David Ross

Sorry you have had so much trouble with your pie crust. I use this basic recipe for pies and tarts and it never fails me. You may want to try it. For pies I usually use a plain glass Pyrex pie dish. Sometimes I'll use my LeCreuset pie dish. If I am doing a 'free-form' type of tart I use a wooden pizza peel to move the tart from the kitchen directly onto a baking stone in the oven. I never use any type of metal pie tin because it gets too hot too fast, resulting in a crust that bakes too quick while the insides of the pie are underdone. 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 The cake flour gives the pie dough an extra lift and flakiness. I cut the butter and shortening in by hand using a pastry cutter. I never use a food processor for my pastry dough. The blade runs too fast, cutting the butter and shortening into little grains. When I cut the butter and shortening into the flour by hand I control the size of the butter and shortening. I cut it into the flour until it's the size of baby peas. That will let your butter and shortening melt into shards or layers as it bakes into the flour. That's what will give the finished pie crust that flakiness we like. Add the ice water using a fork and add enough water to form a ball of dough. Wrap it in plastic and then let it chill in the refrigerator for about one hour. This will chill the butter back up which is important to the finished pie crust. Then just roll out the dough before you use it. Works for me so I hope it helps you.

It's not just you - I do the same thing. ← I love your photo of the grinder you use! I use one that was my Grandfather's. He worked in the sheep business in Idaho for many years. I use his old grinder for beef, but I'm thinking he might have used it to grind up lamb.

I must be one of the few old-fashioned cooks out there when it comes to grinding meat at home. I don't use either my food processor or the meat grinder attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer. I find the food processor blade whirls around way too fast to get the coarse texture I like in ground meat. I seem to end up with something that is the texture of what I would call 'meat pate.' Even if I use the 'pulse' feature and give the meat just a few pulses of the blade, it still seems to be too fine for my tastes. It's sort of the same comparison with pastry dough. I will absolutely never use my food processor to blend pastry dough. The food processor absolutely obliterates the crisco and the butter into tiny little grains. I mix the crisco and butter with the flour by hand using a pastry cutter. Yes, it does take time and is a bit messier than using a food processor, but I can control the size of the knobs of butter and crisco mixed with the flour. The hand-cutting method insures that I will end up with a beautifully delicate, light and flaky pie crust. I've tried using the meat grinder attachment on my Kitchen Aid. While it does a better job of grinding the meat to the texture I want, I find the fat in the meat tends to clog up on the inner-workings of the blade. I use a hand-crank meat grinder that attaches to my counter. You can buy them just about anywhere, but try one of the large Hunting and Fishing centers. They sell them for cheap. Hunters use them for grinding game meat into sausage. Most of the old-fashioned hand-crank machines come with different blade attachments so you can control the texture of the ground meat from fine to extra coarse. I don't have a magical ratio for meat and fat, I just go by what I think will taste good. If we're talking beef, I buy cuts from the chuck with a good amount of fat. Seems to make for juicy hamburgers.

1. Baked Potato made with an Idaho Russet Potato. 2. Mashed Potatoes made with Idaho Russet Potatoes. 3. French Fried Potatoes made with Idaho Russet Potatoes. No further explanation needed, create the images in your mind.

Oh how I miss Seattle's Uwajimaya. We don't have one in Spokane. I especially miss the fresh and live seafood at Uwajimaya. I actually have felt some of your same sentiments about some Chinese foodstuffs based on the media hype of recent days. But most of the products that I feel would be potentially problematic I don't buy anyway. I have heard the recent scare over some tainted Chinese seafood products. Yesterday I heard a report on the radio about freshwater fish being raised in China in ponds without a 'filtration' system. The announcer went on to say how the fish waste was disposed of. No, I won't continue to tell you what he said next. Apparently most of this type of fish is exported to the US frozen. I avoid the frozen or canned seafood at my Asian market anyway. Most of the frozen seafood looks awfully old and dried out. I also shy away from the canned seafood products. There is so much dust on the tops of the cans I reckon it's probably 5 or more years old. So I stick to the stuff I can trust and I buy fresh seafood in my Asian recipes at my local seafood store.

Hmm. Maybe JAG will win and his new show on Food Network will be "Fried Meatloaf with JAG."

Thank you everyone for your sage advice. I do want to correct myself on the first post. I mentioned I was looking for Tom Collins 'mix.' I may have mislead you into thinking that I meant a dry, powedered mix to make a Collins. I meant to say Tom Collins bottled mixer. We could always find it in out grocery stores. Now we are lucky if they put a few bottles of Canada Dry brand out during the Holidays. In any case, I have many recipes to try before I determine which one best suits my tastes. And I can't wait to read the WSJ journal about Collins history. Thanks again.

I reserve the term 'kill me now' when something looks so delicious I want to eat it, then die and go to food heaven. I use the phrase quite often actually. Just about everything looks good to me.

Kill me now, that lasagna looks delicious! Give me some info on your 'lasagna' recipe. What kind of cheese is that melted on the top?

Tonight I did a butterflied leg of lamb on the Weber grill outside. I used a recipe from one of Tom Douglas's cookbooks-"Bengal Spice Lamb." The lamb is marinated in all sorts of Middle Eastern spices and fresh herbs and olive oil. I served the lamb with a cucumber raita, steamed rice and some grilled zuchinni that I dressed with olive oil and sherry vinegar. For dessert I had vanilla ice cream, Tillamook brand, with some fresh raspberries. Originally I thought of putting the raspberries between layers of pastry like a Napolean. Then I got lazy and instead of the Napolean I decided to just cut out some 'cookies' from the puff pastry dough. I brushed each puff pastry cookie with melted butter and sprinkled the baked cookies with powdered sugar. They actually turned out wonderful, light and puffy and crispy. (I think for the Holidays I'll make them and stuff them with some kind of jam).

David, is that a teeny tiny squid tucked into that mussle shell, or a standard sized on in a really HUGE mussle? ← It is the tiniest of tiny squid. I wanted to make sure I got the little tentacles in the photo so I stuck the little devil on the edge of the mussel shell. I buy the baby squids frozen from a local Asian market. They are just wonderful for presentation and add just the tiniest bit of fishy flavor to soups and stews. Since they are so small I just stir them in the final stew to heat the squid up before I ladle the stew into bowls.

Good Lord if I didn't already have dinner planned I would make that PASTA! Pasta made by hand-how wonderful. You are to be commended for both the pasta and that delicious looking strawberry sorbet. Is there some sort of caramel topping on the florentine?

Last night I did a classic bouillabaisse with baby red potatoes, halibut, prawns, mussels and baby squid. Oh, and lots of garlic, both in the fish broth and in the red pepper rouille that I spread on toasted bread. I'm lucky to have a market that gets fresh bread from Nancy Silverton's La Brea Bakery flown in about 3 times a week. I toasted slices of their baguette to serve with the bouillabaisse. I have to say though while the bouillabaise was good, I prefer our beloved West Coast seafood stew-'Cioppino' much better. Here are a couple of photos for you:

Thank you so much for the recipe and the lesson in Tom Collins cocktail-ology. It's now on my list for this summer.

I am having trouble finding 'Collins Mix' in the markets in Spokane. I am drinking a 'fake' Vodka Collins right now because I substituted the Collins with Squirt. It is a close approximation of the classic cocktail but not the same of course. Can I make a quasi Collins mix at home starting with Squirt? Years ago, in the 60's actually, my Grandfather used to love a good 'Tom Collins' aka with gin, at his country club. I think it was one of those summer drinks of years gone by that has gone out of fashion against the Mojitos and Martinis. Any ideas?

Holy Moly! I want to cook everything that everyone has posted the past week. All of it. I was busy last week hammering out a little blog for the site. I hope you had a chance to read it. Now I'm back to posting and talking about Dinner! Last night I made some delicious fried Razor Clams, simple roast potatoes and green salad. We get very fresh seafood from the Northwest and Alaska at our local Costco. It is really good quality. I think they must go through a whole lot of fresh seafood at Costco every single day. If you aren't familiar with Razor Clams they are pretty good size, small ones are around 8-9" long. The piece of clam meat is very big, almost like a clam steak. I dust them in a seasoned fry mix and saute them in hot oil for about 2 minutes per side. You have to cook them quick so they stay tender. I made a sauce of fish stock, butter, capers, thyme and a bit of cream to serve with the clams. Hope you like the photos:

I catch this show on BBC America on my days off. What I really like is the beautiful camera work. They shoot the food really closeup so it creates an image you can almost taste. The colors are very rich and the shots are really in focus. I think that for me that really sets the show apart and makes it once of the best cooking shows on television right now.

I thought it would be appropriate to end a blog from the Pacific Northwest with a mention about James Beard. You probably know that James Beard was a native of Oregon. I too am a native Oregonian even though I now live in Washington. I've always taken great pride in knowing that a man who became a legend in American cooking came from my home state. One time back in the late 1960's, our family was meeting some cousins that were flying in from Wisconsin. As we were walking into the Portland airport this large, bald-headed man in a huge black raincoat walked past. My Mother said "do you know who that was?" I was probably no more than 10 at the time so of course I had no idea who he was. Mother said "that's James Beard." As I got older I learned who James Beard was and I also learned of the impact he made on how Americans ate at home and how we ate at restaurants. Today I took photos of my small collection of books on Beard: This paperback book was published in 1984 in conjunction with the Beef Industry Council. Beard got a lot of criticism for his commercial associations. In the case of his association with the Beef Industry he seemed to avoid the criticism. The cookbook is a collection of recipes from famous chefs using beef in Mr. Beard's honor. My Father worked for the Oregon State Department of Agriculture and he got this book for me through his association with the Oregon Beef Council. A wonderful photo of Beard that captures his spirit. Evan Jones wrote this biography of James Beard that was published in 1990. It is a very interesting read. Beard wrote this cookbook in 1981. The book was published by Alfred A. Knopf, the same publishing company who worked with Beard's dear friend Julia Child. I especially like Mr. Beard's chapter on 'Offal,' more commonly known as the "innards" of the animal. This cookbook was published by Beard's estate in 1993. This is the most cherished cookbook in my collection. James Beard wrote this cookbook in 1949. It is special to me because it was my Grandmother's-like Mr. Beard a native Oregonian. Grandmother bought Mr. Beard's cookbook in 1949. These photos depict some of the color illustrations in the cookbook. Finally, I close my blog about my life in the Pacific Northwest and my world in food and cooking with one of the last photos taken of James Beard in Oregon-a lone walk along Gleneden Beach where his family owned a Summer home for many years. The Oregon Coast gave Mr. Beard great pleasure and it was the place where he learned so much about the food and cooking of the Northwest.

Tonight is my last dinner of the week to post for you. I'm sad that our week is coming to a close. I've learned a lot from everyone and I hope you had some fun reading along with my journey this past week and that you enjoyed some of my writing and musings on food and cooking. Thanks to SnowAngel for giving me the opportunity to write my blog. And Little Ms. Foodie, I won't forget your huckleberries this Summer. Here is the rack of lamb that I showed earlier. I sear the lamb in olive oil in a hot skillet for about 7 minutes on the fat side and then turn it over and put the skillet in a 450 degree oven to roast the lamb. I roast the lamb for about 15 minutes to medium-rare. I don't use a meat thermometer to test it for doneness, I just poke the lamb with my finger and I seem to know when it is done. Rack of lamb with fried potatoes and rhubarb chutney. I guess that says Northwest and Summer at the same time. The rhubarb chutney is tart yet sweet and has a hint of spice. The chutney is a wonderful condiment for rich lamb. I'm not done yet, I've got another post for you tonight.

It's very interesting when you hear of programming in different parts of the country. I am currently watching Next FoodNetwork star, and I am on the west coast too. Not sure if Dish Network determines the difference or not. ← I'm not sure but it might. I have the local Comcast feed up here. The "Star" show is coming on our channel at 9p tonight. Maybe with Dish Network you are getting the East Coast feed? Rachel Ray is aggravating at all times.

God save our country. Right now on the Food Network in Spokane Rachel Ray is singing karaoke in Maui! Kill me.

I'm starting that tommorrow-putting clipped recipes in my binder. I've got this ragged old manilla folder on the kitchen counter with awful looking pieces of recipes I've clipped in recent years. I am glad you have enjoyed the blog. I started to worry that I was jumping too far out there by talking about cooking on television and the Las Vegas dining scene. It's been a busy week with the blog and work but it's been really rewarding to get so many kind comments. Thank you.

I love to make ice cream. It is very easy but it takes a couple of days and you need the right equipment. I start by making a custard of egg yolks, sugar, milk, cream and vanilla bean. I heat the milk, cream and vanilla bean in a saucepan. In a bowl I stir the egg yolks with the sugar. You add some of the warm milk to the eggs and stir quickly to temper the eggs, then pour the egg mixture back into the warm milk in the saucepan. You cook the custard for about 15 minutes or until it thickens. I strain the custard into a container and let it cool, covered, overnight in the fridge. This is my cuisinart ice cream maker. It is heavy and load and cost a few hundred bucks, but it is really quick, only 20 minutes or so to cool the custard to ice cream. You don't have to freeze the bowl ahead of time because the unit has a built-in freezer. You just pour the custard in the bowl sitting in the unit and let it go. After the ice cream is thick, I added some Bing cherries that I macerated in Cherry Liquer. It's important at this stage to spoon the ice cream into a container and cover it and put it in the freezer for about an hour to set up. These are the ingredients I put in the rhubarb chutney I made last night. I wanted to serve it with the duck confit yesterday, but it was too hot. The chutney needed to sit in the fridge overnight so it could thicken. (Instead of using apple cider vinegar I used 'Verjus' from a winery in Central Washington). This is a copy of my recipe for the rhubarb chutney. I know, I'm obsessed! I copy any recipe I write and put it in a 3-ring binder. The plastic sleeves protect the pages from getting dirty in the kitchen. It's a great way to record your favorite recipes and have them at the ready. This is the rhubarb chutney just starting to stew. I cook the chutney over medium heat for about an hour. The rhubarb will break down and the chutney will be the consistency of very thick jam. These baked potatoes are the ingredient in the 'Pommes de Terre Macaire' that I had with the duck confit last night. You bake a potato and then let it cool overnight in the fridge. The cooling process helps the starch and sugars to relax. I then scoop out the flesh of the potato with a spoon. Here you see the scooped out potato flesh. I freeze the potato skins and used them as shells for stuffed baked potatoes. So dessert is going to be Cherry Ice Cream. Dinner is Rack of Lamb, Rhubarb Chutney, Fried Potatoes and some mixed salad greens. I buy Rack of Lamb at Costco. They always have fresh Rack of Lamb at my Costco and it is cheap, $9.99 a pound today. It usually runs $11.99 a pound. We rarely see rack of lamb in our big groceries stores in Spokane. If we do see rack of lamb in the meat case, it's probably the Holidays and the price is around $15 a pound. The lamb at Costco is from either Australia or New Zealand. Spokane is only about two hours drive East from Ellensburg, Washington. Ellensburg is home to a big lamb production facility. I haven't really found out why we can't get Ellensburg lamb in the big markets in Spokane. We can get local lamb, but you pretty much have to search the classified ads in the paper for a local farmer who will sell it to you. I guess they ship our Washington lamb to other parts of the country.

Thank you so much. Las Vegas really has more good restaurants in a short amount of land than any other city in the country. The top restaurants are concentrated in just a few miles up and down the strip. You never tire of the choices because there are so many to choose from. You might find this story about dining in Las Vegas kind of fun. It's dated now from when I wrote it for fun about 5 years ago. The restaurant scene in Las Vegas changes every month so what was written last year is old news by now. http://www.themediadrome.com/content/artic...e_las_vegas.htm

Yesterday was frantic. I had to deal with some computer problems that slowed me down, but I wanted to make sure I delivered on my promise to you to talk about the state of cooking on television. Oh, and the trip to the farmer's market and dinner. I make duck confit about 4 times a year. I can eat duck confit anytime of year. While we normally think of confit as a cold-weather dish, it is too tempting to resist a dish of duck confit, fresh morel mushrooms and papperdelle pasta in the Spring. I but duck leg quarters at the local Asian market. I can't get them at any other market in Spokane. When you ask the meat guy at Safeway for frozen duck quarters he looks at you like you are crazy-"who eats duck legs." I do. Asian markets are great for hard to find cuts of meat like duck leg quarters or pork belly. Other stores don't sell the stuff and the prices are so low at Asian markets you think they aren't charging you enough. I usually pay no more than $1.99 a pound for duck leg quarters. I think that is pretty cheap. I usually marinate the duck pieces for three days with a mixture of sea salt, black peppercorns, crushed juniper berries, sliced garlic and sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary. Then I rinse off the marinade and put the duck into melted lard. The traditional recipe calls for duck fat, but it's expensive and I don't like to have to order it online so I use lard. Lard works just fine. I melt the lard in a Le Cresuet deep stockpot and put in the duck pieces. I cover the pot and put it in a 200 degree oven for six hours. I made this batch about three weeks ago. After the pot is taken out of the oven I let it cool and then I put the pot in the fridge. I let the duck sit and 'confit' in the lard until it is ready to use. To serve the confit I put the stockpot into a 300 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until the lard melts and I can easily take the duck pieces out of the fat. Then I put the duck on a cookie rack over a sheet pan and into a hot, 450 degree oven. This helps to heat the duck. I always put some water in the bottom of the sheet pan so that the dripping duck fat doesn't catch fire. After about 20 minutes I turn the oven to 'broil' and give the duck a blast of heat from above to crisp the skin. I served the duck with some 'Pommes de Terre Macaire,' which is a recipe from Jacques Pepin. You bake a russet potato and then let it cool in the fridge overnight. The next day you scoop out the potato flesh and saute it in a skillet with butter and olive oil. It is kind of the French version of hash browns. Delicious. I served the duck with fresh peas, carrots and pea shoots. My rhubarb relish wasn't ready to serve so I drizzled some Marionberry around the duck. I started dinner last night with a slice of the fig bread I bought at the Farmer's market yesterday. I put some crumbled bleu cheese on a thick slice of the bread, then broiled it in a hot oven to melt the cheese. After the cheese was melted and the bread was toasted, I added some of the candied hazelnuts I made a few days ago. I served the bread with a salad of greens with olive oil and lemon juice.