David Ross

Lord what a delicious looking feast. Can you post some recipes for us?

Steven-You didn't mention Martin Heierling, Chef at Sensi at Bellagio. He would have added to the roster of chefs for the Beard House dinner. And he might have satisfied your wish for something simple-as you say, "just serve a piece of fish." Sensi is often one of the overlooked restaurants at Bellagio. The main dinner crowds tend to go to the more well-known restaurants that border the fountains like Prime, Picasso, Le Cirque and Olives. What a shame. Sensi is as good as those other dining rooms, albeit with a unique style and layout with the kitchen placed in the center of the dining rooms and encased in glass. Should anyone go to Sensi, ask for the live Santa Barbara spot prawns if they are in season. It is the definition of a simple grilled piece of shellfish. Sweet meat with a charred shell. And don't miss sucking on the delicious head of the prawn. I can understand chefs wanting to put on the Ritz when they cook at the Beard House, but if Mr. Beard were alive today-he might agree with you-"I just want a simple piece of fish."

I'm glad you took John up on the invitation. If we can sway more folks, especially New Yorker's, to experience the cooking of the chefs from Las Vegas than that is a good thing for the restaurant community in town. I'm not a resident of Las Vegas but an avid cheerleader of the growing restaurant industry in town. "Celebrity" Chefs bring in the tourists in Las Vegas, but it's the men and women who are in the kitchen, in residence, night after night, that carry out the workload-and insure the quality is up to the standards of the chef/owner. Kudos to them and I am glad you had positive comments about the Beard House dinner.

And hey, there's green is there! Totally nutritious. The dish looks delicious...do you use a lightbox?(I'm missing the sunshine for my pics) ← No light box used. I put the plated dish on the dining room table which is under a brightly lit chandelier. Then I put a piece of white foamcore board behind the plate. The foamcore works as a sort of backdrop to bounce the light back on the food. I'm using Windows Vista operating system on my computer, which incorporates the latest version of Windows Photo Gallery. That gives me the opportunity to do a lot of color and light editing to my photos before I post them on eGullet. Thanks for the nice comments.

By all means, the small digital cameras will serve your needs. I use a Canon Powershot SD1000 with 7.1 megapixels for my food postings in this thread. For really close up shots I use the digital macro feature. But for the above shot of the chicken on linguine, I set the camera on manual, no flash, then use the macro setting. Seems to work o.k for me. I think the camera was about $350 at Sear's. Be careful though with your camera in the kitchen. I've let greasy hands get on the camera, allowing it to slip out of my hands and dropping to the floor-with the lens open! Not a pretty sight and the demise of that particular camera.

Earlier this week, chicken breast stuffed with prosciutto, arugula and parmesan. Served on linguine tossed with more arugula and parmesan. I suppose this is my idea of a diet dish for 2008. You know, chicken on the menu when one is dieting!

Didn't he say something about "pure starch" as the future, or is my memory failing me (possibly from McGee?)? That would mean the potato or corn starch we use today. Did Escoffier ever use arrow root? ← The book I am reading is titled "The Life of a Chef" by Chef Edward F. Mathieu. The book was published in 1958, and chronicles the chefs life from his birth in France in the 1880's through his childhood, service in the French Cavalry and then his migration to New York. His most notable posts were at The Palace Hotel and Fairmont in San Francisco (when it opened after the big quake), and 30 years spent as the head chef of the Davenport Hotel in Spokane. Chef Mathieu often refers to contacts he made with Escoffier and his son while he was still living in France. That's pretty impressive. I will re-read the book to find Chef Mathieu's exact quotes about making stocks and using thickeners. I know this is a bit off topic, but I wanted to share a few anecdotes from the book. At the end of the book there are some sauce recipes and they are quite interesting for us to read today-100 years after Chef Mathieu started as a young chef. These are some of the classic sauces that are rarely used or remembered today: Sauce Portuguese, Duglere Sauce for 'Fish,' and Cardinale Sauce for 'Fish.' Even more interesting, the number of variations of cooking eggs that Chef Mathieu was trained to use in the kitchens of the St. Regis in New York, circa 1900: Shirred: Mirror, Bercy, Meyerber, Rothomago, Rossini, Melba, Hunter, Americane, Marine, Beurre Noir. Poached: Benedict, Monte Carlo, Grand Duke, Argenteuil, Aurora, Garlin, Vienna. Cocotte: Portuguese, Jeannette, Zingara, Marine. Omelettes: Creole, Mushroom, Reine, Princess, Chatelaine, Hunter Style, Farmerette, Savoy, Cardinale, Provencale, Lyonnaise, Fine Herbes. Scrambled: With kidneys, crab, mushrooms, truffles, chicken livers, asparagus tips, cheese, ham, bacon, shrimps, etc. Au Gratin: Florentine, Victoria, Tetrazine. No wonder the true classics aren't seen on today's menus-Glace or Eggs!

I don't know of any publications out there who do a competitive type of review, but it should be pretty easy for you. I would break your judging criteria into a few different areas to make it easier for you and for the judging to be fair. Categories like Flavor, Presentation and Appropriate to Theme, come to mind. Then assign a point value to each category. That's the basic judging criteria behind Iron Chef. For the concept to really work, and be fair, the publication should ask the restaurants to do exactly the same dishes. For example, Risotto. While each restaurant may do a different version of Risotto-one might be classic and the other might incorporate shellfish-your judging would be based on fair criteria for what makes a great risotto-creamy rice cooked to just the right texture. If they just set a theme of say "Italian" that wouldn't be as fair. One chef might do a Roman pasta dish while another chef would do a seafood dish from Venice. It would be hard to judge between the two in that case.

No issues with it getting gluey when it cools off a bit? That's an issue I sometimes have with sauces that have piles of gelatin. ← I wouldn't say the texture was gluey, but when the sauce chills it has the consistency of jelly. But when I melt it down over a medium-low heat it is back to the perfect sauce consistency. I'm currently reading a book written by a chef who worked at the Fairmont Hotel and Palace Hotel in San Francisco in 1908! He mentions in the book that the chefs often used flour and arrowroot to thicken their sauces. I would have thought that back then they wouldn't have used starches to thicken their sauces but what do I know. I guess it is a matter of settling on a method that suits your tastes and your level of patience.

Thanks. You are the second person today to revive one of my older threads. Thank you. I will try your suggestions. During the holidays I myself got into the depths of the Escoffier method. I had found the shortcut recipes promising, but those recipes wouldn't have answered my personal taste test issue of the Escoffier method versus newer methods. I had to improvise though, I never found a source for scads of veal bones called for in Chef Escoffier's recipe-my reliable local butcher couldn't scare up 10 pounds of veal bones for a reasonable price. But knowing I had to use bones with a gelatinous quality, I found my answer in the Asian market-chicken wings, duck feet and pigs feet. So I used those bones along with an adaptation of Escoffier's master recipe for a chicken glace recipe. It turned out pretty well. In fact, here is a photo from the dinner using the chicken glace (also posted in the 'Dinner' thread). The sauce was thick and what you might say 'unctuous' on the tongue, and had a very deep chicken flavor. The thick texture of the sauce came simply from the bones and vegetables and lots of reduction stages-no butter, no flour, no cornstarch. Chicken, Polenta, Poulet 'Glace' with Mushrooms, Celery Victor:

Good Lord where have I been? I start the topic and abandon it, not having taken the time to "view" Giada in recent weeks. Now that college football is over for another year, I'll make it a priority to see the next showing of "Easy Italian."

You might want to try Morton's Bistro in West Salem-I think it is on Front Drive. It's only about a 10 minute drive from downtown. It's in a little old house and is very quaint. The menu is in the vein of New American and the chef makes everything himself in-house. Good food and reasonable prices.

This was New Year's Eve Dinner: Rack of Lamb, Mashed Potato with Caraway (just a last minute idea but I liked the licorice flavor of the Caraway in the Potato), Cranberry-Huckleberry Compote. I served an Arugula Salad on the side. An annual Holiday Dessert thanks to Williams-Sonoma-Cole's Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter and Stem Ginger.

Rather than a list of my top restaurant meals of 2007, I'm going to give just one restaurant that without a doubt was at the top-Guy Savoy Las Vegas. (You can see photos and my review in the Guy Savoy thread Southwest and Western States Restaurant forums). The setting-a private dinner for about 35 guests to celebrate the one year anniversary of Guy Savoy at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. The dinner was sponsored by Bon Apetit Magazine as one of the signature events of their Las Vegas Food and Wine Focus. The guest list was memorable-Chef Savoy in the kitchens, Frank Savoy in the dining room and the President of Caesar's there to present the staff with an anniversary cake. My best dish for 2007 was served that night-one simple little bite of foie gras on toast that was served on silver skewers as we sipped vintage Rose' champagne. One might wonder how 4 simple ingredients can give one such pleasure. After that night in May, I no longer wonder why-foie gras, black truffle, butter and brioche in the hands of a Master-the best of 2007. My most cherished photo of 2007:

Thank you. I may have to trek out to Egger's Meats and buy another one for New Year's dinner. I think the beef gods gave me a Christmas gift-a prime rib roast for merely $14.99 a pound. Thank you Santa Claus.

You know me to well. Yes indeed, I did take a photo of the roasted beef-albeit a bit of a fuzzy photo-probably because I was shaking too much in anticipation of eating this giant. And I agree with you, that is the "Halleujah, Amen, God Have Mercy" moment-the smell of roasted beef filling the kitchen. Someone please get me a handkerchief to wipe away the tears.

I think the allure of Prime Rib is that something so primal, so basic, so simple to roast, is yet so delicious. For me, probably one of the holy grails of cookery is a thick slab of prime rib for a holiday dinner. One should really save up your pocket of pence to purchase a real 'Prime' Rib Roast. I am lucky to have a local butcher, Egger's Meats on the South Hill in Spokane, who always has prime grade available fresh. And take a close look at the price, yes, $14.99 a pound for prime grade. Don't believe me? Then look at the marbling in the next photos, it is prime of course. Choice grade for the holidays is not something we consider. You may remember that I wrote about the subject of "Supermarket Steaks vs. Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe" in the cookking forum earlier this year. The prime grade ribeye steak from Egger's Meats was the clear winner in the taste/cooking test I posted. And so it was proven again with my Prime Rib Roast: I was very close to purchasing a prime grade roast through one of the top mail order butchers. But I was dismayed at the price: $29.99 per pound, without shipping, for a prime grade roast from Lobel's. Secondly, I like to ask my butcher to personally cut the roast for me and that of course isn't an option with Lobel's. I doubt a butcher would take specific instructions, successfully, over the phone. I had the pleasure of watching a scene from the past-my butcher hauled out a whole prime rib and cut it to my specs right there on a big wooden slab-including my request for an extra thick layer of fat. And here is the beauty of the Washington State cattle industry in all of its glory: I roasted the beef in a 450 oven for 15 minutes, then turned the heat down to 325 and roasted to an internal temperature of 124. I let the roast sit for about 10 minutes. A bit more on the rare side for my tastes, but with this grade of quality beef, I could have eaten the beast raw and been satisfied. I'll adjust the cooking time and temperature a bit in the future. I had been drooling over Marlene's gravy photos in the "Dinner" forum, and then I saw chef Anne Willan cooking a rib roast with Martha Stewart on television. Ms. Willan said that in her home county in England they served the "Sunday Roast" with gravy, never jus. So after I pulled the roast from the oven I set in making a good gravy with more fat than my Mother would ever have allowed, along with a good douse of Maker's Mark Brandy. And here we are-"Prime Rib," Roasted Potatoes, Horseradish, Bourbon Gravy: By the way, the tasty shards I cut off the end of the roast and ate before bed were even better than the beef on the plate!

Prime Rib on Friday night, roast potatoes, horseradish and rather than the normal jus, I made gravy. Marlene's delicious gravy photos have been tempting me for weeks, and then last week I saw Anne Willan appear on a segment on television cooking a huge prime rib with Martha Stewart. Ms. Willan said that the British prefer gravy with their roast so off I went. I deglazed the roasting pan with a good swig of Maker's Mark Bourbon. The roast ended up a bit rare for my tastes, a minor argument. I'll post more photos of the roast, raw and then cooked, over in the Prime Rib discussion:

Your photos are delicious! I love using peppermint candy as a theme in Holiday Desserts. Here are a couple, both using Tillamook Dairy Peppermint Candy Ice Cream. Great cows, lots of lush pasture, peppermint candy=wonderful ice cream. Chocolate Brownie, Peppermint Candy Ice Cream, Dark Chocolate Sauce: Profiterole, Peppermint Candy Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce, silly and ridiculous 'sprinkles' but at the same time fun and silly for the Holidays:

I couldnt' stand it-hadn't made a fruitcake in at least 3 years-and since the ca. 2004 edition is now gone, I decided that it was time to get another batch setting to soak to be debuted ca. 2010 or so. I guess fruitcake is sort of like fine wine-what the winemaker bottles in the Fall of 2007 isn't what he'll open for Christmas Dinner 2007. The 2007 vintage will need a few years to properly age and for the flavors of the wine to develop. And so it goes with fruitcake. I choose December as the month for putting up fruitcake because of the nostalgia of the whole affair-but more practically because I can't find dried pineapple and candied citron in the market in July. This year I used a recipe out of a 1983 magazine titled "Holiday Cooking." I can't find any reference in the magazine that it was a part of say the Good Housekeeping or Pillsbury series of holiday specialty magazines. It was just one of those holiday magazines at the checkout stand at the market that tempts you to buy it-sort of like that urge that I gotta have the current issue of the National Enquirer. Why it comes over me I do not know. I added some Molasses and a pint of Guiness to the recipe. There was enough batter for two fruitcakes, and a gallon baggy of the leftover dough that I put in the freezer. Here are the two freshly baked fruitcakes: And ready for a nice, dreamy sleep in a blanket soaked in brandy, two little fellows that we will eat in three years:

Yes, sadly, she's getting her just desserts-wads of cash and scandalous tabloid headlines about the antics of her husband. And no, sorry, that doesn't count for anything in my book. She's aggravating. 30 Minute Meals and $40 a Day are good concepts-she dumbs it way, way down. Another host, I might watch.

I want Santa to bring me this for Christmas!! David, I love how you used a bit of the crab bisque to garnish the smoked halibut. When I first looked at your photos, I thought, "How did he do all of this in one weekend?" but then as I studied the photos again (and again, drool), I realized that the dishes have shared components. Very creative and inspiring! And BTW Ce'nedra, I like to leave out the vermicelli so that I can eat more rolls. Yours look great. I wish that I could get nice, fresh bean sprouts around here. There is not a huge demand, so the ones in the market aren't always good. Nothing worse than old sprouts! ← Thank you very much. I often use a garnish to tell you that the garnish is an element in the main dish-aka crab salad garnishing crab bisque. The crab bisque can also be used as a sauce for pasta. Think fettucine tossed in crab bisque, dungeness crab and a snow shower of parmesan. Try it and you'll REALLY want that for Christmas!

Least Favorite-Rachel Ray. "Guy's, where's the Ritz Crackers.....Guy's." Enough said.

I liked the holiday show better than the regular Top Chef competition shows because it focused more on the food and cooking rather than the personality conflicts and dramatic elements we've come to expect on Top Chef. Sure, there was some pale drama thrown in-lost yeast, dry turkey and Marcel's use of high school grammar, but for the most part I liked the creativity and execution behind the dishes. I think all the chefs are creative and talented. But now the chefs venture out into the world of restaurant cooking-a world I see as far different than the world of reality show cooking. My advice applies to both worlds-keep your dishes simple, don't 'fussy-up' a dish with irrelevant ingredients and garnishes, use the best products for each dish and remember you're now serving customers who are paying for your food, listen to what your customers tell you. The customer is a different type of judge than Judge Padma, Judge Ted Allen or Judge Tom Collichio.

While the Turkey Noodle Bake was good this past week, I like to splurge a bit around the holidays-thus, a few photos of weekend dishes: Pork Pate (store-bought), Buttered Crouton, Huckleberry Compote- (from this year's crop of huckleberries, I always have this compote on hand). I visited my local seafood store to get some first of the season crabs for a cooking segment I did on one of our local tv stations. We did Dungeness Crab Cakes. The season annually starts on December 1. But as you probably heard, we had terrible rains in the Northwest last week and it upset the first crab boats getting out to sea. But I was lucky as I got some of the first crabs caught after the storms passed and the boats could get out. While I was at the market a man came in and bought $961.00 worth of fresh Dungeness Crabs! He said he was buying them for his 'holiday party for his employees.' I wish I worked for him! Dungeness Crab Bisque, Buttered Crouton, Crab Salad- While I was at the fish market I spotted some wonderful smoked halibut. I thought it would go well with the Salt Cod/Potato Cake. I usually serve the salt cod and mashed potato cake with roasted cod, but the smokiness of the halibut was a nice complement to the rich, salty cod cake. Thankfully the green herb vinaigrette (parsley, cilantro, olive oil, apple cider vinegar), was a much needed element to cut through the salty, rich flavors of the other parts of the dish. Smoked Halibut, Salt Cod-Potato Cake, Crab Bisque, Green Herb Vinaigrette- I had never poached a pear in ice wine before-I always stuck with the standard pears poached in red wine. But the sweet flavor and apricot scent of this ice wine was perfect for bringing out the sweetness and delicate scent of the pears. Bosc Pear Poached in Ice Wine, Chestnut Creme Anglaise, Toasted Walnuts, Hazelnut Cookies Dipped in Chocolate-