales will go toward scholarship opportunities to the CIA San Antonio to benefit local chefs.  A portion of proceeds will also go to the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Office of the Honorary Council to Spain for educational initiatives benefiting San Antonio students.

Admission to the festival is $40. Doors open to the public at 11 a.m., judging is at 1:45 p.m. and the event ends at about 4 p.m. Tickets are $40; $20 ages 21 and under. Tickets can be purchased online at nwwff.frontgatetickets.com and www.ciacocinadelasamericas.com.

On a run to Ali Baba International Food Market for fresh pita bread the other day we picked up a jar of Pulaski Cucumber Salad. The sliced cukes resembled sliced hamburger sliced dills, but had a fresher look.  Fresher is how they tasted, too.

I’ve already picked up a second jar. The flavor is less acidic than pickles, with a little sweetness like bread and butter pickles but far less intense. They are not overly salty or vinegary. In other words, as much a salad as a pickle. But they are really good on sandwiches: chicken or tuna salad, Italian meats and hamburgers, too.  I’m thinking they’d be great on pulled pork sandwiches and served along with barbecue.

The pickles are a product of Poland, but packed in the United States. A 30-ounce jar is $3.99. You’ll find them on the pickle aisle at Ali Baba, down toward the fresh produce end. Ali Baba is at 9307 Wurzbach Road.

Shelley Grieshaber is moving from her post as director of education at the Culinary Institute of America, San Antonio, to take over a newly created position, director of culinary operations, for the Pearl Brewery complex. The announcement was made during a press conference Thursday by Darryl Byrd, managing director at the Pearl.

On March 4, a native Texan and certified master chef, David Kellaway, moves into his new role as managing director for the CIA’s third campus.

Both Grieshaber and Kellaway are graduates of the CIA. Grieshaber is a San Antonio native and 1994 honors graduate of the CIA. She worked as a chef and restaurant owner in New York before she returned to her home town to work at Central Market. She managed its five cooking schools throughout the state before moving to the Pearl to administer its fledgling program here.

Kellaway taught at the CIA’s flagship campus in Hyde Park, N.Y. He has also spent the past 15 years as executive chef and director of culinary operations for operations such as Mirage and Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t say this move was bittersweet,” Grieshaber said, describing her job of the past two years as a “wonderful challenge, a fast and furious roller coaster” that she was happy to be a part of.

Also, said Byrd, “The challenge for the Pearl is to have San Antonio be a culinary destination for people around the country and the world — the best place to be for all things food related.”

Part of Grieshaber’s new job, which has her directly involved in all of the culinary operations at the Pearl, is to work on a mobile vending program to contribute some of the authentic street food culture that has thrived in cities such as Portland, San Francisco and Austin.

“Shelley is stepping into the critical role of nurturing and developing existing elements (at the Pearl),” said Byrd. The Pearl is currently building new facilities at the Pearl, a 22-acre site being developed by Silver Ventures near downtown San Antonio. The school offers a 30-week Culinary Arts Certificate as well as continuing education classes and the annual Latin Flavors, American Kitchens Conference.

The cooking institute will expand from its current 5,000-square-foot facility with one kitchen to a 30,000-square-foot structure, allowing the school to double the size of its Culinary Arts Certificate program. Also under construction along the new River Walk frontage at the Pearl is a new restaurant with chef Johnny Hernandez, also a CIA graduate, at the helm.

Grieshaber’s job will be to work with all of the culinary operations at the Pearl and help develop new ones as well as build  relationships with food-related partners.  There are plans, for example, to pursue a CIA restaurant on the campus, like the school-run eateries at Greystone, Calif., and Hyde Park.

The pancetta, smoky ham and herbs bring a taste of Italy to this hearty white bean soup.  The sun-dried tomatoes add color and a lively acidity. This mellow, nourishing soup recipe is from personal chef Sarah Penrod, owner of the local Chef for Life. Contact chef Penrod at (210) 264-8988.

Tuscan Bean Soup
1 ounce pancetta OR 1 slice bacon, cut in small dice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces smoked ham (1 thick slice from the deli), cut into small dice
¼ cup diced onions (cut in small dice)
¼ cup diced carrots (cut in small dice)
¼ cup diced celery (cut in small dice)
¼ cup thinly sliced leek
4 cloves roasted garlic, mashed
1 bay leaf
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon leaf thyme
1 tablespoon chopped basil
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¾ pound dry white beans, cooked according to package directions OR 2 3/4 cups cooked beans
40 ounces chicken stock
¼ cup minced sun-dried tomatoes
½ cup tomatoes, crushed, with juice
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Place the pancetta or bacon in a heavy saucepan over medium heat with olive oil blend. Render fat, but do not cook meat until crisp. Add onions, carrots, celery and leek and sauté until almost tender.

Add roasted garlic, bay leaf, pinch red pepper, thyme, basil, oregano, cooked beans and stock. Stir ingredients together gently. Bring just to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer over low heat until beans are very tender.

Add sun-dried tomatoes and crushed tomatoes and simmer another 15 minutes. Using a hand blender, purée approximately ¼ of the soup.   (Or, transfer 1 cup of soup to regular blender, blend, then pour purée back into pot.)  Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

Makes 6-8 servings.

From Sarah Penrod, chef, Chef for Life