David Ross

I also use an "unscientific" method of toasting cumin seeds. When I sense a whiff of aroma or smoke and just a hint that the seeds are brown/toasted, I take them off the heat so they don't burn. I have the assumption that if the scent wanes, then I've burned off the oil in the cumin seeds and ruined them by going to far.

Grilled Pesto Prawns with Zuchinni and Tomato Salad- Very simple-Large prawns in the shell that I butterflied and then rubbed with some fresh pesto I bought at the deli. Grilled for about 4 minutes each side on the Weber. The oil in the pesto kept the prawns very moist. Garnished with grilled lemon halves. The salad was thin-sliced tomatoes that I bought at the Farmer's market along with sliced yellow and green zuchinni, basil, nicoise and picholine olives, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and some parmesan.

Although the full-size tomatoes are still green, the small grape tomatoes keep coming. Tonight-Roasted Tomatoes with Yellow and Green Zuchinni. I tossed the zuchinni in some olive oil, then seasoned with salt and pepper. Roasted in the oven for about 20 minutes then added the tomatoes and stirred. Increased the oven temp to 375 and roasted for another 15 minutes and that was it. Finished with a garnish of basil. The roasting really brought out the sweetness of the tomatoes.

How aggravating, especially for those of us who have to wear a beeper or take pages via phone when we're at home because we're on call for work. I'm on call about every six weeks. I don't have beeping kitchen appliances, but whenever I hear a beep on a television commercial, I get all hyper and rush for the phone thinking I'm receiving a duty page. Given the scenario of beeping toasters, refrigerators and what have you, I'd be rushing into the kitchen all night!

Huckleberry Turnover. Fresh Huckleberries off the mountains. The crop isn't plentiful this year-small berries and very tart-yet still delicious and the scent wondrous. Selling at $39.99 for a gallon bag at the Farmer's co-op. I'm sure the Grizzly Bears will be grumpy at the slim pickin's in the forest.

I'm not sure about the technical details, but the ribs were incredibly juicy and I think the photo shows that. I think it's due to the self-basting that takes place with spit-roasting, but again, I'm not the technical expert. I'm going to try a beef rib roast this weekend, but of course, that has a different fat/meat ratio than the pork ribs.

So he could make a comment that included a reference to TANG.

The Chat Room during the airing of the episode was great fun and the commentary was much more enlightening than the drivel provided by Bourdain. Far more interesting than the show and the Chefs...

Sauteed Halibut on Smoked Creamed Corn- Creamed Corn- For the creamed corn, use sweet corn from the Farmer's market. I use about 3 ears of corn which will yield enough creamed corn for about 6 servings of creamed corn. Pull back the husks and clean the silks with some fresh running water. Pull the husks back and tie them back on the ears with cotton string. Roast the corn on a barbecue for about 20 minutes until the ears begin to char. I add a handful of wet apple chips for some extra smoke. When the corn is done, cut the corn off the cobs. (The squirrels in my backyard love the corncobs). Saute some diced, smoked bacon until crispy. Add some chopped onion and saute for about 1 minute. Drain, and combine the bacon and corn in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add some heavy cream, grated white cheddar cheese,salt, pepper and cayenne. I add about a teaspoon of liquid smoke to boost the smoke flavor. Cook the creamed corn down until it is thick and creamy. Garnish with some chopped chives.

I second that. Soggy sandwiches, soggy fries, fish prepped a day in advance. On and on. (There are a couple of good Chefs remaining though). Call Season 7 the season of poor judgement. The show may win an Emmy, but the Chef's sure won't win any Beard awards if they display that sort of effort if they're lucky enough to get hired at a decent place once this season finally, finally, comes to an end.

I just found out that the 2010 Epicurean Affair in Las Vegas is scheduled for Thursday, September 9, at the pools at the Palazzo. I plan on packing my bags and heading South and will share a photo report of the event. I went last year and it was not only great fun, but a showcase for some of the great Chefs and Restaurants of Las Vegas to share their cuisine with the public. Yet aside from the fun, there's a more worthy cause behind the celebration-proceeds from the Epicurean Affair benefit culinary educational programs sponsored by the Nevada Restaurant Association. Last year's event was held in April at the Flamingo and I found the setting down there a bit crowded and confusiong for the number of restaurants, chefs, vendors and people attending the event. You can read my report and see photos of the 2009 event here. I think the pools of the Palazzo will present a more contemporary, open and comfortble environment for this year's event and there should be plenty of delicious food and drink. Click here for the terms under which this event is listed in eG Forums.

I wanted to add that this week the North Idaho Fair is running at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds in Couer d'Alene. The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane ran a piece last Tuesday with the headline "Fair Conditions" bemoaning the sorrowful state of this year's hot-weather fruit and vegetable categories at the North Idaho Fair. The entries were plentiful, but the competitor's were complaining about the pitiful state of their zuchinni and tomatoes this year due to the horrific growing conditions some endured. They were delivering green tomatoes for entry into the competition of all things. The Spokesman-Review gave this quotation from Mr. Jack Knox, Co-Superintendant of the Garden Building at the Fair: "I know some people who planted their gardens two or three times. The first seeds rotted in the ground." Well, we did have a wet spring and June and a very hot July and August. I didn't have to worry about seeds or rot in the ground. I planted tomato starter plants--above ground and upside down. I should be thankful for my Topsy-Turvy, but I don't think there's a category at the Spokane Interstate Fair for tomatoes grown that way.

Last night I did pasta with the first tomatoes off my Topsy-Turvy tomato planter. Over the course of the summer I've been recording my tomato growing adventure here. It's a very simple recipe--fresh grape tomatoes sauteed for about two minutes in olive oil and garlic, then tossed into some cooked bowtie pasta--garnished with fresh basil and ricotta cheese.

It's a basic Weber. The spit is a generic brand but it fits the Weber and works perfectly.

After weeks and weeks of tending to the Topsy-Turvy, fretting over the whims of Mother Nature in Eastern Washington and using very poor judgement in abandoning my dear tomato planter without water over the course of a long, hot, summer weekend, the tomato Gods have shown mercy. Today, the fruits of weeks of labor produced ten perfectly sweet, little, vine-ripened nuggets of pleasure-and many more still hang on the Topsy-Turvy destined for weeks of bread salads, brushcetta, pasta and tomato salads. I let the grape tomatoes ripen on the vines about a week beyond temptation, picked them at 6:30pm tonight and by 7:30pm, dinner was ready. So for your pleasure, I give you fresh grape tomatoes, sauteed in olive oil with garlic, then tossed with farfalle pasta, fresh basil, salt, pepper, and ricotta cheese.

I've been spit-roasting chickens on my outdoor barbecue for years. Nothing seems to beat the flavor of a chicken basting itself with natural juices as it rotates over the coals of a wood fire. But I've never ventured beyond the chicken when it came to spit-roasting. I think it was both out of fear and ignorance. This summer I set out on a search for new ways to cook ribs on my outdoor barbecue and I recently came upon a recipe in Steven Raichlen's "Planet Barbecue" that caught my interest-"Rotisserie Baby Back Ribs with Garlic and Wine." The timing was perfect-a recipe for ribs on a spit and it would give me the chance to test a new toy. I recently replaced my 10 year-old hand-crafted rotisserie spit contraption with an appropriate spit for my Weber grill so I was anxious to put something other than chicken to the test. While I was interested in Raichlen's technique for spit-roasting ribs in the technique of the Brazilians, I didn't stick to the actual recipe. I like my ribs "dry" with a simple rub of spices, (no sauce), so I didn't marinate the ribs in the garlic and wine called for in the recipe. I simply rubbed a slab of ribs with Weber's Cajun Spice mix that you can buy in the Supermarket. It's got the right mix of spice, heat and salt that fits my tastes, and it's convenient. I've mixed my own spice rubs and tasted a number of store-bought mixes and this one is my current favorite. To prepare the ribs, I rubbed the slab with the spice mixture and wrapped them with plastic and let them sit in the refrigerator for about 6 hours. Then I threaded the slab onto the spit about every three ribs. I've found one key element in spit-roasting is to put the meat on the spit before you build the fire. That way you get the meat centered and balanced on the spit before you get a blazing hot fire going. And make sure the drip pan is centered under the meat and the rotisserie is rotating properly before you light the fire. I used a combination of charcoal and hickory chunks for the fire. I also put on some wet applewood chips during roasting for extra smoke flavor. During the roasting process, I sprayed the ribs with some applejuice about every 20 minutes. The cooking time took about an hour and 15 minutes. Cooking ribs on my rotisserie didn't produce a smoke ring or heavy smoke flavor like "low and slow" barbecue pork ribs. But that wasn't really what I was looking for. Spit-roasting pork ribs on the barbecue resulted in meat that was so tender you would have thought it had been roasted in a low oven for eight hours. It had a hint of campfire smoke and was bursting with pork juices. Delicious. Do you spit-roast meats on your backyard barbecue?

And now, the first crop ready for dinner tonight in a simple pasta dish...

No rain in the past week, temperatures in the mid-80's to low 90's, watering once a day. We are close, very close: What would be the perfect dish for these little beauties?

The recipe I started with from Food and Wine begins with a base that is cooked with egg yolks and honey. You add gelatin and lemon juice and zest to the cooked custard. I added some extra strong lemon extract that I add to dessert dishes for extra flavor. The recipe called for "honey," but I saw some orange blossom honey in the market that I thought would add a nice floral bouqet to the Semifreddo. Once the cooked base cools for about 10 minutes, you fold in whipped cream and beaten egg whites to the mix. After my first few attempts at ladyfingers, I modified the recipe to use pound cake. I cut about a 3/4" slice of pound cake and spread a layer of raspberry preserves over one side. I was thinking today that some chopped Italian Amaretto cookies would be a very good addition to this Semifreddo recipe. What I think I liked, (and the photo doesn't show), is the texture of the finished Semifreddo--creamy, smooth and soft--not at all heavy like the French style custard ice creams I make. Don't get me wrong, I love my ice creams, but now I love my Semifreddo.

I consider myself a fairly accomplished ice cream maker, but I had never attempted making Semifreddo. While both Ice Cream and Semifreddo are frozen desserts, I quickly found the differences ended there, (at least that’s what my short course of Semifreddo experimentation taught me). I started with a recipe out of the July 2010 issue of Food and Wine magazine. It calls for spreading a thin layer of orange marmalade between soft ladyfingers and then suspending the ladyfingers in the middle of a lemon-honey custard. I didn’t read the recipe properly and used hard ladyfinger cookies instead of soft and, (no surprise), the “hard” ladyfingers became even harder during freezing. When I unmolded the first version of the Semifreddo and cut a slice, I just couldn’t understand why it was so hard to cut through the ladyfingers. (Note to self, read recipes). On with version number two a week later and I decided to put the ladyfingers on the bottom of the pan. (Same problem, didn’t read the recipe. Still used “hard” ladyfingers). Trying to stuff hard ladyfingers into a too small loaf pan isn’t pretty but it worked, sort of. The finished Semifreddo portion of the dessert tasted delicious, but I still had a problem with the texture and presentation of the ladyfingers. (Note to self again, read recipes). I did, and it wasn't until that moment that I realized I was supposed to be using “soft” ladyfingers. For attempt number three, (three weeks later), I decided to chuck the idea of ladyfingers and went with a base of lemon pound cake. My Semifreddo would start with a custard made with flavored with fresh lemon juice and orange blossom honey on top of a base of lemon pound cake then served with some wild strawberries out of my garden and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Here are a few photos of my novice attempt at Semifreddo: The loaf pan lined with plastic wrap: The lemon pound cake, cut in half, with a layer of raspberry preserves: The loaf pan filled with the custard base: And with the pound cake turned in: And the finished Lemon-Honey Semifreddo, garnished with Strawberries and Chocolate Sauce- So for the Semifreddo cooks out there, what advice do you have? What flavors do you add to Semifreddo? Do you add a cake base? Do you add nuts or fruits to your Semifreddo? Let's see some photos of your Semifreddo.

The past week was quite nerve-wracking for my Topsy-Turvy experiment. I travelled to Oregon last week for 4 days and watered the planter early the morning I left. Then it went two days without water and the temperatures at home were in the upper 80's with no rain. I returned home last Saturday and to my horror, (although I shouldn't have been surprised), the tomato plant was withered and appeared to be on its last few hours of life. This past week has been a struggle, but then to my amazement, Topsy-Turvy bounced back. I clipped off the dead, brown end leaves and the few blossoms that didn't survive. I went back to my daily watering routine and one round of tomato food granular fertilizer. And--another surprise, I found these full-size beauties have appeared, (remember, I forgot to save the name of the specific tomato varieties I planted so we'll have to wait and see if this is the yellow or red); The small tomatoes are still in abundance, and seem to be growing again after a slow-down in July. I left some of the brown leaves in the photo so you can see the damage I did by leaving Topsy-Turvy unwatered for two days; The plant is still growing and it's almost to the front step. This week may be interesting--we're expecting a spike in temperatures up to 100.

This dish, made with early, local, thin spears, is something I do nearly every year- Crisp Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus with Midori-Honeydew Sorbet-

I never seem to get grilled chicken right if it has any kind of sauce on it. I must be putting the sauce on too early or maybe it has too much sugar? What are the key points to applying the sauce so it doesn't burn on the chicken? Should you grill the chicken until it's done and then put the sauce on during the last part of cooking just to glaze the chicken and heat the sauce? Any tips from the grilled chicken experts?

Depends on the dish I'm doing. I live not far from where delicious asparagus is grown in the Tri-Cities region of Eastern, Washington, and I'm lucky to have a fresh supply of asparagus in late Spring and early Summer. I have the choice of using early season thin stalks of asparagus in delicate dishes like peeled, steamed asparagus with fresh hollandaise with poached eggs or tossed with fresh Oregon morels and pappardelle. Later in the season we'll use thick stalks of asparagus, steamed and used in cream soups and sauces to dress chicken or toss with more pasta. I don't find that thin stalks lack taste or that thicker stalks have a more bold taste. Each has a different taste and texture and we apply that to a different dish based on their characteristics. We do, however, follow one rule: no "out of the local area, out of season asparagus at any other time of the year." I know, sounds quirky today when fresh asparagus is flown in from other parts of the country in February and I'm sure it is quite delicious. Call us Traditionalists.

Well all I can say is bravo to all of you and I must start putting in some blocks on my calendar for 2011.