David Ross

The lasagne was smooth, (the bechamel), rich, (the meat, the bechamel, the parmesan, the tomato sauce all mingling together), and lush. You can sense the chicken livers but it has just a hint of liver flavor that isn't overpowering. The uninitiated wouldn't even know they are in the meat sauce. I only put in 3 finely diced chicken livers to 2lbs. of hamburger. They really give the meat an added richness that is really something. I think the dried pasta is actually quite good for this dish. It holds up well during the 45 minutes of baking time and I like the firm texture in terms of the taste of the pasta.

For my lasagna I combined the traditional layering method of lasagna with a bechamel and meat filling that I use for a savory cannoli. I've been using the recipes for the tomato sauce and the meat filling for years out of the Time-Life series "The Foods of the World." These two recipes come from "The Cooking of Italy," edition. The meat filling is a mixture of ground beef, chicken livers, onions, garlic, spinach, olive oil, dried oregano, dried marjoram, parmesan and cream- The tomato sauce includes imported Italian plum tomatoes, diced, juice included, onion, garlic, a bit of sugar, olive oil, fresh basil, salt and pepper and tomato paste. The sauce is pureed in the blender and then simmered over low heat to reduce- The bechamel is a basic cream sauce of butter, Wondra flour, whole milk, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper- The layering began with a thin layer of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a LeCreuset casserole dish- I admire those of you who have mastered the art of making pasta. I can't say I have those same talents. Nor can I ice cakes or hard-boil eggs, but that's another topic. So being the pasta novice that I am, I reach for the basic dried lasagna noodles--easy to work with and they don't taste too bad either- The meat sauce- The bechamel- The parmesan- Baked- The finished Lasagne-

I've dined there a couple of times and it was pretty disappointing. The last experience was probably two years ago, so I can't base my opinion on a recent experience. There are other Italian places with better quality food and service at similar or lower prices that I would try before Zeffirino. Some people have trouble with the celebrity-chef places in Las Vegas, but Mario Batali's B & B Ristorante, just a few steps from Zeffirino in The Venetian would be a far better choice with a more creative menu.

This should be fun. I imagine we'll see lots of variations of lasagna. I'll be into the challenge next weekend and I'll be sticking to a traditional rendition. I use a bolognese meat sauce and a bechamel sauce, dabs of butter and more parmesan than should be legal for a lasagna, (and homemade tomato sauce), so you can imagine how decadent it is! It's a recipe out of the old Time-Life series of hard cover cookbooks the "Foods of the World," that came out in the 60's. My Mother was a member of the old Time-Life book club and she bought into most of the series and I've supplemented the missing editions out of her collection by scouring vintage bookstores. The lasagna recipe comes out of "The Cooking of Italy" edition.

For a teriyaki style preparation I would marinate your salmon in the teriyaki sauce first. I like to marinate it for no more than two hours. Then I pat off most of the marinade before I get ready to cook it. I do this because most teriyaki sauces have a high sugar content and if you put the salmon straight into the oven with lots of sauce on it the sugars might burn and char and you could be left with a sticky, burned mess. I turn my oven up as high as it will go, that's 550 degrees, and then I roast the salmon for about 7-8 minutes. That will cook a thick filet to about medium-rare. I usually don't leave the skin on, but if I do, I would then turn on the broiler and crisp the skin for about 30 or 45 seconds. Once I remove the salmon from the oven then I brush on more teriyaki sauce. With this method I get the teriyaki flavor into the salmon when it marinates and back on the salmon after it's cooked, just not on the salmon because the sauce could burn. If you get a little experienced with one of those small kitchen torches, they are a great tool for crisping the skin on salmon.

Seared Sea Scallop and Grilled Lobster with Gnocchi- Sorry, I would have shown a broader photo of the plate but this is the only photo I got. The battery died after the first shot! I par-boiled the lobster for about 3-4 minutes and then split the tail and brushed it with butter and grilled it on the stove-top in a cast iron grill pan. I seasoned the scallops with salt and pepper and seared them in olive oil and butter. The gnocchi was just so-so. I'm not a big fan of gnocchi so don't know why I keep pushing myself to eat them. Maybe it's because they are so popular right now. I tossed the gnocchi in homemade hollandaise and got a bit heavy-handed with the chives. I could have left the gnocchi in the kitchen but the sea scallop was delicious.

Start the pickled cucumbers a day before you want to use them. I use the long, English cucumbers, mainly because I like their texture and the look of the outer skin, but there really isn't any reason to not use a basic cucumber. Cut a cucumber in quarters and then in about 2" lengths. Leave it with the skin on. I started with a Chinese recipe that called for seeding the cucumber but for the finished dish, I found it too much trouble to seed the cucumber, (and in this dish I prefer the appearance of chunks of raw cucumber with the skin and seeds). You put the chunks of cucumber in a bowl and cover with about a teaspoon or so of Kosher salt and let it sit for a half hour. The cucumber will leech some water and take in a little salt. Drain and pat the cucumber dry and put in a large bowl. Heat about two tablespoons of toasted sesame oil in a hot wok or frying pan and toast about a teaspoon of Szechuan peppercorns and 2 or 3 dried red chiles in the hot oil. Let the oil cool to warm and pour it over the cucumbers. Add about 2 tablespoons of minced fresh ginger, 2 cloves of minced garlic and 1/2 a finely diced fresh jalapeno pepper. The recipe called for a pickling brine of 1 1/2 tablespoons of rice vinegar and 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar. 1 boosted the rice vinegar to 2 tablespoons and added 2 tablespoons of low salt soy sauce and whisked that together with the sugar and tossed it with the cucumber ingredients, covered the whole lot and refrigerated it for a day before serving it with the teriyaki salmon. I figure these fresh pickles will also go well with some grilled black pepper chicken I'm planning on for dinner later this coming week. There sweet, sour, cool and very spicy. I think next time I'll add some julienned strips of sweet red and green bell pepper.

Last night dinner was Broiled Salmon with Teriyaki Glaze and Spicy Chinese Pickled Cucumbers. The teriyaki sauce is very, very easy- 1 1/2 cups soy sauce, (I use low sodium soy sauce) 1/3 cup sake 6 tbsp. sugar or honey 2 cloves finely minced garlic large knob fresh ginger, minced Boil the ingredients and then turn the heat down and simmer the teriyaki sauce for about 30 minutes. I like to strain out the ginger and garlic so the sauce is smooth. It's not a sticky, thick teriyaki like the bottled sauces, but it tastes much cleaner and fresh.

I froze some of the parts of what made up my chicken and dumplings dish-the stock and the chicken meat, and will use that for future chicken and dumpling dishes. I'm not so sure the actual dish would freeze and thaw very well. It had half and half in it and I think the thawed texture would affect the creaminess of the stew when re-heated. As far as my dumplings go, I'm pretty sure they are a "best when cooked" type of recipe best-suited for a one-meal application. After I made my chicken and dumplings, I saved some leftovers to take to work for lunch the next day. The dumplings were pasty and not nearly as good as the ones made fresh and served in the moment with the fresh chicken stew.

For these "slicks" or noodle-style dumplings do you have to let them rest after you make them and before you add them to the stew or do you just put them right into the hot stew like we do with our drop-style dumplings?

Glad that it worked for you. Sometimes a little butter goes a long way in adding just that bit of flavor boost you need. If you look at a lot of recipes from the 50's and 60's you'll often see "salad oil" as an ingredient. From what I've been able to find, it's basically what we now call vegetable oil and corn oil. Today it's morphed into the more diet friendly canola oil.

Your Chicken and Dumplings look delicious--especially the Dumplings! Just because of your photo, I'm not so apprehensive of the "noodle-stlye" and I'll be trying that recipe next time. Thanks.

I'm enjoying seeing the variations of chicken and dumplings displayed here in our cook-off. There's definately a "traditional vs. new" preference out there, and I especially like the recipes that give one the option to create a quick chicken and dumpling dish in just a few hours. My dish was very good, but I don't think everyone would want to stretch things out over the course of about three days to re-create it.

And your broth appears to be more on the "soupy" side as opposed to my "creamed chicken" dish, yes? How did you like the consistency of the broth?

Looks like gnoochi to me too. Anyway, I love, love, love Chicken and Dumplings. But sometimes my dumplings have a raw flour taste-bitterish- as if I am not cooking them enough. I keep trying to cook them longer and longer in hopes that that is the problem, but is it just that I am using a crappy recipe? I have also tried them with 00 flour and that didn't help. Is it the baking powder? I keep trying this recipe, because I remember them being good when someone ELSE made them. 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2/3 cup milk 2 tablespoons oil Recipe calls for 10 minutes each side. I go at least 15 each side, but it does sometimes suck up all my broth. My recipe for the chicken and broth is really simple and I love it. It's always perfect. I usually stew whatever chicken parts I have on hand (making sure there is enough dark meat) with onions, carrots, celery, parsley, sometimes leak, S&P, and fresh thyme. Very simple yet pleasing to my palate!!! I always debone the chicken and add back to the broth and lay the dumplings on top to cook. I am going to make this dish again tomorrow. Of course I'm not the dumpling expert here, but I'm wondering if you need a bit more fat in the mix so that the dumplings don't have that raw taste? What kind of oil do you use--is it salad oil or olive oil? Maybe that is the problem. The old-style recipes typically called for plain shortening or lard and that would probably give more flavor than oil. And whole milk would also give more flavor than 2% or skim milk. Finally, you might want to add a beaten egg to the dumpling batter. I'll be interested to see if those few changes maybe give you better results. Anyone else have any ideas?

I am literally feeling your dumpling anticipation and I know they will be delicious. I felt the same way when I was making my dumplings. I'm especially interested in how much time your dumplings will need to cook in the stew so don't forget to record that timing for us. Good luck Chris.

Nice dish, David, though it seems to me that it's more like creamed chicken than the a soup-like concoction normally associated with C&D (said the guy who browned his dumplings!) It's obvious you've done some research. Is there an historical basis for this sort of modification? Well, sort-of, which isn't much of a definitive answer! The dumplings were definitely historical from the perspective that they were pulled exactly out of a cookbook published in 1945 with the only "modern" modification being the addition of fresh thyme leaves and chopped, fresh Italian parsley. Now the "chicken gravy" is a different matter--and much harder for me to argue as being a recipe based in history in terms of its authenticity. I pulled it from my Chicken with Biscuits base, our discussions here, and a number of my vintage cookbooks. Those cookbooks range from the late 1890's into the early 1960's. I found that the recipes for Chicken and Dumplings ranged from soupy and watery to recipes with the consistency of stews and chowders. Many of the recipes did allow for the cook to thicken the stew with a mixture of flour and milk. And I should note that I didn't do any research of recipes on the Internet--it was my own recipes, our discussions and hard cover vintage cookbooks that led to the final dish. Now my dish is on the "thicker" end of the spectrum and could easily be adapted as a "Creamed Chicken on Toast," or "Creamed Chicken with Dumplings" or "Creamed Chicken on Biscuits" recipe.

As the chicken gravy was stewing on top of the stove, I turned to the dumplings. Now mind you, I have never, ever, made a dumpling. I was quite nervous about this stage of the recipe. Reading through our posts here, I was not, at my stage of naievete, going to even attempt to cut dough into strips ala dumplings. Of the eight dumpling recipes Ms. Berolzheimer offered in her cookbook, I settled on the "Feather Dumpling" recipe. I suppose it was named after a feather for its finished texture. One would find out in the final tasting. I hoped. The only addition I made was to add a bit of fresh thyme and parsley for flavor. The recipe called for 2 cups flour, 1 tsp. salt, 4 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1 egg, 3 tbsp. melted butter and "about" 2/3 cup milk. After mixing these ingredients together, the batter was what I would describe as "semi-stiff"- Now I was quite nervous. The recipe called for the cook to drop the batter by teaspoons into boiling liquid. Since I hadn't done this before, I improvised. I used two large spoons and sort of shaped large spoons of dumpling batter and dropped that into the hot, not boiling, chicken gravy. The recipe called one to "cover, very closely, and cook for 18 minutes." I couldn't resist temptation, so I had to uncover the pot after about 3 minutes and take a look at my dumplings. I shouldn't have looked. Uncovering an uncooked dumpling at the 3-minute mark is not a pretty sight. The poor little things looked like they were going to melt in my precious chicken gravy- I covered the pot, trusted the editors of the American Woman's Cookbook who I am sure knew that exactly 18 minutes was in fact the right amount of cooking time for a Feather Dumpling and I left well alone. This was the result- As you can see in this close-up, the dumplings did not suffer from the indignity of my uncovering of the pot. They were light and fluffy inside, yet with a nice outside, almost biscuit-like outside cover. As some of you have mentioned, the dumplings are a delicious counter in terms of texture and flavor to the chicken gravy. And what a wonderful taste sensation when you spoon a bit of this little dumpling together with some of that warm gravy, the two melt together and this is just one of the most delicious dishes I think I have ever tasted- I'm looking forward to seeing your Chicken and Dumplings dishes.

As I read through our discussion points, it became apparent early on that the only part of my Chicken Pie recipe that would relate to our cook-off would be the stock and the chicken. I decided to go with the "Cracker-Barrel" style base for my stew--a white gravy with only chicken. No vegetables. This is a photo of the finished chicken stock. It's really what we could call a chicken jelly as it has that kind of consistency. Those little white bits are actually nice little globs of fat. I used this stock to make what I am calling "chicken gravy." The chicken gravy was made by whisking together 1/2 cup of Wondra flour with 1 cup of half and half. Cream would have been too thick and heavy for my tastes, milk too thin. I only use Wondra for gravies and sauces because it is milled especially fine for these types of recipes. If you've never used it, try it. Your sauces and gravies will come out incredibly smooth and silky with nary a lump. Once the base of flour and half and half is poured into a heated pot the work of whisking in the chicken stock begins. I added about 4 cups of chicken stock to make a thick gravy, then seasoned it with salt and black pepper- Next into the pot went the reserved chicken meat from the chickens that made the stock. I didn't measure the amount of chicken meat, I just put in the amount that looked good for the size of the pot. I added a small bit of fresh thyme and Italian parsley to the gravy at this point- This is the pot with the "chicken gravy" as I'm calling it, awaiting the next important stage. I'll be showing everyone my attempts to make a drop-style of dumpling. For the dumplings I decided to keep things in a retro-style, relying on a recipe from the aforementioned American Woman's Cookbook of 1945, edited by Ruth Berolzheimer. Here is the pot waiting for a recipe of "Feather Dumplings"-

Well, a big long thank you for this wonderful, gracious story about your dear Grandmother Elaine Mills Kinsey. This is just the type of family memory that in my humble mind speaks to why we love this simple, satsifying dish that we call Chicken and Dumplings. I just love stories like this . And your story poked me into realizing that I have forgotten to add a very important family element of my own to my story about Chicken and Dumplings and my preparations for this Cook-off. As I was getting ready to make Chicken and Dumplings I called my 86-year old Mother, Janet Edna Pink Ross. (Don't worry, Mother does not fear having her age revealed). My Mother told me she's never made Chicken and Dumplings, yet she had it many times when she was a young girl growing up in Twin Falls, Idaho--most memorably at the home of my Great Aunt Bertie Pink. Bertie Pink was born sometime around 1890 or so, we don't really know. What we do know is that she never had a real job and the day she stopped driving, sometime around 1960 or so, she parked the 1924 Cadillac in the garage and never drove it again. Bertie's only job was to care for her Mother, Jenny and her Father, Max, and to tend to the small farm they kept. Bertie was a wonderful cook. I especially remember her delicious fruitcake soaked in large amounts of brandy and her delicious cold fried chicken that she always packed for us each summer when we drove home to Oregon. I imagine those were the same chickens she used for her Chicken and Dumplings. Now these were what we today call "free-range, organic" chickens. In 1934 in Twin Falls, Idaho they were chickens that pecked at grass and bugs and lived a very happy life. Then they ended up in Bertie's stewpot. Mother told me she thought Bertie left me a hand-written recipe for Chicken and Dumplings in her recipe box, but I never found one. There were recipes for just about everything else, including divinity and escalloped potatoes, all written in long-hand with a fountain pen, yet I never found a recipe card for Chicken and Dumplings. So here's to Elaine Mills Kinsey and Bertie Pink and Chicken and Dumplings for all.

I like to mix salted anchovies with softened butter and maybe some fresh herbs. Fresh oregano is especially good. Then chill in the refrigerator until really hard. Cut a nice thick slab of the cold anchovy butter and put it on a grilled steak. Delicious.

Using my unscientific recipe for chicken stock yielded 14 cups finished stock.

Everyone's feedback has invaluable to me. Our discussions have made me realize that there are even greater differences between Chicken Pie with Biscuits and Chicken and Dumplings than I had realized before we began our Cook-Off. I've started with the base for my Chicken and Dumplings--Chicken Stock. I'll be using the stock to then make the "gravy" for my dish. The Stock- I started with my tried and true recipe for making chicken stock. I think you may find it a bit uncoventional in that I don't do much straining of all the foam and mucky stuff that floats to the top of the stock as it stews down. I might skim the stock about 3, maybe 4 times, that's it. I suppose it's mainly due to laziness on my part. Maybe I'm just stubborn and don't think it's really necessary, or then again, since the final stock is so delicious and has such a concentrated chicken flavor maybe I've proven my own theory right in that I think spending all that time to skim away flavor isn't necessary. In any case, I put the below ingredients in the largest Le Creuset pot made and cover the whole lot with water and let it simmer on the stovetop for about 6 hours. Two roasting chickens, 2 yellow onions, skin on and cut in half, 2 heads garlic cut in half, celery, carrot, rosemary, parsley, thyme, allspice berries, 2 bay leaves, black peppercorns- After hours of cooking in the aromatics, you can almost taste this wonderfully flavorful stock and tender, moist, chicken- The vegetables and spices are strained out and the stock is returned to the pot to reduce. The meat is pulled off the chicken and reserved. The bones are also returned to the pot to flavor the stock as it reduces. This second cooking of the stock takes about two more hours or so. I didn't weigh the chicken meat but it's a lot. More than enough for a nice big pot of Chicken and Dumplings-

I'm probably going to add some fresh thyme and sage to a dumpling recipe out of one of my vintage cookbooks. I was wondering if anyone has considered the type of chicken they'll be using? I use roasting hens to make chicken stock. I've always had great success using basic supermarket roasting hens to make chicken stock--the stock is far better than what you can buy in the market and the meat stays incredibly moist. I don't find any need to buy more expensive, free-range, organic chickens or larger roasting hens or capons. Any thoughts?

Ever have chicken noodle soup? or matzah ball soup? or even consomme a la royale? Same idea. While the dumplings/noodles/mazta ball are merely cooked dough, they soak up the soup/liquid component and become flavorful. It is basically experiencing the the flavor of the soup with a different texture. So part of their point is textural contrast. In another manner of thinking, assuming you put veggies in the soup, the dumplings create a complete dish (veggies, protein, starch). As a rustic dish, this makes complete sense...so from that perspective the point is "carbs". When I was reviewing my vintage cookbooks for Chicken and Dumpling recipes, I found it interesting at the number of different recipes for dumplings there actually were years ago--egg, feather, for Irish stew, for Pepper Pot, fruit, liver, peach, potato and whole-wheat were just a few of the variations I came upon. Things are a bit different today. I have a sense dumplings are often forgotten, but as noted above, dumplings are a part of some of the most noted and classic of dishes. I've been thinking about my Great Aunt Bertie as we've been discussing Chicken and Dumplings. I called my Mother and she remembers Aunt Bertie making Chicken and Dumplings for her when she was young. Aunt Bertie was not someone who would speak of "carbs" or the "textural contrast between the dumplings and the tender peas in the delicate broth of the stew," yet I'm pretty sure she knew when she made Chicken and Dumplings using the hens from the barn and the vegetables from the garden she knew she was making a good, wholesome meal.