David Ross

I bought a case of the most beautiful peaches yesterday. The peaches are from an orchard in the Yakima Valley-it is in the central part of Washington on the East side of the Cascade mountains. I'm not sure the exact variety but I really don't care-they are huge, tender and juicy. I bought them at my local produce stand. This year I canned the peaches using a 'Spiced Peaches' recipe out of an old Betty Crocker cookbook. I've used this recipe before and it's really good. If you are a fan of home canning, the old cookbooks have tons of wonderful recipes. The peaches are really good in the winter with pork chops and also really good for breakfast or in peach desserts. I'm not a great canner in terms of packing the fruit in the jars. I sure won't win any ribbons at the State Fair for presentation, but the taste is really good.

In Eastern Washington, this is the best time of year for produce at our farmer's markets-we still have days in the 85-90 range, but it is cooling down a lot at night. So our produce is still ripening and getting sweet during the day and then starting to slow down the growth cycle at night. I always say September is our best month for summer vegetables and fruits. I made a Smoked Tomato Soup last night with some huge, fresh tomatoes from over in the Yakima Valley. I smoke whole tomatoes in the barbecue and then skin, seed and puree them. I add a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and some chopped basil. Then strain so that all is left is smoked tomato juice. I served the soup chilled with a salad of cucumber that is tossed with dill and rice vinegar. I served the cold soup with some butter-poached prawns. Then a New York strip, Shoestring Fries and very sweet yellow corn from the produce stand. I don't like that funky 'bi-color' corn-I think the yellow corn we get is the sweetest and has the most pure corn flavor. Lots of butter on the corn.

To my original point-which was to ask the question as to whether or not Giada's appearance on The Today Show minimalizes her impact as a cook on Food Network-in my opinion, the answer is yes. And while I realize that the Food Network is as much about commercialism, entertainment schtick and marketing as it is about food and cooking, I think that the more the talent is promoted into mainstream media like The Today Show, the more that it dilutes Giada's impact as a cook on Food Network. That's just my opinion and I'm not saying it's a shared opinion or a fact. Do I care? Yes and no. In the grand scheme of the American food and restaurant scene today, Giada appearing on The Today Show probably doesn't make a hill of frozen lima beans of difference as to the way America will eat in the next 20 years. I think a discussion thread on eGullet about finding Huckleberries in New York City that I have been a part of for the past week is far more interesting that what low-cut dress Ms. Delaurentis wore on this mornings Today Show. That's just to give you a perspective on my true interests in the world of food and cooking. If Giada is successful and the Today Show hires her as one of the hosts of the expanded show this Fall, then hot tomatoes for her. On the other hand, I do care, but not a lot,about a Food Network personality moving into the mainstream bowels of network television. There is a part of me that doesn't like it. I care because for once, just once, I'd like to see a cook on Food Network be true to the serious side of food and cooking and leave it at that. Just a simple show ala Rick Stein's Food Heroes on BBC America. That's all. A simple show and a simple cook who doesn't care about 'standing out on The Today Show plaza' greeting the fans of Chris Brown, the latest hip-hop boy toy. Is it wishful thinking on my part? Yeah, probably, but I suppose it's o.k. to wish isn't it?

There should be fresh huckleberries available in late September, even with this Summer's smaller crop. If you don't find fresh berries-there should be bags of frozen berries from this year's crop available. Here are some sources to try-just do a Mapquest search for directions: -Kootenai County Farmer's Market in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, on Saturdays. It is only about 5 minutes off the I-90 freeway. -Spokane Farmer's Market in downtonw. Right off the I-90 freeway. -Green Bluff grower's market and store. They also sell fresh and frozen peach pies and have fresh peach ice cream. -Small produce stand at the corner of Argonne and Sprague in the Spokane Valley, only a few minutes off the I-90 freeway. -Yoke's supermarkets sells frozen huckleberry pies from the Green Bluff grower's/farmer's market. They are about $19 a pie. They are in the frozen case by the frozen desserts.

6 of my girlfriends and I just ate at Davidburke earlier this month and LOVED it! I had eaten at davidburke & Donatella in nyc which is why we decided to check it out. From the decor to the excellently priced wine menu, flawless service (even making us the signature nyc dish that was not on the menu, of ostrich scrambled eggs with lobster served back in the huge egg shell with creme fraiche and caviar). Since we were a large group we decided to order5 starters, 3 salads and 4 entress plus the cheesecake lolipop tree for dessert. add 1 bottle of white burgandy and 2 bottles of very nice CdP and we each paid $145 including tax and tip. I would absolutely go back, I can't imagine why your friend would be so turned off about it. ← Thanks, a first person restaurant review is the best kind of review. Once I hear John's comments on Burke I'll let everyone know what he thought.

I didn't get specifics from John Curtas as to why he didn't like David Burke at The Venetian. John's got a piece that he's written about Burke that should be appearing on John Mariani's site soon-with a pointed review of Burke's place in Las Vegas. I do know that they have made some changes in the kitchen staff and the place is only a few months old so that isn't a good sign. There are plenty of other good dining rooms in Las Vegas so maybe let the dust settle and then give Burke a try next year-if they get the bugs worked out. When I find out more I'll let everyone know.

The Alladin Hotel is now a Planet Hollywood Hotel. However, I think they did retain the 'Spice Market Buffet' from Planet Hollywood. I can't attest to the buffet as I haven't been there for about three years. At that time it was good, not great, and cheaper than Paris and Bellagio. While many of the food selections-i.e., chilled shrimp, prime rib-may be the same at the buffets, each has its own character, style and differences in food. Right now my top buffet choices are Wynn, Buffet at Bellagio, Cravings at The Mirage and Dishes at Treasure Island. Cravings is not as expensive as Wynn or Bellagio. And a small detail I love at Cravings-the big glasses that they use for ice water, with a twist of lemon. It's pretty hard to top a big glass of ice water in Las Vegas. The set up of Cravings is a bit difficult at the salad station as you have to ask the cook to prepare your salad for you-they don't have a lot of pre-made salads that you can just choose from without dealing with a cook. On three recent visits in the past year, I found some of the stations were not even open-and that was at the height of the dinner hour. It's dissappointing to go to say the Asian station looking for some potstickers only to find the station either closed down or only offering sushi. Dishes is a fairly new buffet-I think Treasure Island opened it about a year ago. Treasure Island by the way is now referred to as "TI." It is no longer the theme of a family-oriented pirate cove. They still have the pirate theme, but think of the outdoor pirate battle now being called "The Sirens of TI" and you get the idea. Dishes buffet is styled to be enticing to the younger, hipper crowd that TI is targeting as their core customers. It is very good for breakfast. Cheaper than Wynn or Bellagio and those tiny little donuts are marvelous. The cook will dip it in chocolate and add some sprinkles for you. Very decadent. Between the high-end buffets at Wynn or Bellagio I prefer Wynn for the quality of the food but Bellagio for the larger selection. Bellagio has very good fresh seafood, salads and often serves wild game meats like venison or elk. Recently I've enjoyed their fresh sardine salad and Korean kimchi salad with octopus. Quite unique for Las Vegas buffets. The setting at Wynn in the garden room area of the buffet is beautiful. That's the main dining hall as you enter the buffet. The buffet line and food areas are a bit cramped but the quality of the food is really good. While it may sound odd for a high-end buffet, their fried chicken is the best I've found at a buffet. And their dessert station is the best in my opinion-tiny little bowls of floating island with caramel sauce-an old-fashioned dessert that you can't ever find at a restaurant. And their cupcakes with mounds of pink frosting!

Boy, I am jealous, I would eat too well if I spent a month in Las Vegas. A tip would be to call Wing Lei ahead of time. Tell them you will be there on Friday and give them your name and reservation time. Mention that you would like the 'seasonal' tasting menu if they are offering it. The seasonal tasting menu would be more unique than say the Peking Duck tasting menu. I contacted the restaurant prior to my dinner in May and requested a seasonal tasting menu and they were more than happy to oblige. I was served a menu not printed and offered to other diners. Fleur de Lys is a different dining experience than L'Atelier. Fleur de Lys would be more formal in terms on sit-down tableside service. What is fun about L'Atelier is sitting at the counter and watching the chefs create your dishes. So choose between the two based on what kind of experience you are looking for. The cooking at both is good, but at L'Atelier you'll get many more small courses for the money. I'd try Bouchon but only for breakfast. It is a beautiful setting to have breakfast with fresh pastries out on the patio. Check out some of the different threads about the restaurants in Las Vegas, there are lots of great comments from your fellow egullet foodies. I'm not too good with the local restaurants but there are plenty of others who can chime in on that. Have a great time, (when you aren't working). You are going to a great, great, restaurant city.

I'd call myself a huckleberry expert, and there is no substitute for them. They only grow wild and have never been harvested successfully on a commercial basis. The plants have to be in a high-mountain environment to thrive, and it wouldn't be practical for a commercial venture. I doubt the US Forest Service or the Weyerhauser Forest Products Company would like to see a bunch of huckleberry farmers wandering through the woods. And another problem with a commercial venture is that huckleberries can only be picked by hand, one at a time. The commercial 'scoopers'-those small shovels used for raking berry plants like blueberries, are really not recommended for huckleberries. It probably wouldn't be economical for a commerical huckleberry operation. Our berries are selling for around $45 per gallon bag this year. That's a nice source of extra cash for the folks who sell hand-picked berries at the markets, but imagine the mark-ups that would have to be put in that $45 per gallon cost by a commercial operation. By the time that gallon bag got to market it would probably be double the cost. Our local paper ran a story last Sunday asking huckleberry pickers to not use raking devices because they strip the branches and bushes of the plants which can inhibit next year's growth of huckleberries. However, if we pick huckleberries by hand and take care not to tramp down the bushes and the forest, the plants do just fine. Many families in the Northwest have gone to the same 'secret' spot in the mountains to pick huckleberries for years. So I don't agree with the guy from Oregon who once said it was 'immoral' or illegal to pick wild huckleberries because it could lead to their depletion. That's not really accurate. If huckleberries are picked by hand and the plants are respected, they'll grow back every year. And try telling an 1,000lb. grizzly bear that it is immoral to pick huckleberries. You'll be the entree after their dessert of huckleberries. I'm lucky to live in Spokane because right now there are probably 7 or 8 farmer's market stands that are selling huckleberries and even one grocery store that has fresh huckleberries. There are both frozen and fresh huckleberry pies at a few stores in our area. But as a huckleberry purist I avoid the jams, jellies, candies and huckleberry cordials this time of year. This time of year we only use them in fresh pies and freeze the rest to use throughout the year. So if you have about a week or so and don't mind the price of gasoline for your car, you might just have to head West out of New York city and get on I-90 to Spokane and head to the farmer's market or a local produce stand. Now that would be one expensive bag of huckleberries!

I wish I wasn't a few thousand miles away or else I would drive a huckleberry pie over to you. I'm not sure if your restaurants in New York will serve many fresh huckleberries this year. I know that we, the Northwest, sell a lot of our huckleberries to the Northeast restaurant trade and our supply this Summer is going to be lower than last year. We had a very hot early June and a scorching July. That didn't bode well for our huckleberry crop. They grow at high mountain altitudes and they prefer a warm daytime temperature but cool nights. The hot summer basically scalded the berries. Our local newspaper even reported that the bears are a bit crabby right now because they aren't finding their normal diet of huckleberries and are causing some extra problems for campers. We always compete with the bears when picking huckleberries but this year it seems the struggle is more intense. Last year I bought a gallon bag of fresh huckleberries for $35. This year the cheapest price I have found is $49.95. Such is the cycle of supply and demand. If you can't find a huckleberry pie in New York, give these folks a call in Spokane, Washington: White Box Pies, 509-927-8850, 520 S Pines Rd # 4, Spokane Valley, WA 99206. I don't know for sure, but they may ship frozen huckleberry pies. They are serving fresh huckleberry pies right now and they are usually in the $20-$25 range for a whole pie. Good luck.

Thanks. The original idea was going to be to stuff the braised beef into little ravioli pockets. Well that idea didn't go far. I sure wasn't going to stuff a couple hundred ravioli on a hot Saturday afternoon. The braised beef on top of the pasta turned out just fine.

Last night was a beef and mushroom ragu over pappardelle. I had a chuck roast in the freezer that I was aching to cook, and although it's still hot outside, I was getting edgy for some cold-weather comfort food. I braised the beef in red wine for about 12 hours at 250 in the oven. I added some brown crimini mushrooms for the last hour of braising. I had this little Mom and Pop Italian grocery store on my list of stores to check out and I'm glad I finally went there. They had tons of different imported pastas and I bought this thick pappardelle. Not exactly a hot August nights type dinner but it sure was good.

This is a good site for checking out Las Vegas menus. Most of the menus include prices to give you a general idea of what the cost might be. http://www.menusearch.net/lasvegas/

When I was in Las Vegas in May I went to a seminar about the dining scene in Las Vegas that was hosted by Barbara Fairchild, Editor of Bon Apetit, and on the panel were Alan Richman, Max Jacobsen who writes for Las Vegas Life magazine and John Curtas. Both John and Max bemoaned the fact that as residents of Las Vegas, they wish for the day when there are more local, neighborhood restaurants. There are some, but not a lot, which is very unique to a city with a couple of million residents. Ling-if you are renting a car, you may want to drive over to the Chinatown area. It is to the west of the strip, only about a 10 minute drive from the Wynn/Treasure Island/Venetian area. There are some good Chinese restaurants that have reasonable prices. Personally, I don't go to Las Vegas to seek out local type restaurants. I go there because it's a playground of fine dining all within a few short miles on the strip. Like BryanZ mentioned earlier, I'd save my money and do it right by going to some of the better restaurants in the large strip resort hotels. I can't think of anyplace else where you'll find so many great dining choices in such a compact piece of real estate.

David, you know John Curtas?? I never met him ... yet. ← John is a great guy, very friendly and probably the top restaurant critic in Las Vegas. An attorney by trade, he does a regular show called "Food for Thought," on KNPR, the local public radio station. You can catch podcasts of his shows on their website. John also does a lot of food writing. By the way Ling, I'd advise against going to David Burke's new place at The Venetian. John did not give it very good marks in a recent column. In fact, he basically told his readers and listeners to shy away from the place.

Oops, I meant to say 'Stack' restaurant at The Mirage not Mix, the Ducasse temple at Mandalay Bay. Both Fix at Bellagio and Stack at The Mirage are trendy hip dining spots that attract a younger crowd. The food is good, even though some of the presentations can be a bit overly done. Casual, loud, fun and in the not too expensive range.

BryanZ is right when he mentions that there aren't a lot of fine dining options in Las Vegas in the price 'B' category. Unfortunately, if you want a good dining experience these days you'll pay for it, especially in any of the fine dining restaurants in the big strip resorts. I would avoid Olives-even with reservations you still have to wait sometimes for your table. I find the staff overly impressed with themselves and the fact that they are working in a restaurant owned by a celebrity chef. I don't think the food is better than average. If you don't mind the trendy, young Hollywood crowd, Fix at Bellagio and Mix at The Mirage, both owned by the same company, offer good American fare. It is not as expensive as the finer dining spots at Bellagio, but it's not cheap. There burger sliders, prime steaks and seafood appetizers are pretty good, and the cocktails are really popular. Bradley Ogden can reach very close into the price range of L'Atelier and nearly into the reaches of Guy Savoy and Robuchon. But it is probably the top restaurant in town for New American style cuisine. I know that Boulud Brasserie at Wynn recently lost their head chef. I haven't checked with my friend, John Curtas the dining guru of KNPR in Las Vegas, but I know that Bould was closed earlier this summer for remodeling and I believe a bit of retooling before welcoming the new chef. I am sure if Boulud hired the chef they are talented, just something to consider. You may want to try The Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay. It doesn't sound to fancy, and it certainly isn't in terms of the decor or the scope of the menu. But if you are in the mood for a Kobe burger with a slab of foie gras on it, or a burger of grass-fed beef with a nice cheese on it, you can't miss. Don't forget the 'Two Hot Tamales' of the early days of Food Network programming, Mary Sue Miliken and Susan Feniger. Their Border Grill at Mandalay Bay is really great. Not too expensive authentic Mexican. And even at dinner, sitting on the outside patio is quite nice. For a nice dim sum lunch or casual Chinese dinner, try 'Noodles' at Bellagio. It's stuck back in a corner but is very good and not too expensive, certainly not nearly as expensive as the fine dining Chinese restaurants in town. I prefer the pastries at Lenotre in Paris Las Vegas over Jean-Phillipe Patisserie at Bellagio. The other pastry shop at Paris is also quite good. I always stop by one of these three pastry shops to take a treat back to the room for a very late night sweet snack. There are just so many different options, take some time to search the web for menus and prices before making your decisions on where to go. You can't go wrong with these wonderful opinions at eGullet about Las Vegas dining. Have a wonderful time and let us know if you have more questions.

I agree with your thoughts on Sara. I thought she showed good skills in the kitchen as the Executive Chef on her team. I like the way she stuck to her guns and dealt with Howie's frustrations. Although he slammed the oven door, he took Sara's direction and she went on with the dinner. She had a bit of a brain fart last week when she presented her 'seafood burger' wrapped in lettuce-Boulud said it wasn't really a burger because it wasn't presented on a bun-but I think it wasn't so much the flavors as she was off the mark with making a 'burger' that fit within the theme of the quickfire challenge. There's always surprises when we get down this deep into the competition and I wish all them well. It would probably be a choice moment in reality television to see the reaction on Hung or Howie's faces if Sara beat them out. That camera shot would probably show up on one of VH-1's '100 Top Moments in Reality TV" part 36 or something.

Here are two dishes that use my creamed corn recipe. While I love creamed corn on it's own, it's also a great recipe as a base for many other dishes. Here is a Rack of Lamb with a Corn Pudding. I used the creamed corn recipe and added an egg and a bit of flour. Then I baked/poached the pudding in the oven for about 30 minutes. Then a Creamed Corn and Oyster Chowder with Sauteed Dungeness Crab. I took the basic creamed corn recipe and added fish stock, clams, diced new potatoes and some Cajun seafood seasoning.

Last night I made a Lobster Salad. I add capers, shallots, haricot vert, new potatoes and black olives, then dress it with homemade mayonnaise. Then a seafood entree, Sauteed Dungeness Crab on a Creamed Corn and Clam Stew. I have my own recipe for creamed corn, (see our thread about creamed corn for the recipe), then I add seafood stock, clams and diced potatoes. It's basically a creamy corn chowder. I was going to make a crab cake, but just sauteed some fresh Dungeness crab meat. The for dessert was an Apricot Tart in Toasted Hazelnut Crust with a layer of Smoked Cheddar Pastry Cream. In the background is a garnish of a Toasted Hazelnut Tuille with Vanilla Ice Cream. There are a few other photos in the "What's for Dessert?" thread.

Hah! How perfect-"I coulda been a conteda." Rocco shall never hear the end of it. If you go to the Top Chef website you can link over to a video of "after the show," with Colicchio and Rocco giving their thoughts on the Tre booting. At one point Rocco is asked how he feels about Bourdain excoriating Rocco in his blog. Rocco was actually pretty cool about it when he answered, "certainly I've given him enough stuff to talk about me." In other words, I think Rocco knows he's made some interesting television appearances and given Bourdain plenty of fodder for his pen. At another point, a e-mail from a female viewer is read, asking Rocco if he's single. What that has to do with Top Chef I don't have a clue. But Rocco's answer was priceless-"I really don't know about that." Huh? Isn't that a yes or no question?

Ted-would you be so kind and share the Scallop and Shrimp recipe? That looks really delicious!

Last night I made one of my favorite recipes-A fruit tart in a pastry crust made with toasted hazelnuts, a layer of pastry cream with smoked cheddar, and instead of the normal apples, I used fresh apricots. The apricots actually turned out better than when I have used apples. I pre-baked the tart shell and then spooned some of the cooled pastry cream into the shell. The tart shell is my basic pastry crust recipe with some toasted hazelnuts added. The pastry cream is a basic recipe with some smoked Tillamook cheddar stirred in at the last minute of cooking. I blanched the apricots in hot water for a few minutes then put them in an ice water bath. Then I peeled off the skin, leaving the apricots whole. Then I poached the apricots in a mixture of water, sugar, some orange liquer, a vanilla bean and a cinnamon stick. The apricots naturally start to split in half after about 10 minutes in the poaching liquid, so it was very easy to cut them in half and take out the pit. I let the apricots cool before adding them on top of the pastry cream. It wasn't totally necessary, but I thought it would be nice to serve the tart with some vanilla ice cream and a toasted hazelnut tuille cookie. The cookie was another taste of toasted hazelnuts.

Since we seem to be living in a time of instant celebrity, I think all the final contestants on Top Chef, er, the top 8 or so, will probably be successful in the food industry in some manner. People will go to Tre's restaurant just for the opportunity to eat food made by a 'celebrity' from Top Chef. I bet Tre could care less about that fact, but he's probably perceptive enough to realize that regardless of what happened this week, it's one more positive bullet point to put on his cooking resume. Being reasonably young, I think he's got a great future ahead of himself, and I see him staying true to himself as a cook-not venturing into the three-ring Rocco/Bertolli frozen Italian entree circus. If you go over to the Guy Savoy thread you'll see a review from BryanZ about his recent dining experience at the eponymous Las Vegas temple of Savoy's art. Bryan mentions that the 'bread boy,' Joshua, was more than happy to engage them in gossip about Hung and his turn on Top Chef. So even at such a sacred chapel of haute French Cuisine as Guy Savoy, the celebrity of Hung's appearance on Top Chef has found it's way into the dining room. I think the finalists have been handed a huge career boost by appearing on Top Chef. Now it's just up to them to take the football and run with it.

Yes, I was talking about my conversation, in English, with Chef Savoy. It wasn't along conversation, but I thought his English was just fine. Franck was all over the restaurant on the night we were there. A very nice young man and has others have mentioned here, he struck me as a Maitre'D right out of a 1960's 'Continental' dining room-flawless service and with a warm welcome for everyone. And since the President of Caesar's Palace was at the private dinner, I am sure all of the staff felt a measure of added pressure. Of course, these folks are under pressure every night and as you would imagine, everything went off without a hitch-other than me spilling expensive champagne on a white tablecloth!