David Ross

My passion for 'retro' desserts continues. Burnt-Sugar Cake with 7-Minute Frosting, Toasted Coconut, Toffee:

Last night I made Roast Salmon with a Rice/Spinach Cake and a Coconut-Curry Sauce with Baby Corn and Straw Mushrooms. There is a little salad of Cilantro and Fried Shallot on top of the Salmon:

Asian? I have to think it might have something French to it... ← Yes, I stand corrected. I checked my French dictionaries and you are correct. Maybe this speaks to my point that the name of a restaurant can be confusing to the customers if the name doesn't directly reflect the style of cuisine that is served?

Jon-First off, congratulations on a very good website. I thought I'd learn a bit about you and the restaurant, so I went straight to your site. I like the fact that you have bios of your staff. In todays world, many of your customers will go to your site before they make their reservation. They want to read your menu to see if it suits their tastes, but I think they are also interested in learning about the people who create the food. As you change your tasting menu remember to update that information on your website. While I realize most restaurants only post 'sample' menus on their sites, I'd prefer to have the current tasting menu posted rather than see a 'Spring' tasting menu posted in October. Certainly, the more feedback you get from a broad range of different perspectives will help you build a stronger restaurant. Sometimes I find myself in a discussion with other food writers about a particular restaurant. Owing I suppose to our intense nature, our group often gets too wrapped up in whether or not the foie gras was served 5 degrees too cold. We tend to forget that the ultimate judge of the food, the menu, the wines and the service-is the customer. So with that introduction, I look at your menu from a bit of a different perspective-both as a food writer and a customer. Is J'ai named after the intials of the names of the partners in the restaurant? Just a small question. It sounds as though it might be Asian in background but I note that your restaurant will be serving progressive American cuisine. Will you only be offering the tasting menus or will you also offer an ala carte menu? Your price of $155 for the twelve course tasting menu with wines is actually quite a good price. I wouldn't hesitate to pay that. While I'm not that familiar with the prices in your city, I am familiar with the dining scene in Las Vegas. A similar tasting menu with wines at one of the finer restaurants in Las Vegas would be around $200 or higher. In general I think you've got an intriguing and fun menu. But I would caution you about getting overly adventurous with dishes that may not play within an overall cohesive theme. I think it's ok to experiment with different cuisines within a menu, but a tasting menu should be looked at in terms of creating an overall theme with a progression of tastes and textures that begins with the first course and then builds throughout the menu. Each course should compliment the previous course and play a part in the overall menu theme. For example, you go from what sounds to be French in style-Shellfish Consomme, Lobster, Vacherin and Escarole, to what sounds as though it is French/MIddle Eastern/Asian-Turbot, Fennel, Bok Choy, Couscous, Blood Orange, to American-Hickory Braised Short Rib, Pancetta, Brussels Spourts, Yuka and Chanterelle. I'm not saying that different styles of cusine can't work together or that French style ingredients don't work in Middle Eastern dishes. But I'd just be careful to not get to out there with too many styles of cuisine because it tends to pull apart the overall theme of the menu. Taking this issue a step further, be careful that you don't have too many competing tastes within each dish. For example, what does the Vacherin add to the Shellfish Consomme and Lobster dish? How is the Vacherin added to the dish? How is the Escarole prepared in the dish? Does the Escarole give a bitter accent to the dish? On your printed menu, I'd add a description for the customers on how the ingredients in the dish are prepared. For example, is the "Hickory Braised Short Rib a short rib of beef or is the dish made with pork? You list "Beef, Indian Curry, Basmati." As Doc mentioned in his post, what exactly is Indian Curry? Trust me, there are probably plenty of customers who may not know a darn thing about curry, so a bit more explanation on the menu would help. One last example, give your customers an explanation of what the "Black Pearl" is in the Bing Cherry dessert. I'm sure you know that part of the key to carrying out this tasting menu is how it is presented and served to your customers. Make sure your servers are enthusiastic and believe in your food and that they can clearly explain each dish and how it is prepared to the customers. I've now convinced myself to book a flight and come enjoy your menu. Good luck and keep us updated.

Hey when I get sick that's what I want to eat. Looks delicious.

Last night started with a salad of Orange, Jicama and Pickled Red Onion with Blue Cheese and a Orange Juice-Ginger-Herb Vinaigrette. I usually wouldn't mix the flavors of Bleu Cheese with Ginger, and I wouldn't mix Ginger with Herbs like Oregano and Marjoram but in this case the flavors worked pretty well. The Ginger seemed to accent and punch up the other flavors: Followed with my Cioppino. I seem to change up this recipe every time I make it depending on what seafood looks good on the day I buy it. This Cioppino had Clams, Dungeness Crab, Oysters, Salmon and Pink Prawns from Florida:

Ted thanks for the clarification. I should have edited my original comments on the dish to say I used the base of Delia's pudding but added the puff pastry top as a garnish rather than use her suet pastry and steaming method. I've had the steak and kidney at Elephant and Castle pubs in Portland and Vancouver, BC and to be honest, what I thought was a pudding I now realize was a 'pie' due to the puff pastry crust. Well thanks again for your feedback. Of course, now I'm going to have to do it the right way with a suet crust just so I can taste the difference between suet/steamed and puff pastry/baked. I love a tasty experiment.

Steven-superb job! You wrote a humorous piece that created the perfect image in my mind of what dinner at Mr. Richman's house would look like-and taste like, and smell like, and sound like. While I've only met Mr. Richman in passing, (outside the doors of Guy Savoy in Las Vegas), I've always imagined him to be a bit of a curmudgeon in his writing but a quite likeable fellow and gracious host in person. I'm thinking he's the type of guy who would have offered you some type of retro cocktail with Rye whiskey? I wouldn't expect Alan to seek out artisan puff pastry at Whole foods to use as the wrapper for hand-cured sausage cut from heritage breed pigs. No, I would fully expect Richman to do just what you reported he did-purchase Pillsbury dough in a can (found only in your better mass-appeal supermarket deli cases)-to wrap his little hot-doggies. Now I don't know you well Steven, but I suspect that maybe you knew in the back of your mind that in some way your piece would stir the emotions of some eGullet devotees and turn the tables of the story of a pleasant dinner into a discussion as to the merits of the food critic as a chef. While I am tempted to take the bait, I'll hold off for now. A little. "How awful." Some would proclaim that "It's sacrilegious"-a living icon in the world of food journalism who serves "Pigs in a Blanket." For crying out loud people, take a drink of your Gin Gimlet. Let's not be so serious that we feel the need to analyze Alan Richman's lack of training at the Cordon Bleu or his inability to turn out Truffled Chicken Served in a Pigs Bladder. He writes about it. He doesn't cook it. Did Mikhail Baryshnikov have to know how to hand-stitch ballet shoes in order to dance in them? Well Steven I think your story is just great, and delicious, and funny. I'm glad you had a good time and no doubt you'll be back for another fun dinner at Chez Richman, er Home Cook Alan Richman, very soon. Thanks.

Last night was a Buffalo Strip Steak with Bleu Cheese-Potato Gratin and Green Beans. We get a lot of buffalo in our markets in Eastern Washington, usually from ranches not far away in Montana. Buffalo is a bit sweeter than beef with a tiny hint of gaminess. It's really low in fat so we cook it to the rare side of medium-rare. (I must admit that while I like buffalo, I still prefer beef).

C'mon, David Ross, the truth is that your food is wonderful and you are a talented photographer. I know this to be the case, since no matter what "fixing" I do to my pictures, they never look anything like yours! Just gorgeous cake, BTW. You have now inspired me to make yet another dessert . . . . David Ross Cherry Clafouti shall be joined by David Ross Upside Down Cake. (My family wants to know who the heck is David Ross!) ← Thank you for your nice comments. And you remembered the Clafouti! Wonderful. Last night I made ice cream sandwiches-Chocolate Chip Cookies filled with Creamsickle Ice Cream. Sorry, it was late, I had too much wine and taking a photo was the last thing on my mind. I needed a sugar fix. Thanks again for the comments.

Last night I did a British type of theme: Beer Battered Prawns with a salad of Cucumber and Tomato combined with my own Tartar Sauce-which includes mayonnaise, mustard, dill pickle relish and a touch of horseradish. Then a Steak and Kidney Pudding. I used Delia Smith's recipe that is posted on the BBC Food website. I've always loved the Steak and Kidney Pudding served at Elephant and Castle Pubs in the US and Canada, just haven't ever been able to duplicate their recipe. This recipe still isn't as good as the Puddings you get at Elephant and Castle, but it was good. I changed it up by slow cooking the meats and then adding the puff pastry as a garnish. I'm not a big fan of beef kidneys, but the taste was pretty muted due to the slow cooking.

You could easily substitute Orzo for the Rice in Hellzapoppin. In fact, it's a great idea so thanks for suggesting it. I think I'll try it myself!

Hmm, I don't think I would take the chance of cooking such high quality pork in a pressure cooker. I can't base my answer on any personal experience of using a pressure cooker on pork belly-but my natural instinct is to tell you not to do it. Especially since you are probably paying a premium for Kurobata pork. I'm just not sure that quick, intense heat, albeit under the steam pressure of the pressure cooker, would give you both moist meat and crispy skin-and that is what I think our common goal is when cooking with pork belly-melting meat with crispy skin. If you are intent on experimenting with pork belly in a pressure cooker, I might suggest using a basic pork belly-much cheaper than the Kurobata and if it doesn't turn out, you haven't ruined your Kurobata pork belly. On the other hand, if you have a pressure cooker recipe you trust, go for it. The pressure cooker will give you quick results, and then you could run the cooked pork belly under the broiler to crisp the skin. Let me know which way you go with the pork belly and maybe post a photo for us of your results.

Russell-another great Las Vegas trip report with photos, thank you! I was at home in snowy Spokane on the Monday that you all went to Savoy for dinner. Trust me, I would have rather been with the group enjoying that fine food and wine rather than struggling through my snow and ice caked street. Great job.

Doc-I am looking forward to your report. I've always enjoyed your restaurant reviews and photos-especially your thoughts on El Bulli. The Spaniards are quietly plying their trade, yet they seem to be on the cutting edge of leading us into a new world of cuisine. Thanks, your writing and photos will be interesting.

Holy BLEEP, David Ross! Those pictures are so beautiful; the perfect lighting, the great clarity of the focus, just WOW! If I may ask, what type of camera do you use? I just received a nice little Samsung 7.2 megapixel for Christmas, and I still haven't really learned it yet. Your colors absolutly glow; the cherries look like Christmas ornaments! ← Thank you so much. The pictures did turn out very good, but the taste of the cake is what was really spectacular. How can you go wrong when you cook any type of fruit in butter and brown sugar, bake it with cake batter and pull it out of the oven, invert it onto a plate, and watch all that caramelized sugar drip down. I use a Canon Powershot for my photos. I'll send you the exact model number and specs later. I do a couple of things to enhance the end photo: -I put the dish on my dining table which is under a strong light from a chandelier. Then I put a white foamcore board behind the plate. This way I get strong light and light that bounces off the white board, which in turn seems to help set off the food. -I take two shots-one of the whole dish and one close-up. For the shot of the whole dish, in this case the whole cake, I usually set my camera onto a mini-tripod to help keep the camera steady. I set my camera to 'manual', turn off the flash, and then set it on the digital setting. For the close-up shot I set my camera to 'digital macro' (really closeup shots), turn off the flash and then set it on AFL (auto focus lock), to keep the camera from shaking in my hands. -FInally, I do a lot of editing on my computer before I post my photos on eGullet. I am currently using WIndows Vista which comes with the latest photo editing from Microsoft. I can control the brightness, contrast, color saturation and cropping of the photo. I tend to darken my photos before I post them on eGullet because I find the raw photos will be too light if I post them without darkening. I figure that part of the story I'm telling is through the photos, so I want them to portray to my fellow eGullet friends that the food is delicious. Thank you again.

My oh my you are all such talented bakers! I usually am in other forums but I really have to commit to coming over here more often. Wonderful. Last night I did my own variation on Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I used mandarin oranges and some candied cherries I had leftover from my holiday baking. I served it with a vanilla and orange swirl ice cream.

Dinner last night was meat loaf, glazed carrots and parsnips and "hellzapoppin" rice casserole: Now what is really great is that I didn't realize the full history behind Hellzapoppin until yesterday. My Mother has made it for years and years based on what we thought was a recipe from a family friend. Well, I couldn't find the original hand-written recipe card, so I thought I might try finding a recipe on the web. It was there! And, being a native Oregonian I was quite pleased when I realized the recipe came from Peg Bracken and her "I hate to cook" cookbook which was published in 1960. Peg Bracken recently died at the age of 89 at her home in Portland, Oregon. Along with James Beard, she is one of Oregon's most beloved cooks and authors. And yes, the Hellzapoppin is still as delicious and appropriate today as it was in 1960.

Thank you very much. Go over to the baking forum and scroll through the subjects to Artisan Bread in Five minutes with Zoe Francis. It's right up there this evening. There is lots of info about the method, the book about the method, and links to the recipe. I rarely get pizza into the perfect round, but that is what gives an artisan pizza its character, odd edges, bubbles in the dough, cheese melting over the edge. I think that odd shape I ended up with added to the taste of the pizza, at least I hope it did.

I thought that was what the RecipeGullet was for! The past couple of days have been really lucky in that I've stumbled across ingredients here in Brum that have i've never seen available before. Yesterday was Sea Urchin at the wholesale market (see the breakfast thread) and this morning it was Woodcock from the farmers market. Brilliant! Roasted Woodcock, with a Beetroot salad, Roasted Pink Fir Apple Potato and a 'Pate' of it's innards (Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's good idea this one): The taste of woodcock is fantastically delicately gamey. It was roasted with the innards still in the bird. Whilst the bird was resting, the still bloody innards were spooned into a small pan to cook through with some butter and a splash of marsala to make the pate - the end product was wonderfully rich and went very well with the sweet beets. I really hope they are available again next time the farmers market is in town! ← Looks delicious. Tell me more about the "Roasted Pink Fir Apple Potato." Sounds interesting.

Pizza last night with Kalamata olives, prosciutto, mozzarella, diced tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and then fresh basil after the pizza came out of the oven. For the dough I used the artisan bread in five minutes recipe off another thread in the baking forum. This is a good recipe for pizza dough-doesn't get soggy and puffs up nicely.

Ann looks delicious. Do you use a certain type of sausage and olive? Is there a sauce or just olive oil? I'm really dying to try your recipe. Thanks.

Actually, you can always find a skin-on pork shoulder at Walmart. But if you can't find the skin-on pork shoulder you can substitute with a fresh ham, which is just a fresh leg of pork. Both will work well in the recipe which calls for a slow braise.

Last night, actually the process started Friday, I served a Cuban Roast Pork based on a recipe in the latest issue of Saveur. You start by marinating a pork shoulder the day before in orange juice, lime juice, cumin seed, black pepper, oregano, garlic and olive oil. The recipe calls for braising the pork for about 4 hours. I changed things up a bit. I put the pork over a bed of pickled red onions that I had made last week. Then the pork, then the braising liquid, into a heavy, covered pot and into a 300 oven for 8 hours. I then roasted it uncovered in a 400 oven for 45 minutes. I served the pork sliced over some steamed rice that was flavored with green onions, peas and a bit of saffron, the reduced pork braising liquid and some corn bread that had cheddar cheese, green onion and fresh jalapeno added. The pork turned out really good, almost as good as the pork belly I make. Very juicy and the sauce was a mix of sweet and sour. The pickled red onions just melted into the sauce and I think that added a lot of flavor.

You really have tons of choices within steps of where you'll be hanging your coat. Caesar's and the adjoining Forum Shops have plenty of great restaurant choices. To the South and just across the street are the great restaurants of Bellagio and to the East and up the street a bit to the North of course are The Venetian, Treasure Island, The Mirage and Wynn. But rather than make a broad swath across a big distance of the strip, and since you only have three nights, I'd stick close to your digs at Caesar's and here are some good choices that shouldn't disappoint: At Caesar's: Guy Savoy, Formal French Cuisine and Service, expect to pay about $275 per person for the tasting menu, wines would be extra. A memorable experience well worth the high price. Bradley Ogden, American Cuisine based on farm fresh products with a California influence. More reasonable in price than Savoy, about $150 per person for three courses and wines. I would avoid Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. I think there is more allure to the celebrity moniker rather than a focus on outstanding food. Payard Patisserie and Bistro just opened, French Bistro and Pastries, but it is really still too early to tell if it has settled in. RJ Wong will be eating there in a couple of days and report back to us. If you don't mind trying a new outpost of a New York restaurant, give this one a shot. The Forum Shops at Caesar's: BOA Steakhouse in the Forum Shops is a short walk out of the Caesar's casino. Good seafood and steak. Next door, and owned by the same corporation, is the Sushi Roku. As the name implies, fresh sushi if that is your thing. Spago-the dining room, at the Forum Shops. Don't settle for the cafe that is out front and where you dine amongst the hordes of shoppers walking by, get a reservation in the dining room. While it may be a celebrity chef restaurant, aka Wolfgang Puck, don't think it is another chef is missing type of restaurant. The food is American with Puck's usual Italian and European influences, maybe a bit of Asian cuisine thrown in, but all good. I always have found the service to be very good. Some favorites: Blueberry Mojito Cocktail, Cauliflower Soup with Foie Gras, any roasted bird or the fresh seafoods. If you do want to take a quick cab ride to another hotel, here are three of my favorites that are close: Valentino at The Venetian, Classic Italian. While Mario Batali's B & B is getting the press lately at the Venetian, Valentino is a better choice for Italian. Bypass the cafe and bar out front and eat in the formal dining room. I will never forget my last pasta dish at Valentino-braised beef stuffed ravioli with a garlic cream sauce that sounds simple but was anything but simple. Delicious. Wing Lei at The Wynn, Classic Chinese but using fresh, seasonal American products. Call ahead and ask if they can prepare a special tasting menu for you. It's about $150 per person. The ala carte menu is extensive and the Peking Duck tasting menu interesting, but to challenge the chef and the staff, and to get a really good taste of what they can do, ask if they can prepare a tasting menu. They obliged me when I made that request in May and the dinner was fabulous. Alex at The Wynn, American Cuisine with French Accents. The dining room is grand, (Savoy is somewhat staid), the service relaxed yet gracious, the food is incredible. The tasting menu with wines is the best way to sample Alex Stratta's cuisine and runs about $250 per person with wines. At a private lunch in May, my favorite dishes were the vegetable crudites with a black truffle dipping sauce and the roasted quail stuffed with foie gras. Really wonderful presentations on the plate. Let us know how your trip goes and please add photos if you can. Enjoy.