David Ross

Last night I did Roasted Chicken Breast on Creamy Polenta with an Oyster Mushroom Sauce and Braised Celery. I had been wanting to do a recipe for 'Celery Victor' for a long time. That's a classic San Francisco dish of celery braised in stock. I braised the stalks and then made a salad out of the celery leaves. I garnished it with some fried shallots. I buy the fried shallots in big jars at my local Asian market. The fried shallots are a lot like French's fried onions. I started with a whole chicken and butchered it by removing the breast and wing in one piece. I cut off the top two wing sections and left the 'drumette.' Years ago some chefs called this the 'airline' cut. I just sauteed the chicken in butter and olive oil to crisp the skin then roasted it in the oven. As I was in the market I found some Beecher's Flagship Cheese and decided to add a good amount of the cheese to my polenta. Beecher's has gotten a lot of press lately-they are located at Pike Place Market in Seattle and the cheesemaker and owner used to work in corporate America before starting to make cheese in recent years. The cheese I bought is a cow's milk cheese aged one year. It is very creamy and tangy and and was good addition to the polenta.

Last night I made one of my favorite Fall desserts-Gingerbread. I served it with a Rum Raisin sauce which is the same basic sauce I use when I make Sticky Toffee Pudding. I poured the gingerbread batter into large cupcake molds so I would have individual servings.

Thank you for the kind comments. I'll write you with some details on the recipes and some tips for cooking duck. I had actually planned on make the fish dish with Chilean Sea Bass, but I didn't get to my fish market-the only store in town that sells that type of Sea Bass. Walleye is a white fish that is buttery in flavor with soft meat. I've also done this recipe with Halibut. I would avoid strong flavored fish like Salmon because the butter sauce is pretty delicate. I'll write you with details on this recipe too.

I also wanted to add that I would like to see Casey and Hung in the final cook-off-if that is what is planned for this year's finale. I liked Hung's cooking talents right from the start. I keep going back to that very creative dish he did in the 'Surf and Turf' challenge of Geoduck and Black Chicken. It was creative and not at all what you would have expected from 'surf and turf'-i.e. Steak and Lobster. And I remember the judges liked the flavors and taste of the dish. I just knew that Hung wouldn't be working in the kitchens of Guy Savoy Las Vegas unless he was a talented chef. I doubt Chef Savoy and his executive chefs would let Hung trim celery if he didn't have some talent. I think in the two French challenges this week-the Sea Bass entree at Le Cirque and the Potato, Chicken and Onion challenge at the French Culinary Institute-Hung's technical skills and his creative talents came out and he was really ahead of most of the others in my opinion. I don't like the guy's attitude, but I do respect him as a chef and I do give him points for mentioning that he's an immigrant trying to make a name for himself. My sentimental choice is Casey. She's really started to pull out some surprising dishes in the past few weeks. I think some of us had probably thought Casey was on the lower tier of contestants. I for one thought Tre was sailing through to the finals. Tre blew it with those smoked potatoes among other failures. But Casey has been consistent and then last week really took the lead with her Veal dish and the side of Cauliflower Gratin. I'd sure eat that on Continental Airlines. This week I thought Casey held steady under what must have been incredibly intense pressure. Imagine walking into the kitchens of Le Cirque and being challenged to duplicate one of their special 'VIP' entrees. Did you see the looks on the faces of those chefs? They didn't appear to be fans of Top Chef! But Casey endured and I actually was cheering her on as she stood Colicchio down when he kept pushing her on the 'rooster in Coq au Vin' issue. Soltner didn't seem to have an issue with Casey using a Spring chicken in her Coq au Vin and in the end, Colicchio acquiesced and agreed that the flavors were right on. So who gives a damn if she used a rooster, a Capon, a Poussin or a Spring chicken? You go Casey.

I've been doing some last of the Summer type dishes before our weather turns cold and I get into more wintery type cooking. Grilled duck breast, mashed potatoes and a fresh succotash with our last of the season sweet corn. Sorry, no fresh lima beans up here so I used frozen. I suppose I cheated a bit on the succotash because I added some sauteed bacon. Last night I made some Walleye. We have a commercial Walleye fishery in the Columbia River but it isn't in season right now so I bought some frozen Walleye. It was just fine-very soft and buttery. I think Walleye has much more flavor than most white fish. I served it with potato puree, green beans sauteed with fennel, a 'tomato jam' I made from my smoked tomato recipe and then a sauce of butter, olive oil and fish stock. Turned out pretty good.

I agree with everyone-this week's competition was the 'best' of the season. I say 'best' because as you all know, I've been hungry for the producers of Top Chef to put more emphasis on the serious aspects of food and cooking into this season's show. I think this episode proved that there can be a place in the show that caters to our demographic of serious foodies while still keeping an element of drama. Personally, I didn't think the Sea Bass dish served at Le Cirque looked all that good. Of course the true test would have been if I was sitting at the table eating the Sea Bass, but the potatoes looked burned to me. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more explanation about the set-up of the quickfire challenge. There wasn't a reference to the sauce, I think it looked like maybe a veal jus? And there wasn't mention that the sauce was pre-made by the kitchen staff or if the chefs had to make their own sauce? I couldn't find any clues in Bourdain or Collichio's blogs that said anything about the sauce. Since the chefs only had about 30 minutes to prepare the dish I doubt they made the sauce from scratch. Just a minute detail this cook would like to know. It really seemed odd to me that Dale didn't seem to have a clue as to how to use a Mandoline. I don't think you'd have to be a classically trained French chef to know how to set-up and use a Mandoline but maybe I'm wrong. I thought for sure we were going to see someone head to the emergency room in need of blood transfusions as I watched some of the cheftestants stick their fingers out too far while they sliced potatoes on that razor sharp blade. Yikes, Dale be careful with that thing! And poor Sara. Sara seems to have just given up the will to win-or any will for that matter. She didn't seem to care as witnessed by her dis-organization in the Le Cirque kitchen. Imagine-being so distracted by where the dirty dishes go that you serve raw fish to Cirrio Maccioni! For God's sake I wanted to shake her by the neck and say "forget the *&%$# dirty dishes and just cook the dang Sea Bass Sara!" And another example of what I would call Sara's tired, 'ready to go home to Jamaica' attitude was that mess of a chicken dish she served at The French Culinary Institute. What was she thinking? I am sure her Jamaican influenced chicken dish can be quite good. But she was specifically told to do a 'classic' dish using chicken, onion and potato and she was in America's premier French cuisine institute. Duh. Doesn't that make you assume you should probably do a French dish? And you are cooking for Andre Soltner. As Bourdain referenced in his blog, an aspiring chef cooking for Soltner would be akin to an American Idol wannabe singing for Celine Deion. I think you'd want to put your best dish forward. Sara, Sara, Sara. Think for just a few seconds when you are faced with a challenge. Think before you cook and you may end up with a better dish. So I wasn't surprised Sara was sent home. Her fish in the quickfire challenge was raw, her chicken dish in the elimination challenge didn't meet the theme and it was also raw according to more than one judge. Nearly as poor of an effort as CJ's Broccolini last week. But I wasn't too impressed with Brian or Dale's dishes in the elimination challenge and I think they are slipping on some dirty water on the kitchen floor. Colicchio said that Brian's 'Sheperd's Pie' was a mess but tasted good. Gosh, I didn't think the French liked much of anything about British cuisine, including Sheperd's Pie. But duly noted by the judges, the taste of Brian's dish was good-albeit saved by the pheasant sausage and fresh ramps in the topping of the pie. I just thought Brian didn't stick with the intention of the theme and got lucky he didn't go home. Dale got way too trendy, then really missed the mark. I bet if he were to have a conversation with Soltner he'd be scolded by the Master that it isn't really necessary to do a duo of anything. Just take a decent, 'classic' ingredient like chicken and you can make ONE beautiful dish. Last week Dale forgets steak number 18 and leaves that poor Flight Attendant looking around the cabin for his dinner. This week Dale forgets his delicious sauce for his chicken entree. That probably won't pass him on this year as Top Chef if he forgets how to boil water in Aspen. I remember attending a cookbook signing when Chef Soltner came to Portland many years ago. I got the sense back then from listening to him speak and reading through his 'Lutece' cookbook, that he was a simple man creating simple food that at one time was described as the best classic French cuisine in New York. Chef Soltner has described himself not as a chef and certainly not a celebrity chef but as a craftsman. I remember him saying at the cookbook signing that as a craftsman his skills were really no different than the skills of the cabinet maker or the wood worker. Take the finest grade of wood and shape it with loving hands using perfect technique and you end up with an heirloom article of furniture. Good advice for a Top Chef isn't it? Chef Soltner gave me that same sense of the craftsman at work this week as I listened to his comments about the dishes on Top Chef-you don't need a trendy, overly-wordy menu description to justify charging $45 for a plate of chicken. But you do need to cook it right and treat it simply so the chicken flavor stars. I think that is why they chose Hung and Casey as the top two chefs.

It's nice to know Chef Henry is on to other exciting possibilities and sounds like diva is in good hands with Chef Renaerts. I'm especially thankful that the management of the hotel seems to realize the importance of the food at diva and their Chefs in terms of showcasing some great Northwest/Canadian food. Great moves on their part.

Thanks. Do you know where Chef Henry went or who the new chef at diva is? Thanks.

Sorry this review is so long in coming. It is a review of a dinner I had at diva at the Met in November 2006. I find that Vancouver has some of the best hotel dining rooms in the country, and diva at the Metropolitan Hotel is one of the best. I'd describe the cuisine as quintessential Northwest-fresh, seasonal, local ingredients (including many Canadian products), classic French technique and upscale presentations, accompanied by local wines and refined yet relaxed service. I guess that would describe a lot of the nicer 'new American' style restaurants in the States. I was in Vancouver in November, 2006, to spend a few days before starting off a 4-day journey across Canada on the "Canadian" streamliner train #2-a trek all across the country ending up in Toronto. I am a big, big, fan of Seasonal Tasting Menus (see my review of the tasting menu at Wing Lei-Las Vegas) because I find the tasting menu challenges the chefs creativity in ways you might not find in dishes off the regular menu. And I always order the wine pairings with each course if they are offered-another challenge to the chef and the wine steward to present the customers with wines that accent and enhance the flavors of the dishes. Anyone sitting in the dining room at diva at the Met can order the tasting menu-but I'd recommend reserving one of the two 'chefs' tables. You get personal attention from the chefs and waiters who personally describe each dish for you and the wine steward personally gives you an explanation of the wine selections as he pours the wine into a proper Reidel crystal goblet. At some restaurants the chefs tables are located right in the kitchen, but at diva, the two chefs tables are on a small landing area just to the right of the small, open-air kitchen. While you have a close-up view of the chefs and the kitchen, you aren't actually sitting in the kitchen, which I liked. I preferred being a bit out of the chefs way. I was served by the restaurant manager, one of the head waiters and the wine steward. While they also served other customers, their priority seems to be to serve the customers who are seated at the chefs table. I hadn't yet mastered the art of taking food photos, so I don't have any photos of the dishes to share with you-all the more reason to go back to diva at the Met at another time. The price was a steal-$75 Canadian last November for 6 courses, another $40 for the full wine pairings. That's only $115 Canadian, plus a bit more for the champagne cocktail, coffee and tip. I don't have a lot of other Vancouver restaurants to use as a comparison-but compared to the prices of tasting menus in Las Vegas, diva at the Met was about 1/3 the price of places like Alex or Guy Savoy. And I'd rate diva at the Met as every bit as good as Alex at the Wynn Las Vegas. This is the menu from November 10, 2006 Ahi Tuna Tartar, Yuzu Citrus Foam. Sumac Ridge Gewurztraminer, Private Reserve, Okanagan Valley (BC), 2005 The hints of citrus and spice in the wine cut through the fattiness of the tuna. Yuzu can be bitter and overly tart but in this case, the chef created a subtle, yet intensely sweet lemony foam of yuzu which went perfectly with the rich tuna. Warm Golden Chanterelle and Black Trumpet Salad, Soft Poached Hen Egg, Glazed Salsify, Brioche Croutons, Grainy Mustard, Sherry Vinaigrette. Benziger Sauvignon Blanc, Sonoma, 2004 It sounds like a complicated dish with potentially strong acid flavors in the grainy mustard and sherry vinaigrette-but this was really just a simple salad of wild mushrooms and salsify with a counter-balance between the tangy mustard and vinaigrette against the rich and creamy egg. The wine was less acidic and more refined than the bold Gewurztraminer served with the strong citrus flavors in the first course. Winter Chestnut Apple Veloute, Celeraic Apple Saute. Blue Mountain Pinot Blanc, Okanagan Valley (BC), 2005 The waiter placed a bowl in front of me that held a small cluster of prosciutto crisps in the bottom. He then ladled the hot soup in the bowl and topped the soup with a small spoon of the Celeraic and Apple Saute. My only complaint is that the portion of soup was too much-chestnut soup is very rich so I only need a small bowl. The julienne of celeraic and apple added a refreshing crunch to the rich soup and the prosciutto added a bit of salt and smoke. The pinot blanc was strong enough to hold up to the strong chestnut flavor of the soup and added its own herbal notes to the dish. Sauteed Filet of Vancouver Isand Snapper, Little Neck Clam, Artichoke and Leek Fricasse, Olive Oil Emulsion. Chauteau Gaudrelle, Vouvray, 2004 This was my favorite dish of the evening-fresh snapper from the waters off Vancouver, seared crisp on the outside, yet soft and delicious on the inside. I thought that the 'olive oil emulsion' sounded a bit strong flavored for a delicate white fish like snapper, but it actually was light and rich and creamy in texture with just a hint of olive. I expected a heavier oil type sauce. Fig Stuffed Loin and Sous Vide Rabbit Leg, Creamy Spatzle, Roasted Butternut Squash Puree, Cippolini Onion, Haricot Verts, Thyme Jus. Edmeades, Zinfandel, Mendocino County, 2003 This was my first introduction to 'sous vide' cooking and the results were excellent-the rabbit leg was stuffed with a forcemeat and the sous vide kept it incredibly moist and tender. Any chef who serves spatzle with Rabbit in November is in my good graces-a much better accompaniment to game meat than potatoes. The wide, brush-stroke of thyme jus on the plate was actually more the consistency of a rich rabbit demi-glace accented with thyme. Milk Chocolate 2 Ways, Sweet Spice Honey Poached Pear, Pear Sorbet. Chateau Gaudiet, Loupiac, 2001 This was the best wine of the evening-a thick elixir with the scent of fresh, ripe pears on the trees.

Maybe so, but I still think Tom looked a bit out of sync with his get-up. It wasn't really a show about good guys and bad guys, even cool hip guys on airplanes, so much as it was supposed to be about new entrees for first class passengers on Continental. What Tom wears or Padma's jewelry isn't the main focal point of the show, nor should it be. It should always be the contestants and their dishes. CJ's broccolini cast such a huge dark shadow over the first class cabin I think Tom could have worn a toga and laurel wreath and it wouldn't have made a louder statement than that awful green mess CJ put out.

Very nice dish! Give me some details on all the vegetables and the specs on how you prepared everything. Thanks.

I actually thought this week's challenge made some sense and was an appropriate challenge for a cooking show. PLUS...it was entertaining. Now morning breath and visions of Padma dreams aside, the episode got off to a laughable (literally), start with Hung serving Padma some steak and eggs and a smoothie doused in Grand Marnier. Yes, it was a laughable start because of Hung's boyish giggles-the same effusive gigglies he broke out with when Boulud approached his table during the 'gourmet burger' judging. I thought Hung was going to pee his pants on that one he was so excited. But this week we were entertained twice by Hung's googly giggles-when the Goddess Padma gave Hung praises for his steak and eggs and especially, especially that ultra-slurpy, super-boozy smoothie. God forbid if Padma had held his hand. And I got even more laughs watching Hung's reaction to that gaggle of flight attendants walking across the floor of the hangar-I'm not sure the guy had ever seen a flight attendant in heels before. Pretty funny. Now I would like to encourage Hung to get back to his more creative cooking side. Remember that unique dish of Geoduck and Black Chicken? Whatever happened to that sort of creativity? Last week it was Smoked Salmon on Cucumber Rounds, this week Steak and Eggs for Padma's breakfast, and then a pedestrian entree of Sea Bass, Baby Squash, Onions and an Herbed Tomato Sauce. Not exciting enough to win Top Chef in my book. Creating entrees to be served on an airplane would be a tough challenge for any chef. You have to realize that you are offering two or three entree choices to a wide variety of differing customer tastes. While a steaming bowl of Thai Red Curry Lobster in Broth with Glass Noodles might sell well in your local Thai place, it might not go over well onboard a Continental flight from Newark to Houston. So first, you have to create entree choices with a fairly broad appeal-a fish, a chicken, a steak. Secondly, you have to choose products that will withstand the unique rigors of the 'airline experience.' For example, this evening at 630pm, a British Airways flight will be departing Seattle for an overnight flight to London. Let's say steak is one of the first class entrees. That little filet probably was seared off in a flight kitchen around 3pm. Then it was cooled down, packed in an aluminum tray, loaded on a food cart, put on a catering truck, driven out to the airplane, and then loaded on the airplane. The passengers board about 545pm and off the plane goes at 630pm. The flight attendants start the service with cocktails and nibbles about 730pm, then after appetizers, salad, soup and breads, your little steak is served on a 'dinner plate' the size of a coffee cup saucer. The little steak that started off in the pan about 3pm is finally eaten about 8pm or so. Now trying, trying as hard as you can, to time the cooking of that steak so it is served medium-rare, and trusting the flight attendants will help you out, is an immense challenge for a cook. Colicchio sure didn't score any points in my book with that try to be hip, turned around beret and leather bomber jacket get-up. Tom, trust me, I'm in your age group and I carry your body shape. We DON'T look good trying to force the hipster thing. But I agreed with Tom on one of two points he made about the challenge of cooking airline food. First, Tom said that the chefs who chose meat over fish were going into the challenge with a distinct advantage. I agree. Meat, if it is put into the right dish and prepared properly, will hold up much better than fish. I think the most successful fish dishes served on airplanes are-poached, chilled seafood in salads and appetizers, smoked seafood in appetizers, caviar. But I disagreed with Tom when he said that if you start with good ingredients 'you should' get a good dish. No Tom, not always true when great ingredients are applied to the un-friendly environment of the airplane galley. Choose the wrong meat dish-like grilled, rare, slices of flank steak, and you might end up with shards of shoe leather. But if the flight kitchen takes the time to slow roast some lamb and serve the tender little nuggets of meat in a fragrant stew with Middle Eastern spices-on certain flight routes that dish might be quite popular. I think in the case of airline food it's a combination of good ingredients and proper cooking technique. Well, I guess I better get into my regular critique of the food and cooking-this time I'll take on the good and the bad. Casey-Veal Medallions with Crimini and Apple Brandy Sauce, Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower Gratin. Casey's dish was the winning choice of the judges, and I guess I would agree. I've said before that it is hard for us to really critique the dishes since we don't taste them. I'm not sure veal was a choice I would have made. Casey apparently didn't overcook the veal which is what I think gave her the win. I think the judges really liked the cauliflower gratin, which was a great choice. It's the sort of dish that is somewhat forgiving if it sits in the galley oven a tad long-but not long enough that the cheese or sauce separates. Gratin type dishes do well going through the cook, chill, re-heat stages of airline meal service. Broccolini is another story that I'll get to. But did you catch the comments of the Continental Chef-"we don't normally serve Brussels Sprouts or Cauliflower onboard." Duh, do ya think? And guess why Casey? Cuz it makes ya fart! That's right, Mr. gas bags on your flight tonight. Eat a few of those little cabbage rolls at 40,000 feet and you're a fart machine sitting in 3A. But overally I think Casey showed creativity and the judges were pleased with her technique and presentation. CJ-Halibut, Farro, Mint Oil and Broccolinni. I think CJ had a death wish this week. Maybe he was spent after being woken up by Padma and he just couldn't muster the strength to properly cook a green vegetable on a Boeing 777. Poor Lad. I bet if CJ was serving us seared halibut at home it would be delicious-moist and just done in the inside, accented by the fresh, spiciness of mint oil and a decent side dish of tender broccolini. Not so on tonight's flight CJ. I know how horrified Bourdain and Colicchio were when that petri dish of blackened hairs of broccolini were put down on the tray table. About twenty years ago I was on a United flight from Portland to Chicago. The friendly skies made the mistake of attempting to serve seared swordfish with asparagus and hollandaise sauce. Talk about the stink of overdone fish in the first class cabin of a DC-10. And of course, the hollandaise didn't make it-it separated into little pools of oil and butterfat. And there there was the asparagus. CJ's broccolini was that asparagus reincarnated twenty years later-almost black, stringy, tough and disgusting. Just don't serve that crap dude. Leave it in the galley. Take some salad off a coach plate, cut one of the tomatoes off the coach salad into a fancy little swan and stick it on your first class plate. The passengers won't ever know. Just DON'T serve them that broccolini. I guess CJ just wanted to find an excuse to "have a beer with Bourdain and talk smack about my broccolini."

This may be good-a challenge to prepare new meals in Business First on Continental. Given my 20 years in the airline business and my penchant for writing reviews of Top Chef, I'm starting to salivate just waiting for what they are going to serve me this week. This could be a really fun episode to critique.

Let me try to put my reviews of Top Chef in a little clearer perspective. I want to thank my fellow eGullet friends for bringing the question forward as part of our discussion of Top Chef. I was on the second season of the PBS series MasterChef USA. MasterChef still appears on the BBC. The format of our show was to take 27 of the top amateur cooks in the country and through a 13-week series of eliminations, name the top amateur chef in the country. I was fortunate to make it to the final three on the final show. MasterChef USA was really the first reality show that used cooking as the format, many years before Top Chef was probably on the drawing board. I continue to do live cooking segments on my local ABC affiliate. So trust me, I think I have a pretty broad grasp of the marketing and production of cooking programs on television. More than I sometimes want to admit to myself, I am well-schooled in the importance of ratings, shares and the power of advertisers. So I get it when we talk about the commercial aspects of Top Chef. When I started to critque Top Chef, I was coming at it from the angle of someone who had been through a reality program with a cooking format. My goal has been to couple that background with my personal world of food, cooking and food writing, to give everyone what I think is a pretty unique perspective of Top Chef. So having said that, I actually appreciate the dialog and difference in opinions between Mojoman and Carrot Top. And I certainly think the question from Mojoman as to why I watch Top Chef if my critiques portray the show as awful, is a valid point that challenges me to give everyone a little more information on where I am coming from. So again, I want to say thanks for bringing the point forward. I admit that sometimes I take an impish sort of brat boy attitude in my biting comments about Top Chef. I don't have a defense other than to say I find Top Chef entertaining and tragic all at the same time and that's what I'm trying to convey in my comments. I've pretty much kept my comments to the food and cooking, with some biting humor thrown in, to give you my perspective on the show. Let me point out that I agree with Carrot Top's point that part of what makes Top Chef so interesting, or any reality show for that matter, is that you can break down its parts into so many different elements, and each would probably catch the interest of people who would join a forum to discuss just that one part of the show. Personally, part of the intrigue for me in discussing Top Chef is that I meet so many different people during our talks and in turn I learn so much about what other people get out of watching Top Chef. And yes, that in turn is a part of how I learn more each day about the way we cook and the way we eat-through shows like Top Chef and through discussions like this one. It may not always be apparent in my critiques of Top Chef, but watching the show and writing an often biting critique is a part of my crazy food world. It is not unlike the words of a restaurant critic whose musings on a dinner may be totally opposite of our own tastes. So again, thanks for bringing the issues forward and I am surely to have confused my position even further with that long, long, too long, treatise posted above. What will I do once the season of Top Chef ends.

Hmm. I think I'm safer just sticking to my comments about the food and cooking on Top Chef and not venturing into the netherworlds of commenting on the drama that is Top Chef. I think I know food and cooking and I think I'm qualified to pass judgement and personal opinions on that aspect of the show-but as far as all this other stuff, I think I'll leave that hot potato in the oven so to speak.

Nice job on your menu. I'll need a full report, with photos, on your final dishes as presented to your guests. You should be very proud. I really like your menu. Good luck.

Oh dear, another silly Quickfire Challenge that has absolutely nothing to do with anything any of the Top Chef contestants will ever do in their cooking after-life when the lights of season three fade. Unless Guy Savoy is going to open an upscale American cereal joint inside Caesar's Palace-Hung will sadly never again have at his fingers the colorful toys to create a Fruit Loops village. Really-is sending talented young chefs down the cereal aisle a creative challenge? (Tre-God are you in a better place this week. I hope you are sipping cold beers and eating barbecued brisket in Texas). Oh Howie-if only we had gotten to know you better-uhhhhh, wait a minute-we did get to know you and you were an ass-now I remember. And you still are. Howie sort of admitted in his closing comments, just a wee bit, that teamwork is important to be being a successful chef. Do ya think so Howie? Buddy, you just shot yourself in your foot after you put it in your mouth one too many times. A lot of influential people in the food world watch Top Chef for better or worse and I have a sense Howie's foot and mouth disease has infected his future chance at taking his career really, really far. Maybe I'm wrong, but like we saw, when that pressure cooker valve on the top of Howie's head blows, it really blows and people scatter so they can get as far as possible from the splattering muck of Howie. For his sake, I hope he can calm down so people don't run for cover when he walks into the kitchen. Sure Howie, be a tough guy, say "I don't give a f@#%$^& what they (the judges) say, I thought all the dishes tasted good." No Howie, they didn't. The guests said the puff pastry holding your insipid mushroom duxelle was pasty, gluey and greasy. And were those Black Trumpet Mushrooms? Boy did that dog pile of sewer muck look bad. I thought it was a choice moment when Colicchio asked Brian if he had tasted Howie's mushroom duxelle. It was like Brian was frozen in time and couldn't answer for fear of letting Howie down and coming off as an ungrateful team leader. I don't think that was the reason Brian didn't say anything. I think he had 'that feeling' urping up into his throat and the more Colicchio reminded him of that awful Howie mushroom mess the sicker Brian got. Best to take your mind off greasy, soggy puff pastry and dog crap mushroom paste so you don't barf on tv. Say Howie, I have a few questions about your other little bites of asparagus. Howie I didn't know you were a jokemeister. Are you? Why else would you cut long spears of asparagus into short tubes and call them cigars? Do the Cubans make little stubby cigars like that? C'mon Howie, give us a few truthful answers about your asparagus cigars. I haven't thought much about Casey in the past, nor did I take her talents as a chef very seriously, but she appeared to hit a home run this week with her beef tenderloin tartare. As opposed to some of her competition who correlate the greater the budget with the better their final dishes will be-Casey used some sense to plan out a creative little appetizer bite using a high-quality cut of beef. It was quick, fairly easy to make and didn't break the bank. Sara has really been hitting her stride lately-she's shown she can stay calm, focused and meet the challenges but at the same time show some creativity as in this week's tomato tart. God knows who will win Top Chef this year. I could care less, but I sure do like all this funny business. I've got so much wicked stuff to write about. I just won't have Howie to kick around for material anymore. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall Tom, Padma, not even Ted, not all the King's Horses, nor all the King's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again.

This is my recipe and I don't ever vary from it, no egg. I personally don't like the gumminess that I get with adding egg. I've tried substituting lard for the Crisco but I didn't like the heavier texture and flavor of lard so I stick to Crisco. I never mix my pie crust by machine. Like others have said-it's a matter of technique-trying to get the right 'cut' if you will. In other words, you want the right size of clumps of fat (about the size of baby peas/butter and Crisco) so that the fat will melt into the flour during baking. I cut the butter and Crisco into the flour using a pastry cutter that is probably over 100 years old. I want to be able to control the texture of the dough and I found that a food processor or a mixer doesn't give me as much control. I find that making pie crust dough in a food processor cuts the pieces of butter into basically grains of sand and that leaves me with a crust that falls apart after baking. After I cut the butter and Crisco into the flour I add only enough ice water to form a ball of dough. So the 1/3 cup is only a basic guide, sometimes I use more ice water sometimes less. I wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and let it set in the refrigerator four about an hour. Then I roll it out or shape it into tart shells by hand. I try not to add too much flour when I roll the dough out because I don't want to change the texture of the finished pie crust by adding too much flour. Here is a recent photo of the pie crust-tender, crisp yet light and flaky with a rich, buttery flavor. I added toasted hazelnuts to the dough. The filling is smoked cheddar pastry cream and poached apricots. Pastry Crust (makes two 9" shells) 2 cups all-purpose flour ½ cup cake flour 1 tbsp. superfine granulated sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled ½ cup Crisco shortening, chilled 1/3 cup ice water

I hope someday you all have the rare experience of eating a fresh-baked huckleberry pie. The aroma and the taste of that first slice of pie will forever be stored in your food memory bank-only to come back to conciousness each year when you tuck into another slice of huckleberry pie. You know, I've been thinking about those darn grizzly bears. We sure can take their lead-they love fresh salmon, especially the roe, and they can't get enough fresh huckleberries. Follow the bears. They know a good thing when they eat it. (Hopefully not human berry pickers).

A wonderful comparison to be sure-Old MTV vs. New MTV. And Old Food Network-with shows about cooking, vs. New Food Network. I almost gagged last night when the 'new and entertainment maniacal' Food Network did a 'live' show from the South Beach Food and Wine Expo and I saw Giada and company. Poor gal couldn't boil water for her pasta. Maybe she'll have better luck bantering with Matt, Meridith and Al. And back to that 'Old' MTV-most kids watching 'TRL' today on MTV probably have never seen one of those classic music videos introduced by Nina Blackwood. Rock on.

Sorry, no buffet at The Venetian. When Sheldon Adelson built The Venetian is was reported that he said he'd never put a buffet in the building. Why I don't know-buffets are very popular and draw throngs into the casinos. Adelson is apparently a control freak and was very involved in the design and decor of The Venetian so maybe he felt a buffet would water down the Venetian theme. Whatever, it probably wouldn't have made a difference to the customers-they'd probably eat up an Italian themed buffet. Right now I would rank Wynn number one and Bellagio number two for gourmet-high end buffets and Bally's Sterling Brunch on Sundays as the 'over-the-top' buffet experience. I think the Sterling Brunch is in the $75 range right now and the lobster, champagne, rack of lamb and prime beef are what put it in the Las Vegas showgirl-gaudy-gilt range. There are lots of comments on Las Vegas buffets at egullet so start searching and reading for others opinions. But if I was truly a player at the tables, I'd put my bet on the buffet at Wynn.

I've mentioned in some of the other recent Las Vegas dining posts that my friend, John Curtas, is not a big fan of the new David Burke at The Venetian. I'd count John as probably the top critic on the Las Vegas dining scene. He's got the insight that only a resident critic can put on his resume. I find it refreshing to hear the voice of a local in addition to the posts from my fellow egullet writers who travel to Las Vegas to dine. John has years of experience writing and commenting on restaurants and he does a regular segment on KNPR radio about the Las Vegas dining scene. You can hear Podcasts of his "Food for Thought," show by going to the KNPR website. I haven't been to David Burke myself, so I'm not qualified to give you my opinion about dining with David in The Venetian, but knowing John is an accomplished critic, I think you will find his current piece about his dinners at David Burke informative-especially those of you planning trips to Las Vegas. You can find John's piece on the John Mariani site-just click over to the current Virtual Gourmet Newsletter. John's piece is the first one and he comments about David Burke, B & B Ristorante and Rao's.

The dove looks and sounds delicious. Would your recipes work as well with quail?

You can easily smoke the tomatoes using your gas grill. Just put some wood chips in a foil packet and place it over the hot part of the grill. Put the tomatoes on a cool part of the gas grill. Shut the grill and the heat will start to cook the tomatoes and the chips will start to smoke. It's basically the same method I use on my charcoal grill. I put the whole tomatoes in one of those disposable aluminum pans and drizzle them with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. I smoked them in my Weber kettle grill with a charcoal fire for about 20 minutes. I soaked some alder chips in water and added them on top of the charcoal and put on the top of the grill. I smoked about 8 large tomatoes. The skin of the tomato had started to crack so they were easy to peel. Then I cored the center and removed any seeds. I put the tomatoes in a food processor and added a bit of olive oil, chopped fresh basil, salt and pepper. On occasion I put the pureed tomatoes into a saucepan over medium heat and add a bit of tomato paste. This helps to reduce the tomato soup and thicken it up. Then I strain out the solids and chill the soup in the refrigerator. You end up with this intensely flavored cold tomato broth. For the cucumber salad I started with your basic cucumber that I peeled and seeded. I use a Japanese slicer to cut the cucumber into strands that sort of look like cucumber spaghetti. I add some dill, salt, pepper and a bit of rice vinegar to the cucumber strands. It adds a nice crunch and another flavor to the tomato soup. I learned the method of butter-poaching prawns out of Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook. I use this method a lot. It is a wonderful technique of cooking prawns, lobster or scallops. The prawns in this dish were tender, juicy and had a delicious silky coating of butter. I've often heard a story about the reason this butter-poaching works so well is because seafood lives in water-aka a liquid-and as such, it should be cooked in some sort of liquid-like butter and water-to keep it moist. I combined about two tablespoons of water and a stick of butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. The water keeps the butter from browning. You let the butter melt into the water and add raw prawns. Then you gently swirl the prawns around the saucepan, basting them with the butter/water bath. I used extra large prawns in the 8-10 per pound category. The prawns were done after about 4 minutes. This is a really great late Summer dish because it uses the last of the Summer's tomatoes. In our area of Eastern Washington, September tomatoes are the best because they are so sweet and tender. It's a refreshing and light dish, even with the added richness of the butter-poached prawns. Let me know how it turns out for you.

I might have good news for you and there is a glimmer of hope left for you to enjoy a huckleberry pie in New York City. I was at White Box Pies in Spokane this morning. I bought a fresh huckleberry pie for $20.95-the usual price we pay here for huckleberry pie each year. I told the baker that I had been corresponding with some folks in New York who were wondering about huckleberry pie. She said they ship them all the time! I forgot to ask her if they are shipped fresh or frozen. She said as long as there are pies they will ship them, but she is worried that she will sell out of huckleberry pies early this year because of the small crop. The huckleberry crop this year wasn't good in terms of the size of the crop-but the flavor is just as good as always-tart, yet sweet and with that unmistakeable perfume of wild huckleberries. The shop is closed Sunday and Labor Day on Monday. If you are still interested in a huckleberry pie, you should call them at 509-927-8850 on Tuesday morning. Here are some photos for everyone of the pie I bought today. Next week I'll post photos of my own huckleberry pie in the dessert forum.