Mark Hughes is doing his best to not sound like a condemned man.

The likelihood is, however, that he will be axed as Manchester City boss if results don’t improve soon.

Having spent £200million in the transfer market, Hughes is understandably under pressure to deliver.

And City’s disappointing run of late has put a question mark against the former Manchester United star’s future.

City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and his colleagues won’t have been impressed with a sequence of seven straight draws.

Before the start of the season, some went as far as suggesting that City could make a challenge for the Premiership title.

That prediction was always going to be a non-starter, but the Champions League appeared to be a realistic aim.

Hughes is trying to put on a brave face, insisting that City are “very much in the mix”.

But the truth is that they are 14 points behind leaders Chelsea and have been held by the likes of Hull City, Burnley and Birmingham City in recent weeks.

Ominously for Hughes, they face Arsenal in the Carling Cup and Chelsea in the Premier League this week.

Defeats in both matches could result in there being a change of manager.

If that happens, expect a high-profile figure taking charge at Eastlands.

The highly respected Guus Hiddink, who enjoyed his time in the Premiership at Chelsea, could be a leading contender.

Then there’s Roberto Mancini, who’s on good terms with chairman Khladoon.

And don’t forget Jose Mourinho, who would no doubt love the challenge of trying to topple his old adversary Sir Alex Ferguson as the top dog in Manchester.

Meanwhile, didn’t you just love Hull’s celebration following Jimmy Bullard’s penalty against City on Saturday?

It was also great to hear that Tigers boss Phil Brown laughed at the re-enactment of the ticking off he gave to his players in the corresponding fixture last season.

I’m sure many neutrals–me included–would be delighted to see Hull survive for at least another season in the top-flight.

–Nick Johnson, Red U.K. Editorial Staff

My irritation with BSkyB knows no bounds.

At six o’clock yesterday evening, I switched on to Sky Sports 1 in eager anticipation of watching arguably the greatest club fixture in world football.

Battles between Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid are always entrancing.

They represent so much–a clash of ideals, as well as an intense sporting rivalry between the two greatest clubs in La Liga and the country’s two biggest cities.

But even for a fixture that has few genuine parallels, this season’s first Clásico at Camp Nou, Barcelona, was special.

Barça are, as Manchester United fans will tell you through gritted teeth, champions of Europe.

And Real Madrid spent a vast fortune this summer recruiting superstars like, as United fans will tell you through gritted teeth, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Forget the derbies in the Midlands, Merseyside and London.

El Derbi was undoubtedly yesterday’s most important sporting event.

But imagine my horror at discovering that Sky had relegated the first half of the match to its red button interactive service.

So those of us who get Sky through cable, not satellite, saw only the second half.

What august sporting spectacles were deemed so important that El Clásico was bumped off my screen?

Across the four Sky Sports channels, we had Andy Gray pontificating, live NFL, golf highlights, and a re-run of Australia murdering the West Indies in the first Test.

Unmissable, riveting stuff–I don’t think.

At least the American football was live.

And at least the Derbi’s only goal, scored brilliantly by Barcelona’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, came in the second half.

Barça are now top of La Liga, two points ahead of their great rivals.

Back in England, Chelsea look unstoppable.

I’ve felt from the outset that they would win the title.

The Chelsea squad has remained largely unchanged, while their main rivals have to contend with the loss of key players through injury and outgoing transfers.

Sunday’s 3-0 win at Arsenal gave the Blues a five-point lead over champions United at the top of the table.

Mind you, it was a strange scoreline, considering how Arsenal dominated for long periods.

Their manager, Arsène Wenger, should have one word to say to his players this week: shoot!

Nobody in England, and few teams in Europe, play more attractive football than the Gunners.

Arsenal often play as if they think that a beautiful goal will somehow count double.

But pretty patterns don’t win matches.

–Rob Wightman, Red U.K. Senior Sports Writer

With the regular season nearly over, we now have a full slate of games under our belts, and a full cupboard of NFL prospects to drool over. The most loaded position this season seems to be wide receiver.

Some of them will be superstars, and some of them will be busts. But almost all of them remind us of somebody else, and if any of these players hit their ceiling, it might look a little bit like this.

Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas: Plaxico Burress. The length, the reach, the ropey physique; Briscoe’s got it all. Neither player is usually the fastest receiver on the field, but both have uncanny abilities to go up and grab balls out of the air away from undersized defensive backs. Like Frankenstein mash-ups between down-field and slot wideouts, they can reach any ball, while also making the tough, short-yardage catches over the middle of the field.

Danario Alexander, Missouri: Randy Moss. Admittedly, this is an impossibly lofty comparison–that is until you see him play. Alexander has the size, strength, hands and breakaway speed to warrant the Moss talk. In one season, he has gone from an obscure back-up to Jeremy Maclin to not just the best receiver in a conference loaded with elite receivers, but perhaps the best receiver in a country loaded with elite receivers.

He’s done it all in 2009. Grabbed seemingly uncatchable balls out of mid-air over the center of the field, ran away from all the defenders after making them, score at will. He’s also got the size (6-5), that you, as they say, cannot teach. While his profile is much lower than any of the other players mentioned here, his ceiling is likely the highest.

Golden Tate, Notre Dame: Wes Welker. In some strange way, this may seem like it is selling Tate short. Tate, after all, has manhandled his competition this season. That’s not something the methodical Welker is known for. Of course, Welker has also been one of the NFL’s most unstoppable wideouts the past three seasons. Still, at the end of the day, he is a “possession” receiver. Someone who moves the chains, not someone who grabs touchdowns out of the sky like Randy Moss. Not always the sexiest job.

But while Tate has played the Moss role much more than the Welker role in college, that isn’t his future in the NFL. Why? Because of one universally discriminating statistic: his height. He’s only 5-11. Welker is 5-9.

But again, back to why potentially being the next Wes Welker, and not the next Randy Moss, is still an exceedingly good thing, and nearly as important. For starters, Welker has 302 catches in his past 40 games. 302. As you may have realized, that’s an astounding number. Second, arguably no player has been more important to the Patriots these past three seasons than Welker. When he was out of the lineup earlier this season, Tom “Terrific” Brady scuttled, and the Pats did not dominate.

Third, Tate is like Welker in a lot of ways, but in a few important ways he’s not. Namely, he’s got more speed and athleticism than even the shifty Welker could ever dream of. Couple that with his Welker-esque steel trap hands, and we have a very productive future NFL player on our hands.

Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State: DeSean Jackson. This comparison is based on only one thing. It’s not size–Bryant is far bigger than Jackson. It’s not speed–Jackson, relatively speaking for WRs, is much faster than Bryant. No, it simply comes down to big plays.

While Jackson is now known for his amazing big-play potential for the Philadelphia Eagles, Bryant was on his way toward being known for such a thing at Okie State before his suspension this season. For his college career, Bryant averaged over 17 yards per catch. Jackson’s NFL and Cal averages are startlingly similar. Bryant won’t be a possession receiver like Tate, and he might not dominate games like Briscoe and Alexander, but he can change them with one play, and that’s something in strong demand at every level of the game.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

What sports fan does not love this time of year: Food, family, alcohol and enough sports to give me couch sores.

So, while I open adult refreshment and settle into my 20th straight hour of watching sports on my couch, I want to take some time out and reflect five things I am thankful for in professional hockey.

#5 the Chicago Blackhawks

Considering the fact that this team was almost dead in the water a few years ago, they are strong, young and most importantly a completely rejuvenated franchise.

Five years ago, they were voted ESPN’s worst franchise; “Dollar” Bill Wirtz was running the franchise like a third world dictatorship (and not the fun ones that we vacation in), they had no television broadcasting, and as a result, almost no more fans.

Along came Dale Talon as GM, John McDonough as president and two first round draft picks (Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews) along with some great free-agent pickups and this franchise has the hockey world–and especially Chicago fans–re-energized and eager to see this franchise back to its original six glory.

Keep an eye out for their game tonight against LA and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

#4 A whole bunch of Wayne Gretzkys

Growing up in Montreal meant it was my birthright to be a die hard Habs fan, however, not even the psychotic love Montrealers hold for their hockey franchise was enough to sway the influence that “The Great One” had on my young hockey life.  Every kid growing up and playing hockey at that time wanted to be him and was a fan of the team he played for.

Wayne was hockey during that period.

Fast-forward to today: the face of the NHL is mostly on the shoulders of Sidney Crosby, but you can’t mention Sid’s name without muttering the names of Alexander Ovetchkin and Evgeni Malkin as well.  They’re all Wayne Gretzkys (and coincidentally, I can’t wait to see them play each other in the Eastern conference during playoffs this year) and let’s face it, three is always better than one.

#3 EA NHL 10

Ok, this one makes me a real geek; but the graphics are awesome, the controls are engaging and . . . well IT’S TOTALLY COOL! Many hours of my life have been eaten up by this title and it kicks ass.

#2 Third Jerseys

I absolutely love the third Jerseys that teams have been using (even the twisted psychedelic Montreal Canadiens striped massacres that were modeled after the ones worn in the days before TV . . . obviously).

It’s another opportunity for fans to make their colors known and their pride a little more stylish.  It also somehow adds a neat new unexplainable dimension to watching the game.

#1 The New Rules–Especially the shootout

Yup, I said it.  I love, love, love it when the game goes to shootout.   It takes an already tense and thrilling game and makes it electrifying (it’s even better when you see it live).
You don’t even have to look any further than last night’s games between Boston and New Jersey or San Jose and Edmonton to be convinced.

With a little bit of luck, a couple of more games tonight will go into the shootout.
Also, I didn’t forget the four on four overtime and no red lines rules, but I really love the shootout.

–Ryan Matwiy, RED Editorial Staff

By now the last few scraps of meat have been chiseled off the carcass, the once rich, juicy brown wings lay desiccated under the carnage remaining in your refrigerator and you have silently thanked the inventor of stretchable waistband trousers almost as many times as you jammed your oversized fork into the pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving is over.

With no thought to the history lurking behind any of the bounty that lay before your gaping maw, you have once again shown your friends and family that it is physically possible to expand the human stomach beyond its typical confines in the abdomen.

But at any time during your feeding frenzy, did you wonder where or how things like stuffing and cranberry sauce came about? Nah, didn’t think so. But that’s OK. As you recover, slung across your threadbare cheap couch, gravy stains splattered across your t-shirt like a Jackson Pollock painting, you, Jabba the Gut, will get a tad of history to fill up your mind.

Sit back, tuck your gut into those spandex miracles you call pants and listen up.

Amongst the first mentions of stuffing was from a cookbook by a Roman gourmet in the 2nd century BC, where recipes for stuffing made from vegetables, herbs, nuts, wheat and chopped up offal (brains, liver) that were used to fill in the cavities of such delicacies as chicken, pig and dormouse.

The evolution continued through the ages. France added herbs and goose liver to enrich the stuffing, the English changed the name to dressing and added renderings from the roasting pans and eventually the dish made its way to the USA during the British occupation.

It found its prominence as a Thanksgiving side well into the 19th century. It is not known if the first Thanksgiving made use of the side, but it gained popularity as immigrants flocked to the US with their own versions of stuffing.

Duck liver, still an expensive item in the 1800 and 1900’s, was soon replaced by forcemeat, or sausage, which utilized scraps and added different flavors. Herbs native to the US became mainstays and the popularity grew.

In typical American fashion, turducken, a turkey that is stuffed with a duck stuffed with a small hen that just may be stuffed with Hoffa’s remains, is another type of stuffing, though extreme.

However, it wasn’t until 1972 when Stove Top Stuffing, those odd little rock hard nuggets of “stuffing” in a box, were stocked on store shelves that it became a huge part of Thanksgiving Americana. Created by a home economist, Stove Top stuffing, with just a hit of hot water and some love, becomes the moon rock turned perennial Thanksgiving side that everyone has partaken in.

Now, to make your mommy happy by having something healthy along with your gravy and turkey on the side, cranberry sauce, still militantly conforming to the shape of the can despite your best efforts to crush it with your fork, most likely reared its red head during your decadent food fest.

Originally called “craneberry” for its drooping long leaves that vaguely resemble a crane, cranberries were introduced to American cuisine around the time of the pilgrims. The Indians were fond of them as a preservative as chemicals found in the berry kept meat from spoiling. The strong flavor led to their being canned and preserved, which uses some sugar, rendering a sweet yet tart jelly that has become a part of the American Thanksgiving table.

General Ulysses S Grant, during the Civil War, ordered cranberry sauce to be served to his troops, making its availability widespread and also boosting its popularity.

So, there you have it. A few bits of information that will only take up space in your otherwise largely underused head and not in that soon to burst gut. But, if you find you still have a hankering to stuff yourself like that scrawny bird you found at the last minute, below is a recipe for a dried apricot and sausage stuffing. Good luck, Slim. Your waist band needs it.

2.5 LB cornbread, slightly stale
8oz spicy Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 medium white onion, medium diced
3 stalk celery, small diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and small diced
8 oz dried apricots
3 cups chicken stock
6 oz toasted pine nuts
2 tbsp dried thyme
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
3 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, place the corn bread after cubing it into 1 inch squares. In a sauté pan, cook the sausage, onion, celery and carrot until all are soft and just starting to brown. Add in the apricots. Add in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer until the apricots are soft. Remove all the solids and continue to simmer the stock, reducing it by ¼. Add the herbs to the stock.

In the bowl add the solids to the cornbread, stirring gently to mix it all evenly. Slowly add the stock to the cornbread mix, stirring continuously. When the mix is damp and starting to bind, season with salt and pepper and mix in the pine nuts and butter. You may not need all of the stock, just enough to bind the mixture.

Place the mix into the bird and into a 350 degree oven. Cook the bird until done. Alternately, you can bake the stuffing separately in a baking pan at 350 degrees as well. Just add more liquid and keep covered until 15 minutes prior to removing. Remove cover and allow to brown.

–Tim Connors, Red Editorial Staff

Managing your management and Fan Dread during a crisis week is part of the NFL head coach gig.

Down in Atlanta, Mike Smith brought in four kickers for tryouts on Tuesday after Jason Elam missed his fourth FG in four weeks, a stat magnified by the Falcons’ three-point loss to the Giants that dropped the team to 5-5 and postseason life support. That brings certain satisfaction to the bosses and Joe Falcon Fans.

Meanwhile, Smith knows addressing his cornerback problems will be even more important, so he can do that more quietly. And the whole kicker tryout thing distracts everyone from wondering how RB Michael Turner’s high-ankle sprain has basically derailed the team.

But come Sunday against the 1-9 Bucs, the QB Question will re-emerge: Has Matt Ryan lost his confidence? Oh, come on, the guy will be a solid and successful pro for years–and you have to like the way he handled the game-tying drive up in Jersey.

In Chicago, Lovie Smith, well, maybe he should have staged some kicker or punter tryouts of his own, because the guy is Open Season. Except there in Chi-town GM Jerry Angelo is under the scope too. That’s why the buzz is bringing in Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan now, both guys who want GM-type power and both guys who are available.

Smith doesn’t deserve the fallout (though he will make another $11 million from the Bears no matter what), but Jay Cutler’s INT bug is a contagion that is going all H1N1 on the Bears. Chicago plays at the Vikes Sunday. Brett Favre has three interceptions all season, Cutler can throw that many in a quarter, that’s what Bears fans will be thinking on Sunday.

In Houston, Gary Kubiak’s job status appears shaky too. That’s two weeks after the Texans holding their own against Indy, only to lose on missed fourth-quarter FGs. Hmmm, kicker tryouts? Kubiak is hearing it about not finishing games, he and QB Matt Schaub. The Texans are 5 up and 5 down, losing a close Monday night to the revived Titans that didn’t help Fan Dread levels. Firing Kubiak would be flat-out goofy (to use a highly technical term) because the Texans are finally and consistently competitive.

Weirdly, Jeff Fisher may keep his job after all, and that’s after starting 0-6 and not changing QBs until owner Bud Adams (who might want to work on his celebration methodology) publicly made him do so.

Just another weekly episode of Coaching in a Crisis.

Two coaches not in trouble meet Monday night in New Orleans. Bill Belichick, in firm control of the division after dousing Rex Ryan and the Jets, will look for ways to upend the Saints’ perfect season. If his Patriots can’t do so, New Orleans might roll the table.

The remaining teams on the Saints schedule have lost twice as many as they have won.

–Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse

–Hands up who was surprised when Paul Hart was this week replaced as Portsmouth boss by Avram Grant. Nobody? It was pretty obvious that would happen from the moment Grant returned to the club for his second spell as director of football.

–The 54-year-old Israeli is a popular figure among Premier League managers. But he’ll need to even more popular with Pompey’s players if he is to inspire them out of the doldrums. Grant takes over a side that is rock bottom, with just seven points from 13 games.

–What a fantastic gesture from Wigan’s players, who are personally refunding the money their travelling fans paid to see the 9-1 mauling at Tottenham. “We badly let down our supporters,” said captain Mario Melchiot. The bill comes to an estimated £15,000.

–And that gives Red an idea. Here is an open invitation to Thierry Henry: Thierry, why don’t you personally refund all the expenses incurred by the Ireland fans who travelled to Paris for the World Cup qualifier? That really would get you a big hand.

–Red is feeling rather smug about Jonathan Trott. The Warwickshire batsman made an impressive 87 in his first ODI against top opposition, as England beat South Africa in the second match of the series. But why did it take so long to get him in the team?

–Continuing the theme of smugness, Red is delighted that the selectors heeded our advice about keeping faith with Eoin Morgan. An outstanding fielder and dashing left-handed batsman, Morgan represents the future, but can offer plenty in the present.

–Witness the 23-year-old’s effortless strokeplay when he joined century-maker Paul Collingwood at the crease in Sunday’s match. In racing to 27 from just 24 balls, Morgan offered a cameo of a class act that could invigorate England’s batting for the next decade.

–Rob Andrew, the Rugby Football Union’s director of elite rugby, says England have “closed the gap” on the powerhouses of the southern hemisphere. England have this autumn lost 18-9 to Australia and 19-6 to New Zealand, while a year ago they lost 28-14 and 32-6 respectively.

–That, says Andrew, proves that England are now more competitive. But on both occasions against Australia, England scored half as many points as they conceded. And in each match against New Zealand, they scored just six points. So where’s the progress there?

–Rob Wightman, Red U.K. Senior Sports Writer

Welcome back to the Premiership, Avram Grant!

In what is the least surprising turn of events this season, Grant has been appointed as the new manager of Portsmouth following the sacking of Paul Hart.

It was always going to be a case of when, not if, Grant would take charge of Pompey.

Hart must have felt the spectre of Grant looming large in the background ever since the Israeli checked in at Fratton Park as director of football last month.

The pressure was firmly on Hart following a disastrous start to the season which has seen Pompey collect just seven points from 13 games.

Grant takes charge of a team rooted to the foot of the table.

That makes it a very different proposition to his time in charge at Chelsea.

At Stamford Bridge he was under pressure to deliver either the Premier League title or Champions League, or preferably both.

Grant turned out to be a ‘nearly man’ at Chelsea, guiding them to the runners-up spot in the Premiership and losing out to Manchester United in the Champions League final.

If only John Terry hadn’t slipped as he approached his spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out, it could have been all so different.

Instead of chasing silverware, Grant finds himself locked firmly in a battle to avoid relegation.

The 54-year-old has the benefit of at least already knowing the squad he has inherited.

And that will have been a factor in the board’s decision to appoint him.

Whether he has enough quality in the squad to turn Portsmouth’s fortunes around is another matter.

As Hart reflects on his tenure, he can and surely will point to the fact that the club was in turmoil for much of the time he was in charge.

True, he did well to steer Pompey to safety following Tony Adams’ disastrous spell as manager.

But the job eventually proved to be too big for him.

I have always maintained that the reserved Hart is much more suited to a background role in football.

Forget management, Paul, and do what you are good at: working with players on the training ground and developing young talent.

–Nick Johnson, Red U.K. Editorial Staff

Paula Wolfert, who is considered an expert on Mediterranean cooking, describes herself as a clay pot junkie.  It’s easy to see why.  Wolfert, often credited with introducing the foods of the Middle East to America and whose numerous cookbooks have garnered awards, has a collection of over 100 clay cooking pots, many hanging on the wall of her large kitchen in Sonoma, California.  She’s also recently written a cookbook, Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking: Traditional and Modern Recipes to Savor and Share (Wiley 2009, $34.95) and she has one clay pot, a tripiere, that is used solely for cooking tripe.

Not that tripe recipes abound in her cookbook.  Indeed, the book is filled with many tantalizing offerings such as Catalonian Chicken Sautéed with Red Peppers, Tomatoes and Black Olives, Warm Green Olives with White Wine, Garlic and Hot Red Pepper and Greek Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta Cheese.  Red talked to Wolfert as she was whipping up a French daube, or stew, in of course, a clay pot.

So how did this addiction start?

I was 19 when I bought my first clay pot.  It was shortly after I started taking cooking lessons from Dione Lucas. She had sent me to a French restaurant supply store on Sixth Avenue in lower Manhattan and it was there that I saw an odd-looking pot-bellied, earthenware vessel that had a tiny covered opening. The sales clerk told me it was used to cook tripe.  I had no idea what tripe was back then but I loved the shape of the pot and so I bought it.

Do you still have it?

Yes, it survived countless moves.  You know I lived 17 years abroad in the Mediterranean and seven years in Morocco and it made it through all those moves as well as my living on the East and West coasts.

It sounds like you got your money’s worth from it.

It produces the most rich, satisfying beef stews.

What makes cooking in a clay pot so special?

Clay allows soft cooking, it doesn’t burn anything and it lets the flavors infiltrate into the dish because the food is simmering more gently.  It’s also a great way to cook underutilized meats; the types of inexpensive cuts that people don’t usually know what to do with.  Because it tenderizes the food, you can use those meats in clay pot cooking and bring out their best taste.

Do you have a favorite pot?

A tagine I bought in the early 70s in the souks of Marrakech.  I’ve only cooked lamb tagines in it over the years and it is imbued with the scents and flavors of the numerous Moroccan spices I use. This patina gives a very subtle under-taste to every dish every time I cook in it.  Though I also really like this Chinese sand pot I bought for nine dollars.  I guess I like them all.

Paula Wolfert’s classic cookbook Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco is still in print more than three decades after she wrote it.  A vagabond who had her three children in France and then raised them in Morocco, Wolfert now makes her home on the West Coast but she remains fascinated by the cookery of the Middle East and Mediterranean and the traditional ways of using clay pots for slow cooking food to bring out its wonderful flavors.  Red talked to Wolfert about her latest cookbook, Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking: Traditional and Modern Recipes to Savor and Share (Wiley 2009, $34.95).

You know, when I first heard about your book–and I have a couple of your other cookbooks that I love–I thought when I first read the title it would be about those clay pot cookers that everyone was giving away one Christmas for cooking chickens.  

You’re thinking of the Romertopf clay bakers.  They’re good.  I have so many different kinds–Moroccan tagines, Provencal daubieres, Chinese sand pots, Spanish cazuelas, Italian bean pots, Turkish guvecs and even ceramic colanders including one I use to steam couscous. There is not a home chef in Spain would make their arroz (rice) in a cazuela, a French homemaker always makes daubs (stew) in her daubiere and any Northern Italian woman will make her risottos in a coccio.  These pots tie me to traditions, to the deep-rooted ways of cooking.  I’ve been collecting and cooking in clay pots for more than 50 years, I was going to call my book “The Confessions of a Clay Pot Junkie.”

Why didn’t you?

This really started off as a memoir, I’ve had a pretty interesting life, or so my publisher told me. But I just couldn’t write about me, I’m not that type of person.  I studied other food memoirs but I just didn’t know how to do it.  So went back to my publishers and said I’m going to have to totally redo this as a straight cookbook.

How do people reading this start getting into clay pot cooking?

In my book, I whittle it down to five pots that you can do most of the recipes in.  Most of the pots are stove pots.  Most people think of clay pots as being pots you use in the oven, but with many clay pots you do bottom up cooking by putting them on the stove.

How does it compare to a slow cooker?

It’s not like crockpot cooking at all.  With clay pot cooking there’s a caramelization that adds layers of flavor.

What are some easy recipes to start off with for people reading your book?

The pumpkin soup with Roquefort–it’s easy and uses a $9 Chinese sand pot that you can find in Chinatown.  The potato gratin is another one.  But there are a lot of easy recipes in the book.  I was just on Martha Stewart’s show and she fell in love with the Moroccan Fish Tagine with Tomatoes, Olives and Preserved Lemons on page 54.  She actually ate it on her show.  The book is diverse enough that there is something there for everyone.

And if I was going to go out and buy just one clay pot, which one should I get?

The cazuela is the work horse of clay pots.  But make it the 10-inch cazuela, not the 8-inch, that won’t be big enough.  Be sure to soak the clay pots in water overnight.  But you won’t be able to buy just one, I promise you that.

For more information, visit www.paula-wolfert.com

–Interview by Jane Ammeson, Red Editorial Staff

A win is a win is a win. That’s a fact as teams finish up the third month of the NFL season. You take a win any way it falls into your W-column. You can parse whether the defense gave up too many points or the offense can’t score inside the 20 or a coach didn’t make the right halftime adjustments.

In the end, the team that gets the win is richer for it, one step closer to the playoffs, qualifying you for a time when jelling in January stamps your Super Bowl ticket.

The Giants know all about that drill. That’s why Tom Coughlin was expansive after escaping Sunday with a 34-31 OT win over the valiant but now 5-5 Falcons. New York goes to 6-up, 4-down, one game out of first in the division and In The Thick for an NFC wild card spot. The Giants are so pleased with that W they haven’t even chirped a bit this week about no days off, two days of practice, travel Wednesday and play Thursday night in Denver–all while the Broncos played at home last Sunday.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Denver is imploding. QB Chris Simms looked lost on Sunday and Kyle Orton’s ankle is not going to get better try to play on it. Sunday’s 32-3 loss to San Diego (now in first place) wasn’t even that close. It’s been popular for commentators this week to say the 6-4 Broncos (won their first six, lost the next four) can still collect 10 wins by beating the Giants Thursday night and nailing down two remaining against the Chiefs and one more to play with Oakland.

RedHouse says not so fast–and knows this will make the All-Time-Greatest-Editor-of-Mobile Content Joey Alfino happy (yes, my boss, and, no, the superlatives are not bestowed because I am turning my usual Tuesday column into a Wednesday pre-turkey special). The Broncos won’t beat the Chiefs twice and they might not even beat them once. Kansas City is turning a corner and headed for better times. Releasing a star running back (easy enough to do if you were watching Jamaal Charles in practice) can work better than smelling salts for waking up your roster.

Pittsburgh, of course, lost an opportunity to go even up with Cincy after the Bengals lost a 10-point lead and the game to the Raiders and backup QB Bruce Gradkowski (say that three times, then ask yourself just how many NFL greats have been named Bruce). The Raiders play Thursday in Dallas, which beat the Redskins 7-6 Sunday in a game so meager in highlights that all of the sports shows used D-backs coach Dave Campo going all Scream-O on CB Terence Newman on the sideline as a key element of coverage.

Newman campo-ed it up Tuesday by saying he and Coach C were be on the undercard for a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout that Dallas owner Jerry Jones is trying to bring to his new $1.2 billion football palace. Weird, but better material than reviewing a 7-6 ho-hummer.

The other Thanksgiving Day game is Packers at Lions, which loses some luster with Detroit QB Matt Stafford out but still decidedly a better draft call than Mark Sanchez, at least 10 games in to Year One for both rookies.

–Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse