Welcome back to Table Talk, where Daily Memphian food and dining editor Jennifer Biggs sends the latest food news (along with a dash of this and that) to your inbox every Wednesday.

We’ll have to bid a goodbye to these relatively warms days of the past week because the high on Thursday is 29 degrees, and we’ll have nights in the 20s and days in the 40s for the next 10 days or so.

This is when, in the good old days of early 2020 and before, it was time for a few days on a beach to enjoy the sun and sand and come back with a little tan on our faces and rejuvenated, ready to ride out the rest of what we call winter for another six weeks or so.

Jennifer Biggs: New Eats: Horn of Africa brings Ethiopia to Summer corridor

If you’re traveling, no judgment from me. I wish I was too, but it doesn’t seem right for me just yet. So here I am, warming my soul with soup instead of the sun.

A poor substitute indeed, but I know you like it too, because I see your photos on Facebook, whether on our Table Talk page or on your own pages. Some of you like soups in the slow cooker, which has the benefit of making your house smell like simmering beef stew all day. Some of you prefer something quick, a wonton soup with a few vegetables added to the broth.

Lentil soup (Credit: Fudio / Getty Images)

I say me too — I like it all and don’t forget the pressure cooker. I’m not one for a Crockpot, but I love low and slow cooking. I usually start a stew on the stovetop, then move it to the oven to cook at about 300 degrees for a few hours. Try your red beans this way next time you prepare red beans and rice, and once you use this method for beef stew, you’ll never cook it another way.

I see that Superlo has chuck roast on sale this week for $4.99 per pound. That’s beef stew in waiting, or you can have pot roast the first night and repurpose your leftovers for beef stew for another.

Michael Waddell: New barbecue restaurant to open in The Lake District

This brings to mind a family recipe for something we call barbecue stew, made with leftover barbecue and whatever vegetables you have handy. My grandfather could take the tiniest bit of leftover pork or beef and stretch it with potatoes, onions, lima beans, corn, carrots — whatever — to a no-waste stew that always varied except in this regard: It was always served with coleslaw, and for some of us, that meant a dollop on top.

A few years ago, I came across a recipe for a German beef stew that called for a coleslaw made with caraway seeds to be served on top. I made it a time or two, we loved it, but it somehow fell out of the rotation. I can’t find it online, but I’m including a link to a beef stew recipe at onceuponachef.com, which website creator Jenn Segal says is her most popular recipe. If you want a new experience, try it with a simple mayo-based coleslaw on top, sort of like a dollop of potato salad in gumbo. It was clear to me this week that Memphians love their coleslaw.

On Table Talk, a member asked where she could find the best takeout coleslaw. I expected no answers, because it’s just so easy to make that I never think about buying it. Let’s just say I didn’t exactly read the room, as the replies were enthusiastic and plentiful: Payne’s, Elwood’s, the Rendezvous, Germantown Commissary, KFC, Pirtle’s and so on. Superlo was recommended by many, but I loved this detailed reply from Lisa Ortosecco:

“Superlo Foods, when the dressing is runny. I love this store, but they are not consistent, so if you pick up the package and the dressing is a little runny, get it, if it’s not runny, then there’s too much mayonnaise in it. Trust me, I’ve mentioned it to them a time or two.”

Jennifer Biggs: Never Have I Ever series launches with Coletta’s barbecue pizza

If you haven’t joined Table Talk yet, it’s never too late. You’ll get to look at great photos from members, ask and answer questions and find links to stories.

One thing you’ll see is that folks are always excited about Summer Avenue, a place that seems to connect all Memphians. I wrote about Horn of Africa, an Ethiopian restaurant in the small strip center with Kay Bakery, and people were happy to know there’s a (not really that) new place along the Summer corridor. 

Combination platter at Horn of Africa includes a variety of vegetables served on injera. (Jennifer Biggs: Daily Memphian)

(And I had some killer lentil soup made with my leftovers from that meal. This isn’t that, which wasn’t a recipe at all, but it’s a good lentil soup recipe nonetheless.) 

Victory Lane BBQ will open a restaurant in The Lake District, reporter Michael Waddell tells us. It’ll be a big place at 6,500 square feet and seating for about 250. 

And I want you to jump on this, because it’s fun now and should remain so for a long time; I think it has legs. We launched our Never Have I Ever series with a visit to Coletta’s for barbecue pizza, a first for me. On this week’s Sound Bites, Chris Herrington and I talk about this project and how to order a Jerry’s snow cone. 

Jennifer Biggs: You never what? Jennifer and Chris talk about the Never Have I Ever list

Help us out? Last month, I published a recipe for the bread pudding from Café Roux. A Table Talk member had a copy of the recipe pamphlet chef/owner Michael Cahhal used to sell at the restaurant and shared it, but reader Mary Durham says the recipe calls for way too much bread.

I confess I could add the making of bread pudding to my Never Have I Ever list, so nothing jumped out at me as obviously wrong when I printed it. But upon review, I think it does sound like a lot of bread, and a little iffy in measurement as a 24-inch loaf doesn’t take girth in account. Has anyone else tried it? If so, comment or email me and tell me how it worked for you or how you adapted it to make it work. I’ll run it by a chef, too, and we’ll adjust the recipe as we get answers.

And finally, because really, when was the last time you had haggis? Reny Alfonso will make lamb haggis for a Burns Night supper at Celtic Crossing, poetry will be recited and whiskey will be served. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Guinness or two gets involved. Burns Night, sometimes called Burns Supper, is an annual event that takes place on Scottish poet Robert Burns birthday. What you might not find every year is bagpipers, but they’ll be at Celtic Crossing on Jan. 25; get your tickets here. And I’m not kidding about the haggis. I bet it’s going to be delicious, too. 

Are you hooked on Wordle? I warned you it could lead to the more time-consuming Spelling Bee, and this also comes with similar caution: HelloWordl is a Wordle copycat with an additional benefit or a dangerous drawback; which one all depends on you. This is not a one and done. You can play again and again, miss hours of sleep if that’s what you want. Enjoy in moderation. 

.....