David Ross

Asparagus season is well underway here in Eastern Washington and it's been a very good crop so far. The price at our local markets is $1.79 a pound. Granted I live in Spokane and our asparagus is harvested just a couple hours drive away in the Pasco-Walla Walla area. With that, it reminded me of our asparagus cook-off. I'll be sharing a few of my newer dishes, but in the meantime, anyone been cooking with this years asparagus?

One of my favorite quick pickles that I make any time of year, Pickled Red Onions. I was thinking about this recipe the other day when I was looking through some of my recipes. Easy to make and they are great as a garnish for Mexican dishes, salads and sometimes I'll put them on top of scrambled eggs. Ingredients- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced 2 cups water 1 cup apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp. salt 1 tbsp. granulated sugar Instructions- Cut the ends off the onion. Use a mandoline style vegetable slicer to slice the onion into thin rings. We set the slicer to cut thin onion rings no more than 1/8" thick. Cut the slices of onion in half. In a saucepan, add the water, apple cider vinegar, salt and sugar and bring to boil. Take the saucepan off the heat and add the sliced red onion. Let the brine and onions cool to room temperature, then place in a container, cover and refrigerate overnight to pickle. The onions will turn a bright pink during pickling.

Last week a friend told me to try this technique to create a starter using up any potatoes on hand that are starting to soften and are past their age for serving. I think she just pulled the recipe from somewhere, but two of us tried it at home and it was an utter failure. A sticky, gooey, slimy mess that obviously couldn't be used to bake anything. The basics are you peel and cut the potatoes then boil them in water. Spoon some of the potato water into a glass jar, add flour and sugar, and stir. Cover the jar with a cloth or paper napkin and secure with a rubber band. Leave at room temperature. I'm sure we got the recipe quantities wrong, but anyone here have experience with this type of potato starter?

Since 2012 we've been going back to this Cook-Off for tips and ideas on curing, brining, smoking and salting fish. Now seems to be a very good time to delve back into this creative topic and see what we come up with.

This is my recipe for Cream of Asparagus. It's not a silky, thinner cream soup but thick like a chowder. After I make it the first serving is always as a soup, but it's also good tossed in pasta, a warm dip for bread, and drizzled over omelet's. Ingredients- 1 lb. fresh asparagus 1/2 cup chicken stock 3/4 cup cream 1 tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice dash cayenne pepper salt and pepper to taste blanched asparagus tips and sliced asparagus for garnish Instructions- Heat 4 cups salted water to a boil in a heavy stockpot. Cut the white stalk ends off the end of the asparagus. Add the asparagus and cook until just tender, about 3 minutes. Remove the asparagus and drain. Reserve some of the asparagus tips and slice some asparagus to garnish the soup. Cut the asparagus spears into 1" pieces and place in a blender. Add the chicken stock and start the blender on low speed. Add the half and half and continue to blend, then add the tarragon and lemon juice. Continue to puree the asparagus soup, adding more half and half to your desired consistency. Season the soup with cayenne pepper and salt and pepper. Just before serving heat the cream of asparagus in a saucepan over medium heat. Ladle the cream of asparagus into bowls and garnish with asparagus tips and sliced asparagus.

We are in the opening days of the annual Spring asparagus harvest here in Washington State and two of the first dishes I always do are asparagus soups. We are lucky to get it within a day of harvest when it's at its best, and the stalks are what I call "medium" in size. The larger the stalk, the less tender it seems to be. This is an easy recipe for Miso Soup with Asparagus and Tofu. I make my own dashi stock from scratch, but you can also use instant dashi powder reconstituted in hot water. Once the stock is made, you simply cook the asparagus quickly in the stock and add a block of tofu to the bowl. Ingredients- 6 cups dashi stock (see our link for recipe) 5 tbsp. red miso 1 tsp. light soy sauce 8 oz. firm tofu, cut in 1"x2" chunks 12 spears fresh asparagus, trimmed Instructions- Cut the woody white ends off the asparagus and discard. Cut the tips of the asparagus and reserve. Using a vegetable peeler, trim the stalks of asparagus and cut into 1" pieces. Pour the dashi into a stockpot over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat Stir in the red miso and soy sauce. The miso will melt into the dashi in about 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the trimmed asparagus stalks to the miso soup and cook until the asparagus is tender, another 3 minutes. Stir the miso soup and then ladle into serving bowls. Add one of the chunks of tofu to the center of the bowl. Place 2-3 of the asparagus spears on top of the tofu and serve the soup hot.

One of my favorite cook-off's we've done at eGullet, and one that's appropriate to bring back today. I know in our local markets most cuts of beef are scarce, including most steaks and ground beef. The ground beef I've seen is either expensive ground Wagyu, or ground beef I normally don't buy that comes in those big tubes. But there is plenty of chuck and round roasts, which I use for making a beef filling for enchiladas. I think it is great stress relief these days to put together all the parts of an enchilada meal and learn along the way. I'll start putting together my list today for the next shopping trip.

One thing I've never understood about Eastern, Washington is that we have never had good local markets selling very fresh seafood. We no longer have a local seafood shop and what we have is in the grocery stores. There is one Mom and Pop seafood market left in Northern, Idaho about 30 miles from Spokane. I always have thought this is odd given the fact we're just an hour flight from Seattle and flights from Anchorage arrive the same day. So we have to really choose the right grocery store and hope it is fresh. Buying online is a good option. Vital Choice is based in Bellingham, WA, which sits near the Canadian border north of Seattle. https://www.vitalchoice.com/ they don't have a large selection but it's all fresh. I saw on their website this morning that they are experiencing delays due to heavy volume. It's of course expensive since you pay a lot in shipping for seafood, but worth it for the freshness and quality. Another one I've looked at but never shopped is Fulton FIsh Market in New York. https://fultonfishmarket.com/

The carrot cake was a disaster. The cake and the pans, not the taste of the cake. I wasn't paying attention and didn't prepare the pans like I normally do, which is the old-fashioned method of buttering the pan then dusting with flour. I used a spray oil, but not the cake release spray I used to use. Darn thing is now in shards like it dropped on the flour and kapow! But my idea is to make a sort of carrot cake and vanilla ice cream something.

I'm going to make a carrot cake from a very old recipe. The recipe doesn't include raisins, but I always add them. Well wouldn't you know, there's been a run on raisins! The only raisins I found early this morning were huge bags that would be an army for a month. Then I started to thinking, what could I substitute? I've got some chopped dates leftover from the Christmas pudding. Then an idea struck, why not use some of the leftover mincemeat from the holidays. It's got raisins and some other tasty fruits, so I think some mincemeat into the carrot cake it will go.

I found a rack of lamb that I'll prepare. We don't see much lamb where I live and it's always incredibly expensive, but I love to have it at Easter to signal in a new season of spring cooking. By the way, this is one of my Easter salads/vegetables I'll be making. I've posted it in the dinner thread before, but I'll add it here. It's a simple dish of steamed green beans topped with deviled egg salad. It's good with some crumbled bacon over the top or some fried onions. I don't have the carton of fried onions, so I'll make some just for garnishing the salad. For a special dish I'll make homemade mayonnaise. Sometimes I use Greek olive oil, but it can be a little strong and bitter so I usually try to use grapeseed oil for the mayonnaise. Green Bean Deviled Egg Salad- For the Homemade Mayonnaise- 2 large eggs 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice 2 tsp. Dijon mustard 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. black pepper 1-1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil For the Green Bean Salad- 1 1/2 lbs. fresh green beans, (substitute frozen petite green beans) 1 cup fresh mayonnaise 2 chilled, hard-boiled eggs, diced 1/4 cup diced red onion 2 tbsp. chopped capers 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1/2 tsp. celery seeds 1 tbsp. chopped fresh dill salt and pepper to taste fresh dill for garnish Make the homemade mayonnaise- Place the eggs, lemon juice, mustard, in a blender. Process just until ingredients are combined, about 20 seconds. With blender running at low speed, slowly drizzle in the olive oil in a slow steady stream. Continue to add enough oil until the mayonnaise thickens. This will take about 3-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate the mayonnaise at least one hour before using to allow it to cool and the oil to set Make the Deviled Egg Salad- Bring a saucepot of water to a simmer. Sprinkle in some Fruit Fresh and add the green beans. and cook just for 2-3 minutes until tender but still crisp. Place the beans in a bowl of ice water to cool. Drain the beans and pat dry. You can make the beans ahead of time, just place in a covered container and chill in the fridge. In a separate bowl, add the mayonnaise, hard-boiled eggs, red onions, capers, mustard, apple cider vinegar, celery seed and dill. Stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Place some of the green beans on a serving plate then top with some of the deviled egg salad and garnish with fresh dill.

Today I'm making a vegetarian Thai red curry. So far I'm going to include carrot, potato, mushrooms, and turnip. Vegetables I already have on hand and I found I had both yellow and Thai red curry pastes. Curry seems to be a very good dish, with lots of possibilities, to make right now.

Today is both a sad, yet a glorious day. Sad because it was 6 years ago that we lost Steven. Yet glorious because we can celebrate eGullet and the legacy that he left us. I remember the Heartland Gathering in Cleveland and being with Steven and his family. And the time we met in Las Vegas with our friend the food writer John Curtas. Steven was in town to accept an award for his book Asian Dining Rules. He was kind, passionate about the work he was doing, and loved his wife and young son very much. I miss him terribly, but I'm so proud to have known him, dined with him, and know that he would be very proud of eGullet today. This is a photo with Steven on a trip to Las Vegas. I'm on the left, then Las Vegas Food Writer John Curtas, Chef Saipin Chutima of Lotus of Siam, and Steven. This is the trip I mention above when he was in town to receive an award. It was a grand time and we ate far too much, yet this memory will never leave me. This is Steven's trip report- https://forums.egullet.org/topic/120999-fear-and-lotus-in-las-vegas-asian-dining/

Brilliant and delicious! When I make this recipe I use extra bechamel and the filling in dishes like scrambled eggs or just tossed in spaghetti. That looks so darn delicious I wish I had a bowl for breakfast.

Thanks! Hope it is delicious, er, I know it will be.

I think you just maybe don't brine it quite as long or braise it quite as long since we used skinned goose breasts. But sliced really think it was never tough.

@ShelbyThis is a recipe I used to use to corn Canada geese. When I was working, one of my employees was an avid hunter. He brought me big goose breasts, and I'd corn them and then a few weeks later make sandwiches and feed the morning crew corned beef ala goose Reuben's!

This is the Reuben Sandwich made with the corned beef I posted earlier. This batch used a tri-tip. As good as ever. Next few weeks I'll move toward pastrami. For my Reuben I make thousand island dressing, use sauerkraut but no cheese. For the Russian Dressing-makes 1 1/2 cups 3/4 cup mayonnaise 1/3 cup chile sauce substitute cocktail sauce 2 tbsp. sour cream 1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley 1/4 cup mined onion 1 tbsp. dill pickle relish 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice 2 tsp. horseradish 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

This is my recipe for an Asian-style BBQ Sauce. I use it for ribs, but it works on just about anything. Grilled salmon, wings, thighs and a stir-fry sauce. The plan was to roast a whole chicken and glaze it with this sauce, but I haven't found a whole chicken in the markets around my area in two weeks. But I'm using the next best thing-game hens. Seems like people always forget the game hens. I'll roast them, then glaze, hit it with high heat for a bit, then out of the oven and glaze again. Sticky Asian BBQ Sauce- 3/4 cup hoisin sauce 1/2 cup ketchup 4 tbsp. soy sauce 1/2 cup Chinese rice wine or sherry 4 tbsp. brown sugar 2 tbsp. hot Chinese chili sauce or Sambal Oelek chili paste 8 cloves garlic, minced 2 tbsp. minced ginger Combine the hoisin sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, Chinese rice wine, brown sugar, chili sauce, garlic and ginger in a saucepan over medium-high heat and stir to combine. When the sauce begins to boil, turn off the heat. Brush over ribs, chicken or seafood while cooking. Serve extra sauce warm on the side.

I'd say so too! Like how the price of one cantalope at Wamart today in my area is $3.79. I won't have a cabbage and cantalope dinner. You Prime Rib sounds delicious and I think a Holiday style dinner is just the ticket right now.

This is an easy recipe for lasagne using ingredients from the supermarket. Perfect for making with the family and it feeds many. Now I do make a homemade lasagne based on a 1966 recipe from Italy, but that takes time and many more steps. For now, I think this will suit just fine. Ingredients- 1 lb. lean ground beef chuck 1 tbsp. olive oil 2 tsp. dried basil 2 tsp. dried oregano 1/2 tsp. dried chile flakes 1 tsp. garlic powder Salt and pepper 12 oz. chopped frozen spinach 1 28oz. jar fire-roasted tomato and garlic pasta sauce 1 25oz. package frozen beef or sausage ravioli 1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese Instructions- Heat the oven to 400. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, then the ground beef. Cook the meat until it's done, then drain off the fat and juices. Season the beef with the basil, oregano, chile flakes, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Place the spinach in a colander and run water over it to thaw. Use your hands to squeeze out as much water from the spinach as you can. In a deep rectangular baking pan, spoon a layer of pasta sauce over the bottom. then add a single layer of the ravioli. It takes about 8-9 ravioli to make a layer in a 3 quart baking pan. Add a layer of the ground beef. Add some of the chopped spinach. Add spoonfuls of the cottage cheese. Add a layer of the mozzarella. Repeat the layers-pasta sauce, ravioli, ground beef, spinach, cottage cheese and a final layer of mozzarella. Cover the baking pan with foil and bake the lasagne for 40-45 minutes. Remove the foil, turn the oven to broil, and broil the top of the lasagne until the cheese is bubbling hot. Bring the lasagne out of the oven and let it sit for 8-10 minutes before cutting into squares. Turn up the broiler the last few minutes of baking time in the oven to get the cheese bubbling and some bits of crispy char.

I started buying eye of round about two years ago for roast beef sandwiches. I use the really high oven heat method. Put it in, turn off the oven and then let it cook. I usually take it out when it registers rare. It make really delicious roast beef sandwiches.

Thanks for the tips. A local butcher who has been making corned beef for over 50 years does it with eye of round. I think these cuts work ust as good as brisket. Because of the brisket bbq craze in recent years the cost per lb. has really gone up. I care more about flavor and tenderness than cost of the meat. I'll do my pastrami in the next few weeks. I actually prefer it over corned beef.

While I was late to get my corned beef done by St. Patrick's Day, I realized that really doesn't make a difference. I should be making corned beef any time of year. I'll be making Rueben Sandwiches and Corned Beef Hash with Poached Egg. One note: The only brisket I could find was in the full brisket size which is a lot more than I wanted to wrangle with. I took a chance and used a tri-tip. It had a good layer of top fat so I figured it would work, but I was nervous. It turned out just as delicious as the corned beef I made in this thread some years back. Ingredients- For the brine- 1 6-8 lb. beef brisket substitute a smaller tri-tip roast 6 cups water 2 12oz. bottles of artisanal ale avoid dark beers like Guinness 1 1/4 cups Kosher salt 1 cup dark brown sugar 1 tbsp. Insta-Cure Pink Salt buy a sodium nitrate pink salt 1/4 cup mixed pickling spices 3 dried red chiles 3 bay leaves 1 tbsp. black peppercorns 1 tbsp. crushed juniper berries For the braising liquid- The brined and cured corned beef 2 12 oz. bottles of artisanal ale avoid dark beers like Guinness 1 tbsp. black peppercorns 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped 4 cloves garlic, crushed water Instructions- Brining and Corning the Beef- Pour the water and ale in a large, deep container. Add the Kosher salt, brown sugar, pink salt, pickling spices, dried chiles, bay leaves, black peppercorns and juniper berries. Stir to combine all the brine ingredients. Place the beef in the brine and cover. Place the beef in the fridge and let it cure for 10 days, turning it over every couple of days. Braising the Corned Beef- Heat the oven to 300. Remove the corned beef from the brine, and discard the brine. In a heavy Dutch oven, pour in the ale, peppercorns, onion, carrot and garlic. Put the corned beef in the pot and add enough cold water to come up about 4" of liquid and 1" from the top of the beef. Cover the Dutch oven and slowly braise in the oven, about 4 hours. Gently remove the corned beef from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a carving board for 15 minutes. Cut the corned beef across the grain and serve.

This is an easy, quick and inexpensive side dish with turnips. The simple dressing has fresh ginger, but sometimes I will julienne thin strips of pickled ginger. I've been making more and more simple Asian-style side dishes in recent years and encouraging friends and family to do the same. Most of the ingredients are in the supermarket and these dishes are both flavorful and healthy. The Thai Bird Chile is hot, and I prefer the pickled flavor to fresh chiles but any chile will do. Turnip and Arugula Salad with Pickled Thai Bird Chiles- Ingredients- 2 small turnips, peeled 2 cups fresh arugula leaves 1 tbsp. sesame oil 1 tbsp. rice vinegar 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger 1/4 tsp. each, black and white sesame seeds 1/4 tsp. diced pickled Thai bird chiles Instructions- Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Peel the turnips and cut into half. Then slice the turnips into thick slices. Drop the turnip slices into the boiling water and cook for only 1 minute to soften the turnips. Drain and rinse the turnips under cold water. In a small bowl, add the sesame oil, rice vinegar, ginger, and whisk to combine. Add the arugula and sliced turnips and toss to coat with the dressing. Place some of the salad on serving plates and garnish with the white and black sesame seeds and the pickled Thai bird chiles.