David Ross

Sorry your dinner at Wing Lei wasn't exceptional. My experience there in May was wonderful and scored an A+ for both the food and service. You may have seen my review in the Wing Lei thread. I've found that one has to go to Las Vegas on a regular basis, trying different hotels and restaurants on each trip, before you settle on one hotel that fits within your personal tastes and budget. At least for the past two years and probably into the future, I'm a Venetian hotel customer. As you know, the restaurant scene in Las Vegas practically changes daily. It all depends on what is popular with the public at any particular moment and who is in the kitchen and who is serving in the dining room. A high-level of consisteny over the long-term seems to be a bit elusive in my Las Vegas dining experience. For example, I had wonderful experiences at Bouchon at The Venetian when it first opened a few years back-both at breakfast and at dinner. While the name remains, there hasn't been much of the Thomas Keller touch at Bouchon in Las Vegas on my visits in the past year. I now only go there for breakfast, mainly because of the serene outdoor patio setting and never for dinner. I can have a perfectly enjoyable dinner in the same price range elsewhere. And I wonder how a great restaurant owned by one of America's great chefs can slip in just a few years. Such is the fate of many of the nice places in Las Vegas. Thank you for the great writing and reviews.

Tonight I started with a Smoked Rainbow Trout Salad. I had made a smoked trout salad a couple of weeks ago and it was so good, I smoked some more trout yesterday. I tossed the trout in homemade lemon mayonnaise and combined it with some diced cucumber and mache greens. Then for the main dish I did a Miso Marinated Duck Breast served on some Chinese Egg Noodles. Really simple and easy dish for a hot summer evening. Then for dessert, another helping of the Peach Brown Betty I did last night. You can see photos and a link to the recipe in the 'What's for dessert" forum. It is almost unbelievable that with peaches, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, bread and butter that something so simple could taste so delicious. Enjoy.

Last night I made one of my favorite summer desserts, 'Peach Brown Betty.' We normally think of Brown Betty using apples, but it is just as delicious with peaches, apricots or pears. Whatever is at the peak of season will work, and finally, after a very hot July and cooler August, our peaches are at their best right now. This is a very old-fashioned dessert that they say goes back to Colonial times. It is so simple, you can't believe it would taste so delicious. The basic recipe is simply fresh fruit, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the base. Then fresh bread crumbs and butter. That is it. You can just cut the fruit up or make a fruit puree. For this recipe I pureed the peaches and added some peach schnappes along with the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Of course, it just has to be served with vanilla ice cream. Here is the web address of a piece I wrote about cobblers, crisps and Betty's. http://www.themediadrome.com/content/artic...isps_bettys.htm oh yes, and the photos:

Does anyone know if the contestants are briefed ahead of time as to the products that are available in the pantry? When Padma introduced the burger challenge I didn't catch her saying anything about the pantry and what was available. Obviously there was beef and black truffles because that is what Howie used in his burger. But was there a choice of prime or choice beef? What about the breads available? I wonder how many bun choices they had available. There was plenty of seafood used, so I guess the producers had layed out a good display of fresh seafood. I was just wondering if, like Iron Chef, the Top Chef contestants are briefed ahead of time as to what is available in the pantry or is it just a rush to start grabbing stuff once the challenge is announced. Anyone have some insight?

Yes, a struggle of classes and tastes to be sure. And I am happy to say I do count myself as being in the middle of the tug-of-war in terms of the foodie side of Top Chef as opposed to the reality/dramada/commercial side of the rope. It's sort of like enjoying hot wings out of the deli at Walmart on a Saturday afternoon, then eating a Bresse chicken stuffed with fresh black truffles and foie gras mousse in the evening. Two different chicken personalities, both delicious.

Yes, a collision of forces to be sure. It seems to me that there are two different audiences that watch Top Chef, and I think I'm in both! First are the intense foodies of which I count myself and my fellow eGullet friends. I would include the judges and the contestants in this demographic. But the second, and probably larger, audience for Top Chef, would seem to be the mass demographic of reality tv addicts or people who are looking for a new program to watch while "House" and "Gray's Anatomy" are on hiatus. It's this mass demographic that is most likely the target audience that will buy a new Bertolli Frozen Italian entree. If the ratings for Top Chef continue to grow each week, then Bravo can charge more for a 30-second commercial. That results in Bertolli reaching more people, which in theory would mean more sales of their frozen foods. And of course what follows is a special campaign with print ads showing a photo of the newest frozen Italian dinner next to Rocco and the winning Top Chef. At the bottom of the ad is the requisite Bravo logo and mention of "watch the next episode Wednesday's at 8pm." I don't have a problem at all with the commercial aspect of the show that I describe above. Without marketing tie-ins we might not even have a show like Top Chef on the tube. So I begrudgingly give kudos to the executives for supporting Top Chef and making it a commercial and financial success. On the other hand, for food purists, it seems to water-down the soup so to speak, when we see talented chefs on the precipice of greatness being challenged to freeze pasta, chunks of sauce and shriveled chicken and chuck it into a freezer bag. That's part of the internal struggle I deal with when I watch Top Chef. On the one hand, I am almost embarassed to admit I watch a show about food and cooking where they showcase commercial products that are almost offensive to chefs. The frozen pie crust comes to ming. But I simply can't wait to see what the chefs present to the judges-I am intrigued by their creativity and technique, the presentations on the plate and how they use special ingredients. That is when the foodie in me kicks in and that is when I learn. Then I flip-flop over to the 'dark side' and get wrapped up into the drama of Howie making poor little Sara cry and then apologizing, sort of, for being an ass**** in the kitchen. And so be it as Howie would say.

I found the link to Ms. Strong's blog and her experience as a 'taster' on Top Chef. I am in the midst of drinking copious amounts of white wine and waiting for the Pear Brown Betty to cool so I can then scoop it into a bowl and serve it with the largest scoop of Tillamook Vanilla Bean ice cream I can manage to get out of the tub. Ice cream tub that is. I don't keep ice cream in my actual tub, er bathtub. If I can get through the wine and Pear Brown Betty fog tonight, I'll report back on my thoughts on Ms. Strong's blog of Top Chef.

Thank you for the kind comments. No, not blogging anywhere else other than writing my thoughts in this thread. I'd like to read the comments of the woman that Colicchio referred to as 'blogging' about the show. If anyone knows the producers and can get me an in, be my guest. I was confused about the opening elimination challenge on this week's show. Now mind you, I get confused easily. Confusing was the fact that Padma opened the show by showing the menu from Red Robin. But I didn't hear her mention that the challenge was to create a new burger for Red Robin. Was that mentioned as the goal of the challenge? I thought we were going back to Rocco DeSpirito and creating a new frozen entree for Bertolli. (I wondered what happened to poor Rocco after his little Italian place in New York showed him the door and then voila, there he was judging an elimination challenge on Top Chef). Now I don't have a problem with Red Robin. I love their bleu cheese burger. And I certainly understand corporate 'food' companies plying their vittles on television. Bravo is not stupid. A mention of Red Robin on Top Chef probably cost the company that owns Red Robin a pretty penny and I am sure Bravo wasn't shy in accepting their money, aka Bertolli. But I thought it was odd to mention Red Robin on a show that is a competition between some of the country's very talented, up and coming chefs of fine dining restaurants. Another confusing moment was when Daniel Boulud walked in. No, not confusing to see one of the most talented and revered chefs of the day to appear as a judge on Top Chef. But Boulud and Red Robin? Isn't that sort of like the difference between Target and Saks Fifth Avenue? So if the intent was, (and remember, I didn't catch Padma mention it,), to create a new burger for Red Robin, I just thought it was odd to associate the challenge with Daniel Boulud-a man who creates $125 burgers of Kobe beef studded with black truffles and served with a slab of foie gras. I am sure you will help clear up my confusion. Staying with my thought that the challenge was to create a new signature burger for Red Robin, (and all the corporate trappings that go along with such recognition-"now featuring our tuna sashimi burger with seaweed shavings from Top Chef Hung"), I thought some of the chefs missed the mark. (I actually didn't care for the looks of the 'tempura chips' on Hung's burger). It looked like Boulud certainly enjoyed Howie's burger with black truffles, but would that sell at Red Robin? I think the diners at the Red Robin in Billings, Montana might go for a bison burger with smoked cheddar, but truffles? And charge more than $12.95 for a burger, I don't think so. So forgive me, I just thought the introduction of the Red Robin menu meant the challenge was to create a Red Robin burger. If the challenge was to create a unique burger that could be served at such a temple of haute cuisine as Daniel in New York, why did they pull out the plastic coated Red Robin menu? I thought Boulud's comments were right on the mark-especially his thoughts that burgers should be served on buns and definately not on bread, which is a sandwich, or certainly not wrapped in lettuce leaves, which is a dish unto itself and never called a burger. Thanks again for the comments about my thoughts on Top Chef. One can only imagine what drama awaits us over the course of the next few weeks.

I'd bet that until they were selected for Top Chef that Guy Savoy and Joel Robuchon wouldn't have known Hung or Marcel if they walked up and bit them on the ass. ← You sure could be right-that Savoy and Robuchon may not have known that Hung and Marcel worked in their respective kitchens, but I'm not so sure. When I was at the Bon Apetit Food and Wine Focus in Las Vegas in May I went to a private dinner at Guy Savoy at Caesar's Palace. One of my tablemates was a lady who is the Director of Food and Beverage at the MGM. We talked a lot about the restaurants at the MGM that she oversees-namely L'Atelier and Robuchon. One of the questions I asked her was about the staffing at L'Atelier and Robuchon and whether they were employees of the MGM or employed by the actual chef/owner of the restaurant. She said it depended on the restaurant, but in the case of L'Atelier and Robuchon, their staffs are hired independently of the MGM. In other words, the chefs are employed by Robuchon, not the MGM. I don't know if that pertains to the servers or the dishwashers. Based on that conversation, I would imagine that Marcel was employed directly by Robuchon, meaning Robuchon's company that operates his restaurants. As far as Marcel being interviewed and hired by Chef Robuchon himself, who knows. Hmm, Marcel interviewing with Chef Robuchon by creating a dish of Pearls of Uni with Kobe Beef Jus and Lobster Foam, wouldn't that be a treat to watch? Regardless of all that, I think Marcel showed he was a talented, creative chef. I think that Howie and Hung are also talented, creative chefs. But I still think all three share a common personality trait-they can really be jerks. Bravo has sucked me in.

As others have recommended, I too would do Bouchon for breakfast and L'Atelier for dinner. In my opinion, Bouchon has fallen in the past two years and is not as good for dinner compared to many other fine dining restaurants in Las Vegas that are within the same price range. L'Atelier is in the upper range as far as price goes, but an excellent choice for dinner. Bouchon can't be beat for breakfast-partly because few other fine dining restaurants in Las Vegas even serve breakfast. Commander's Palace did, but sadly is now closed. I like Bouchon for breakfast because it is a quiet oasis to enjoy breakfast on the outdoor patio, away from the crowds parading up and down the strip. The breads are quite good, the eggs and service o.k. It's the idea of eating a freshly baked croissant and drinking French press coffee on the patio overlooking beautiful lawns that draw me to Bouchon in the mornings.

One thing about Hung I've always wondered is what his employer, Chef Guy Savoy, is thinking if or when he watches Hung on Top Chef. They label Hung as a sous chef at Guy Savoy in Las Vegas. I doubt Chef Savoy would ever tolerate the attitude that Hung has displayed on Top Chef in his kitchen in Las Vegas. Maybe Hung is a quiet church mouse in the kitchen at Guy Savoy and he only allowed his true self to come out when he got into the finals of Top Chef. Maybe a little arrogance on a tv show doesn't matter even if Hung went back to the kitchen at Guy Savoy after the show. The publicity probably was good. Last year I always wondered what Chef Joel Robuchon thought of Marcel's display on Top Chef. I couldn't imagine that Chef Robuchon would have hired Marcel to work in his restaurant at the MGM if he knew what kind of a rude little man Marcel was. Maybe it didn't or wouldn't matter. I've just always wondered what the employers of the candidates thought of their on-screen antics.

As you all realize, I am not a fan of Howie's. However, what may surprise you is that I actually would tab Howie as my favorite to win the competition. Some of you know how much I love Las Vegas, and if I was at Caesar's Palace at this precise moment, I'd go to the Sports Book where they take wagers on all things-not just sports. I'd put money down on Howie to win. Not only has Howie added that element of unpredictability that reality tv show producers crave, he is and can be a talented cook. Few probably thought that last year Marcel would end up in the finale against Elan. Marcel's crappy attitude and bitchy personality certainly didn't portray him as a likeable fellow, but he could cook and his difficulties with the other candidates played right into the producer's hands-the conflicts Marcel created with other contestants helped Top Chef garner a growing audience each week and they were justified in passing him on each week because he could cook. I see a similar comparison this year with Howie. I'd actually prefer that Tre win. He's got the personality-a cool sort of hip vibe that exudes confidence, yet with a good measure of humility. Tre has never appeared to have a conflict with anyone, and he seems to be genereally well-liked and respected. Aside from that smoked potato disaster this week, he's consistently shown good execution in his cooking skills and a talent for designing creative dishes.

I can actually see Howie being a huge asset in a production kitchen. As a cook or maybe even as a sous. That bulldog quality can be a useful asset used in the right ways. I'd guess that what it would take to make him effective, though, would be to really hit him over the head with a two by four that he respected in some way. He just seems like one of those guys who will work against everyone sometimes even himself till he's knocked flat to his knees. Then there's a complete turnaround complete with high loyalty, hard work and dedication being given. There was a difference in this weeks performance by him, though, with his behavior . . . and that is promising for him. It shows that he's thinking not just tossing things away. The risotto thing was a high-level food experience aimed for being done in a lower-level high production kitchen sort of way. Howie's not the only chef who does this in the restaurant business, making risotto like this. Is it right? Not really. Risotto is a way of life that doesn't translate easily. But I'd guess that Howie learned this method from a chef sometime in his past whom he greatly respected. ← I can see your perspective, i.e., Howie's bulldog attitude could serve him well in a fast-paced restaurant kitchen, albeit after being hit in the head with a two by four. It just would never be in any kitchen if I owned the restaurant. And that's just based on my personal opinion about teamwork. Howie wouldn't fit in on my team. I agree with you that this week he did show a glimpse into a 'softer side.' He appeared to realize that for him to succeed on Top Chef he needs to make more of an effort to work on a team. I noticed that on past episodes that when the chefs were awaiting their fate, Howie would sit off by himself in the kitchen, throwing out rude comments to the other chefs. This week he actually hugged his teamates. Not a first for Howie-after he and Joey nearly came to physical blows they patched things up and appeared to become friends. So your analogy may be true-Howie needs to be knocked down a bit by other strong personalities until he realizes he isn't the only tough dog in the competition. We can probably debate risotto until the cows come home, but Howie's utter failure at that mushroom risotto certainly didn't endear him to the judges. Boulud looked like he wanted to spit it out.

Howie's an ass. I think part of the success of a 'top chef' is being a leader-both in the kitchen as a cook and in leading a team of employees. Howie seems to etiher have great success with his dishes-or utter disaster in the kitchen like that risotto. And I believe you can be the greatest cook in the country, but if you're an ass to deal with and work with, your ultimate success will be limited. As a customer, I can sense if there is struggle in the kitchen. It shows up in the food, the timing of the service, the mood of the servers, just about anything. If Howie the 'bulldog' was running the kitchen, I'm not convinced my dining experience would be memorable. Maybe it would, but I doubt it. Now, in terms of risotto I think Howie failed miserably. As you all know, risotto is not something that should be cooked in three large pots like Howie was doing. Risotto is one of those dishes that should be prepared in small quantities and given the kid-glove treatment-serving it when the rice is just done and hot, making sure the diner is presented a warm bowl of creamy, unctuous risotto. By cooking his risotto in such a large quantity, I think Howie created his own risotto nightmare-pasty, gloppy rice. His rice looked like it clogged up into a big sticky rice ball. Had he prepared the risotto in a small sauce pan I think it would have turned out much better. Another problem I saw with Howie's risotto was that it appeared he sauteed the mushrooms separately and then topped the risotto with the mushrooms. I make lots of risotto at home with fresh, wild chanterelles and morels taken right out of our Northwest forests. I prefer to use only one variety of mushroom at a time. For example, I'll only use morels because I want to only taste morels in a wild mushroom risotto. I don't want to muddle up the mushroom flavor by using more than one variety of mushroom. I'd tell Howie to saute the mushrooms and then stire them into the risotto. That way each creamy bite of risotto delivers a little burst of wild mushroom taste. Finally, I disagree with Tom's comments that you never put cream in risotto. I actually sided with Howie's argument that cream is often stirred into risotto. Chef Tom made it sound that it is taboo to stir cream into risotto. Tom said "the starch in the rice is what should make the risotto creamy." True, when the starch in the rice is released that does of course give risotto it's characteristic creaminess. But Tom wasn't totally accurate when he said that you don't put cream in risotto. There are plenty of Italian cookbooks written by Italians that have risotto recipes where cream is used. Some people use cream, some don't. I don't think the addition of cream was the undoing of Howie's risotto. I think it was his bulldog attitude that he was going to do a risotto no matter what-whether it went within the theme (or lack thereof) in the menu or not. His technique-i.e., make the risotto in too large of a quantity, and not serving the risotto at the precise moment it was done, resulted in a dish of gluey, tepid, sticky rice with some mushrooms on top.

Howie's an ass. I think part of the success of a 'top chef' is being a leader-both in the kitchen as a cook and in leading a team of employees. Howie seems to etiher have great success with his dishes-or utter disaster as in that risotto. And I believe you can be the greatest cook in the country, but if you're an ass to deal with and work with, your ultimate success will be limited. As a customer, I can sense if there is struggle in the kitchen. It shows up in the food, the timing of the service, the mood of the servers, just about anything. If Howie the 'bulldog' was running the show, I'm not convinced my dining experience would be memorable. Maybe it would, but I doubt it. Now, in terms of risotto I think Howie failed miserably. As you all know, risotto is not something that should be cooked in three large pots like Howie was doing. Risotto is one of those dishes that should be prepared in small quantities and given the kid-glove treatment-serving it when the rice is just done and hot, making sure the diner is presented a warm bowl of creamy, unctuous risotto. By cooking his risotto in such a large quantity, I think Howie created his own risotto nightmare-pasty risotto. His rice looked like it clogged up into a big sticky rice ball. Had he prepared the risotto in a small sauce pan I think it would have turned out much better. Another problem I saw with Howie's risotto was that it appeared he sauteed the mushrooms separately and then topped the risotto with the mushrooms. I make lots of risotto at home with fresh, wild chanterelles and morels taken right out of our Northwest forests. I prefer to use only one variety of mushroom at a time. For example, I'll only use morels because I want to only taste morels in a wild mushroom risotto. I don't want to muddle up the mushroom flavor by using more than one variety of mushroom. I'd tell Howie to saute the mushrooms and then stire them into the risotto. That way each creamy bite of risottoe delivers a little burst of wild mushroom taste. Finally, I disagree with Tom's comments that you never put cream in risotto. I actually sided with Howie's argument that cream is often stirred into risotto. Chef Tom made it sound that it is taboo to stir cream into risotto. Tom said "the starch in the rice is what should make the risotto creamy." True, when the starch in the rice is released that does of course give risotto it's characteristic creaminess.

I drove through Portland, Oregon, yesterday and made a stop at Whole Foods. I love that place-and we don't have one in Spokane-so I stop when I can. I bought 3 beautiful diver scallops. Two of them were more than enough for one serving-they were huge-and delicious. I quickly seared them in olive oil and butter. I served the scallops on top of fresh pappardelle. I normally use pappardelle in a dish with duck confit, sans any type of sauce. I wasn't sure if pappardelle was going to be a good pasta choice for a sauce but it turned out really good. The sauce coated the pappardelle like silk. I tossed the pappardelle in some prepared lobster bisque that was available in the seafood section of the market. I garnished the pasta with some fresh chanterelles sauteed in butter and olive oil. After a week visiting family I needed to get back to my own kitchen and I'm glad I made this dinner. Turned out very good. Of course, that's not really hard when you start with such wonderful scallops.

How delicious that I found this thread about Fried Chicken. Fried chicken is one of my favorite foods and a few years back I wrote a story about my quest for finding the best fried chicken recipe. You can use this web address to go to the story: http://www.themediadrome.com/content/articles/food_articles/finger_lickin_good.htm Now let me start by showing you a photo of a recent fried chicken drumstick that I cooked. Beautifully golden, crispy skin enrobing juicy, steaming chicken. Delicious. Fried chicken is one of those dishes-like bread or chili-that is not defined by one reciple alone. There are of course thousands of recipes for fried chicken and depending on the cook you talk to, their fried chicken recipe is 'the best.' I've recently posted reviews on eGullet about dinners at Guy Savoy, Wing Lei and Alex in Las Vegas-three of the top restaurants in America today. And while I enjoy a good measure of caviar and foie gras served amidst the luxury trappings of an elite dining room, I like to come home to a mound of fried chicken. You cannot be a food snob when it comes to fried chicken. While I would never claim my fried chicken recipe to be 'the best,' it is pretty dang good. And it might surprise you that I use the same basic cooking method that was used by one Kentucky Colonel many years ago. Yes, I make fried chicken just like Colonel Sanders-that is to say the 'broaster' method of frying chicken under pressure. This is the same basic method that many supermarkets use in their deli departments today to fry chicken. When I posted my fried chicken photo in the 'Dinner' forum I found a couple of fellow eGulleteer's who also 'broast' chicken. The basic idea is that the chicken fries for about two minutes in hot oil in the base pot of the pressure cooker. Then you put the lid on, screw down the pressure handles and let the chicken cook under pressure for about 15 minutes. You'll be worried at first that you've created a gurgling bomb of fat and steam that may blow off at any moment. Don't worry, it won't if you buy a pressure cooker that is rated for cooking foods in hot oil under pressure. I bought a 'Fagor' brand pressure cooker about 6 years ago and use it to this day and have never had an accident. I checked the Fagor website today and they still sell pressure cookers, but I couldn't find reference to their cookers being approved for cooking with hot oil. I'd suggest you call them direct and ask them about their pressure cookers if you are interested in buying one. Mine cost about $150. As far as the chicken goes, I don't think it matters if you use organic, free-range, antibiotic free or plain supermarket chicken. Use whatever kind of chicken you think tastes best. But don't use a big old stewing chicken. It's tough and probably would be tougher after it was fried. I like to use smaller frying chickens because they cook quicker and I just like the looks of smaller drumsticks. I buy whole chickens and cut them up myself. I usually stray from the supermarket method of eight pieces of chicken per bird: two drumsticks, two thighs, two wings and two breasts. I cut each breast in half so I get 4 breast pieces and 10 pieces out of one chicken. I start by soaking the chicken in salt water. I suppose you could call it a poor man's brine because I don't add peppercorns, bay leaf, sugar or any fancy seasonings to the water. Just salt. And I don't 'brine' the chicken to add flavor so much as I 'soak' the chicken, (as the country folk say), to draw some of the blood out of the chicken. Soaking the chicken also keeps the chicken pieces wet so the coating sticks to the pieces. I dredge the chicken in a mixture of fry mix, baking powder, salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning. The addition of baking powder is what helps the chicken get crispy on the outside. I usually dredge the chicken, chill it, then dredge it a second time before frying. This is also a technique commercial cooks use to fry crispy chicken. After the first dredging in the flour mix, put the chicken pieces on a cookie rack over a cookie sheet. Put the chicken in the refrigerator for an hour. The flour will look a bit gummy on the chicken pieces, but don't worry. Dredge the chicken a second time so it has another blanket of coating and then it's ready to fry. I add about 3 inches of canola oil to the bottom of my pressure cooker pot. I like canola oil because it is tasteless and doesn't interfere with the taste of the chicken. Some cooks use peanut oil for deep-frying because it has a high smoke point. But I don't like the strong flavor of peanut oil with fried chicken. Old time cooks often use Crisco or pure lard to fry chicken in a cast iron skillet-a good method to be sure, but in my opinion not as good as 'broasting' chicken. I let the oil get to 350 degrees and then in go the chicken pieces. I let the pieces of chicken fry about 3 minutes to seal in the juice and crispy the skin, then on goes the pressure lid. You have to make sure the pressure valve is in the proper position to allow steam and pressure to escape during the short 15 minute cooking time. I pull the valve up to the full up position when the chicken is done to let the steam escape. Then slowly take the lid off. Remove the chicken pieces and put them on a cookie sheet to drain. Don't put the fried chicken pieces on brown paper, paper napkins or a towel to drain. You don't want the pieces of chicken to come into direct contact with a piece of paper or cotton. If it does, the bottom of the chicken will be soggy. Putting the chicken on a rack to drain allows air to circulate around the entire surface of the chicken piece, keeping it crisp. Pressure-cooked chicken, ala 'broasted' chicken, is extrememly hot when it comes out of the pot. I let the chicken pieces rest at least 20 minutes before serving them. If you eat the chicken straight out of the pressure cooker you'll get burned with any steam the chicken releases. And my fried chicken is delicious, and still a bit crispy, when it is served cold. Don't wrap the chicken is plastic wrap, don't cover it in a Tupperware container. If you are lucky enough to have fried chicken that wasn't eaten at dinner, just put the pieces on a plate and put the plate of chicken in the fridge. Let it cool overnight. It is delicious for breakfast!

We have just started harvesting our local peaches in Eastern Washington so I couldn't resist a peach dessert. The peaches are good, but they will be even more sweet and juicy in a couple of weeks. I was watching my absolute favorite cooking program on television this morning, 'Rick Stein's Food Heroes' on BBC America and Rick did a traditional British 'Bread and Butter Pudding.' I added some chopped, fresh peaches to the pudding. Here is a shot of the finished pud baked: I let the pudding cool about 15 minutes, then I dusted it with powdered sugar and took the torch to it: Here is the finished pudding. You don't see the peach chunks, but the finished pud did have good peachy flavor. Imagine, butter, fresh bread, butter, fresh peaches, brandy, golden raisins, cream, eggs, butter. Yes, and sugar. Caramelized. And whipped cream. How can that NOT be delicious!

I'm getting ready to go out of town for a few weeks, combination of vacation and business travel, so I didn't want to do a lot of cooking tonight. I started with one of my favorite Northwest style dishes for a hot Summer night-Smoked Idaho Rainbow Trout Salad. I buy whole trout and smoke them for about an hour over a warm hickory wood fire. Any leftover trout that I don't use for the salad makes a wonderful smoked trout spread for bread or crackers. I garnished the salad with Oregon Hazelnuts and some local asparagus. I make my own mayonnaise, and in this case, I added lemon juice, zest and capers to the mayonnaise to make a dressing for the salad. For dessert I made a Peach Bread and Butter Pudding. I was watching my favorite cooking show today, 'Rick Stein's Food Heroes' on BBC America, and Rick did a beautifully simple Bread and Butter Pudding. Our local Washington Peaches are just starting to ripen on the Eastern side of the state, so I added some chopped peaches to the pudding. Garnished with whipped cream. Next time I'm going to puree the peaches first and then glaze the top of the pudding with peach jelly. I think fresh homemade vanilla ice cream would be in order for the next pudding.

Thanks. You've made really great points regarding other cuts from the butcher than just the steak. Especially your comparison with hamburger ground fresh each day at the butcher shop. Thanks for the feedback.

After I did the taste test and found without a doubt that my butcher shop sells better meat than the supermarket I haven't bought one steak from the supermarket. I'm lucky because my butcher cuts, cures and smokes his own bacon and lunch meats. I'm also lucky because the butcher also grades all of his meat and for me that's just a bit more insurance that we both know the quality of the meat. Establishing a relationship with the butcher seems to be the key to getting good quality and service, which you'll not get at the mass supermarkets from the employees who put steaks in a cold case. All around I've found going back to the old way of buying meat from my butcher is worth the extra cost. I still buy meat from the supermarket, just not steaks. Last week I bought two good quality choice grade pot roasts at a local supermarket. The roasts came from natural beef raised in Eastern Oregon and I know the quality is good. Since I'll be using the roasts this Fall and Winter in braised dishes, I knew it would be fine. I don't need to take the time to go to the butcher and spend the money for a prime ribeye for a braised dish. But overall, I think that we all get a better product when we go to a butcher shop.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I looked at it on the web and I think I'll buy it. I have a couple of other books on how to butcher meat so with this book you recommend, I think I'll be ready to go. If I do buy a beast I'll contact before I saw into him. By the way, your photo is wicked-a woman with tatoos, blood on her apron, and two freshly cut beefy raw steaks held high-a very appropriate image for our discussion about butcher shop steaks for sure!

Oh my oh my. Your pie looks delicious, the fruit, the crust, wonderful. Can I bribe you to send me a warm slice via FedEx tonight?

I know, I think we have all visualized exploding pinto beans splattering the kitchen walls when the pressure cooker blew. I worried about that too when I first started to cook chicken this way about 5 years ago. But it really is safe. In fact, I had the broasted chicken Thursday night and it was so good, I'm making more tonight. Sinful isn't it, fried chicken 2 nights out of three.

thanks for the compliment, I'm glad you tried the recipe and liked it. I also make the lemon bars with raspberries and they work just as good as blackberries. For anyone down in Oregon, try the recipe with Marionberries or Loganberries.