Q: I've been reading recently that red wine is very good for us. I can't drink anything alcoholic without getting a bright red face. Could you tell me if the benefits of red wine are spoiled if you use it in cooking? --Barbara Malley

A: First off, there is recent evidence that red grape juice contains many of the same health benefits as the wine, but in lesser concentration, so you might want to start your day with a glass of grape juice rather than end the evening with a glass of wine.

While cooking does alter some of the healthy aspects of red wine, the main issue is quantity. Studies I've read all focus on "a glass or two" of wine a day, and other than straight wine sauces, very few recipes call for that much wine. You're simply not getting a large enough "dose" by using it in cooking.

Just tell folks that red in your cheeks is the flush of good health!

Q: What am I doing wrong? Every time I make chocolate chip cookies, they come out of the oven very flat. They taste great, but they are always flat. --Debbie

A: This time of year, especially south of the Mason-Dixon line, the most common cause of flat cookies is warm dough. When I make my chocolate chip cookies, which are famous among the staffers at my wife's office, I stick the cookie dough in the refrigerator, covered with wax or parchment paper, for an hour before cooking, and stick the dough bowl back in between batches. When your dough is warm, the fats liquefy and spread too quickly, leading to those flat creations.

Also, make sure you put your cookies on a cool cookie sheet. Never, ever take oven-fresh cookies off a sheet to cool and then immediately load that sheet back up with dough. Run some cool water on the back of the sheet to cool it off or, better yet, use two sets of sheets, so one can be cooling while the other's in the oven. This also saves time in the long run, as you can have another batch ready to pop in the oven the second one comes out. We'll talk more about this in "Short Orders" as holiday baking time approaches.

Q: How can I get the chili piquin to grow in Louisiana? They grew wild in South Texas where I lived for years. Each year the wild turkeys would eat them until you could actually get a taste of the chili in the meat. I have never been successful growing them. Thanks. -- Doc

A: The difference lies in the climates and soils you find in South Texas and Louisiana. The soil in South Texas is generally a sandy loam, with not much in the way of organic nutrients. In Louisiana, you get the "gumbo" mud, rich in organic matter but very hard for the feeder roots of the chili plant to punch through.

The climates are both warm, but the soupy, humid heat of Louisiana, especially anywhere near the coast or the Atchafalaya Basin, can lead to fungal problems for many pepper plants.

I'd recommend trying to grow them in five-gallon buckets, with holes punched in the bottom and a good layer of rocks or cracked clay pots in the bottom for drainage. I live in Houston, with a very Louisiana-like climate, and grew the best crop of bell peppers I'd ever seen by this method. Make your planting mix half topsoil and half sand. Do NOT use potting soil. Treat with a systemic or topical fungicide that's rated as safe for vegetables per package directions.

One note for those of you who decide to try this: should you find a colony of orange-red spider-looking creatures with black spots on their backs hiding among the branches and peppers, do NOT reach for the insecticide. These are assassin bugs, and they do yeoman work in keeping your plants free of all the nasty sucker insects and leaf-munchers that can ruin a crop. There are, in fact, many different species of assassin bugs, so it's a good idea to have an insect reference guide to check before you start spraying willy-nilly.

Got a question for Ask The Cook? Send it in and we'll get to work!