David Ross

I'm not a big fan of soups, but made this yesterday and it's delicious. Especially as our snow season approaches. Kale and Sausage Soup with a bit of parmesan garnish.

I've posted this before over the years, but here it is again. A simple, easy salad to start with before the turkey. A mix of salad greens, toasted hazelnuts, sliced apple or pear, dried cranberries and bleu cheese. Then I dress it before serving with a basic mustard vinaigrette. I love it, but some in my family and group of friends think it's a bit too much. They happen to be the folks who prefer an ages-old Jell-O molded salad made with whipped cream, cranberries and walnuts then frozen.

I'm thinking of a roast goose for Christmas. My Father and I always wanted one, so one year Mother broke away from turkey and cooked a goose. Of course Father and I thought it was delicious, Mother and my Sister not so much. I have friends in the UK who always tempt me with their roast goose recipes.

In addition to the pumpkin pie with candied cranberries above, I worked on a pumpkin roll yesterday. It's the basic recipe you can get on the Libby's website for a pumpkin roll. I added pecans to the cake mix along with coconut and a tbsp. of Cointreau liquer. Only problem is I should have chopped the nuts finer because the bigger pieces of chopped pecans made it difficult to roll up the layer of cake. I served it with pumpkin ice cream from a local dairy that comes out ever holiday season and some of the nectarberry compote I made this summer when we did the Cane Berries of Summer Cook-Off. The nectarberries are both tangy and sweet with the closest comparison to a tangy blackberry. Worked really well with the richness of the pumpkin, cream cheese frosting and the ice cream. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/156839-eg-cook-off-78-the-cane-berries-of-summer/

Well I didn't get to making any fruitcake last year because I was recovering from a broken arm, (in 4 places). But I do have some vintage 2016 fruitcakes aging in cheesecloth soaked in brandy and some "light fruitcakes" in the pantry. But I'll get back to making some new dark fruitcakes this year. As my Great Aunt Bertie used to say, a "good" fruitcake is just coming of age at 5 years old and 10-year old cakes are even better.....

It's that time of year. What "quick breads" will you be making this Holiday Season?

My history in cooking contests is abysmal, but I end up coming out of them with great recipes that I've created. This was my entry in the "Eggland's Best" contest supposedly showing the versatility in using eggs. That's what I interpreted the contest to be. Anyway, this savory little "gougere" is something I plan on doing for the holidays. In this case they were filled with smoked salmon mouse, but any filling will do, sweet or savory. Ingredients- Gougeres (Pastry) ½ cup water 2 tbsp butter ½ tsp salt ½ cup flour 2 whole eggs ½ cup shredded Swiss cheese 1 whole egg beaten with 1 tsp. water ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese Smoked Salmon Mousse- 4oz. softened cream cheese 4oz. Nova lox-style smoked salmon 2 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp chopped fresh dill 1 tsp snipped fresh chives ¼ cup whipping cream Salt and pepper to taste Mayonnaise- 2 large eggs 1 tsp. salt 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice 1 tsp. Dijon mustard 1 ¼ cups olive oil Salt and pepper 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp snipped chives for garnish 1 tsp dill fronds for garnish Preparation- Gougere’s- Heat the oven to 425 . Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a saucepan bring the ½ cup water, butter, salt and cayenne to a boil. Pour in the flour and stir the dough very fast with a wooden spoon until the dough pulls away from the saucepan, about two minutes. Take the pan off the heat and add the eggs, one at a time, and beat the eggs into the dough with a wooden spoon until the eggs are fully incorporated. Stir in the Swiss cheese. Using two spoons, form small balls of the dough about 1” in diameter and spoon onto the baking sheet. (You can also add the dough to plastic bag fitted with a piping tube and pipe the dough in 1” circles). Brush the gougere’s with the egg wash and sprinkle some of the parmesan on top. Bake the gougere’s for 25 minutes until golden brown. Let the gougere’s cool before filling with the smoked salmon mousse. Smoked Salmon Mousse- Place the cream cheese, smoked salmon, lemon juice, dill and chives in a food processor and pulse until blended and smooth. Transfer to a bowl and season with salt and pepper and stir in the cayenne. In another bowl beat the whipping cream until stiff and then fold into the salmon mixture. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Mayonnaise- Place the eggs, salt, lemon juice and mustard in a blender. Pulse just a few seconds until the mixture is combined. With the blender at low speed, (place the top on but leave the hole open), slowly drizzle in the grapeseed oil. As the mayonnaise starts to thicken, increase the speed and continue to add more grapeseed oil until the mayonnaise is thick. Stir in black pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Cut each gougere in half and scoop out some of the inside dough. Spoon some of the smoked salmon mousse on the bottom layer and cover with the top layer. (You can also pipe the salmon mousse onto the bottom of the gougere using a plastic bag fitted with a pastry tube). Place the gougere’s on a serving platter. Spoon some of the mayonnaise around the platter. Garnish the plate with some snipped chives and dill fronds. ! Recipe Notes: The Gougeres are good on their own, but even better when stuffed. Any filling will work, herbed cream cheese, crab or deviled egg salad, once you have the pastry made the fillings are endless. I like to serve the Gougeres with sliced cucumbers and poached asparagus.

There are some very good crostini recipes in this discussion, which I think are perfect for a Holiday buffet table or just snacks or appetizers. Makes me think a Swedish style array of open-face sandwiches would be something different to introduce this year.

They all look delicious and I'm going to send the link from this discussion to our discussion of Holiday Cooking and Baking 2018 here. I think crostini would be something that would be great on a buffet or for pre-dinner snacks and such.

One thing I'm changing is the traditional pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. Over the years there was a feeling among some family and friends that store-bought pumpkin pies were "better." I never complained, but I never felt that way. I've been experimenting with making sugared cranberries the past month, mainly in a cookie recipe. But this week I tried using them as a garnish for a pumpkin pie. The photos don't do it justice. You get a tangy burst of cranberry juice with the sweetness from the sugar. And I think it cuts through some of the richness of the pumpkin pie. But a little slice goes a long way.

I'm getting an early start on planning my Holiday cooking and baking. (I know, I'm already getting some comments from family and friends that it's only late October and it's too early to talk about such things). I thought I'd start by showing my collection of November past issues of Bon Appetit that my parents collected over the years. I bring them out every season to go through the recipes that I've tagged with bits of paper and stickers. Some of the covers are tattered and torn, taped back on, and over the years I've cut out some of the recipes. While I've read these every year, some dating back to the 1970's, I always seem to find a new recipe to find. What are you planning to make for the Holidays this year? Are you introducing some new dishes, staying with the classics or updating them with some new tastes and textures?

Is that a fruit chutney above the rice in the photo? The plate of food looks delicious.

Last night I made a Thai-inspired sour yellow curry. I've had a recipe for "Southern Sour Curry with Koon" for some years now, so that was the basis for this dish. I've been thinking and planning for a couple of weeks now and found a few sauces at a local Asian grocer that I thought I'd add to the mix. I'm sure it isn't a traditional sour yellow curry but it turned out to be delicious. I scribbled notes down so it isn't in recipe form yet, but here are the ingredients: Yellow Sour Curry Paste- Panang Curry Paste- I was adding cod to the curry, so this can of minced prawns caught my eye at the store- Minced Prawns in Spices- The day before I was experimenting with curry and cauliflower to improve upon what I wrote about 18 years ago. I roasted a head of cauliflower tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with curry powder. The other vegetables I chose were probably unusual for a Thai curry-charred onion, carrot, turnip, zucchini and some basil. The recipe on the can calls for frying the sauce in sesame oil, then adding coconut milk and water. I added about 2tbsp. of the yellow sour curry paste, Panang curry paste and the minced prawns. Sauteed that then added in 2 cans of coconut milk and about 3/4 cup of water and a couple teaspoons of sugar. This is a hot curry, but didn't shock my tepid tastes for heat. In went the vegetables to cook for about 15 minutes, then some cod cut into chunks for another 8-10 minutes. I didn't need to stir in the tamarind paste I had, nor garnish the curry with a slice of fresh lime that I had on hand. I did forget the red chili threads I have, but that would only add to the presentation and not really add much taste. I'm far from vegetarian, but I'll gladly make this again without the cod or any other meat or seafood for that matter.

I think that looks quite delicious

You have to laugh at this line I wrote, "It can be used not only as a sauce, but added to mashed potatoes and baked as a casserole; it salves the appetites of vegetarians, or better yet, simply served as a warming cream soup." Prawns in Cauliflower Curry Sauce Serves 4 Although this recipe appears to have a large number of ingredients and seemingly endless number of preparation steps, it is worth it in terms of flavor and opportunity. This Cauliflower-Curry Sauce opens up a myriad of possibilities for other dishes. It can be used not only as a sauce, but added to mashed potatoes and baked as a casserole; it salves the appetites of vegetarians, or better yet, simply served as a warming cream soup. Once the garlic is roasted and the sauce prepared, the actual cooking of the prawns is a quick, hot wok stir-fry with the sauce added just before service. M Easy Roasted Garlic Cloves 5 cloves garlic, peeled Olive oil Salt and black pepper M Cauliflower Curry Sauce 1 medium size head of cauliflower ½ tsp. tumeric 2 tbsp. salt 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste) 1 small yellow onion, peeled and chopped ½ tsp. coriander 2 tbsp. butter 1 cup heavy cream 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 tbsp. curry powder 2 cups chicken stock 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. cardamom 1 tsp. black pepper ½ tsp. mace M 16 large raw prawns Salt and black pepper 2 tbsp. canola oil 1 tsp. sesame oil ½ cup chopped chives (substitute sliced green onions) Fresh lemon wedges for garnish M

My the things I keep finding as I dig through years of recipes, photos and writings. Some years back I did some food writing for a small site, TheMediadrome.com. I had met one of the producers on the set of MasterChefUSA on PBS and she was just starting up a site devoted to food, media, poetry, writing, all sorts of things related to the creative arts. So today I found that I wrote a piece titled, "Cauliflower and Curry: Opposites Attract." Well, I'll spare you the trauma of reading through even the opening paragraphs, but suffice it to say that in fact, today I would never write that cauliflower and curry are "opposites." No, cauliflower is used in many curry dishes and I think the texture and flavor of cauliflower lends itself quite well to a spicy, rich curry stew. But I will give you a laugh for the day with the two recipes I wrote for the piece. These are the ingredients, we'll leave off the preparation details. I've learned a lot since 2001..... Curried Cauliflower and Rice Salad Serves 6-8 1 ½ cups steamed Jasmine Rice 1/3 cup diced celery 2 tbsp. olive oil 1/3 cup peeled and diced carrot 1 medium size head of cauliflower, cut into small florets 1/3 cup diced red onion 1 tbsp. curry powder ½ cup thinly sliced green onions ½ cup water 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint ½ cup salted cashews ½ cup yogurt (substitute sour cream) 1 medium size mango, peeled and diced Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 1/3 cup frozen peas, thawed M

I've never tried making them, so thanks for the tip.

Well, I guess it was only a matter of time, given it's Fall and Food Network etal., is always looking to take a classic dish and push it into the mass media market. And I'm sure there will be plenty of people who will take them up on trying this method for combining the 'haselbeck' potato technique with a 'schnitzel.' I won't be one of them as I prefer the schnitzels we've done here in our Cook-Off. The photo isn't very appetizing and the coating looks a bit dark, as in overcooked, and it certainly doesn't look light and crisp as I prefer in a schnitzel..... https://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/packages/fall-entertaining-guide/fall-recipes-for-entertaining-?nl=ROTD_101618_rotdimage&bid=14740509&c32=ccf52de7275ff2ce5a975dca3dc615da5d2f1714&ssid=&sni_by=1957&sni_gn=#item-8

Well look what I found this weekend. As the Holiday season approaches every year I go through my collection November and December issues of old food and cooking magazines. In the past couple of years I've scattered them in different bins with the decorations. But I decided it was time to go through them, search them and pair them with their cousins. The collection is mainly old issues of Bon Appetit and Gourmet. So I found this October 1978 issue of Bon Appetit, and what did I find? A feature story on curry--"Start the Season with a Glittering Curry Party." It's really interesting and an insight into how passionate home cooks were making curries back some 40 years ago. I have to admit I was surprised at the depth of knowledge and detail in this piece. These are just a sampling of the pages that cover the curry topic.

Well, I tried this recipe yesterday and it failed miserably. In the video she says that "curry powder is the 'secret' ingredient." So I started with the recipe from marinating the chicken to the batter, including curry powder. I thought I'd then taste the fried chicken before tossing it in the Korean sauce mixture. The chicken wasn't very good for my tastes. The curry powder barely came through and almost tasted bitter, possibly fighting against the garlic, ginger and Korean wine in the marinade. So I stopped there and didn't even toss the fried chicken in the sauce. Crunchy? Yes. Good flavor? Not really. On its own this is a fair Korean fried chicken recipe, but I've got other recipes that are far better. I guess in the end my experiment and test didn't live up to a good dish. I'll keep my Korean Fried Chicken more true and not add curry. But it's not the fault of the curry powder yet a mismatch of ingredients and flavors. It wasn't worthy of a photo.....

Yesterday I had a craving for Korean fried chicken. I've got a growing list of recipes and I'm always tinkering with the coating, batter if I use it, the seasonings, how the chicken is cut and the sauce. Then later I was looking at YouTube and came across this video/recipe. It's sort of campy and kitschy, but actually looks really good and she shows clips of a restaurant that specializes in Korean fried chicken. But what really caught me a bit off guard was that she puts some curry powder in the flour mixture that coats the chicken pieces. I'm going to try it in the next few days, but what are your thoughts? Is it typical for curry powder to be added to the flour mix for Korean fried chicken? Is curry powder used throughout Korea? http://seonkyounglongest.com/korean-fried-chicken/

It looks like a fairly good recipe for folks who don't want to take the time and effort to craft a curry, toast the spices, and all the steps to make a really authentic dish. But I'll have to reserve judgement until I try it myself. I guess in the end if the Instant Pot encourages more home cooks to venture beyond the basic recipes, I'm all for that.

It's now my mission to go through many years of dishes at eGullet and unwrap some surprises, (dishes I forgot long ago). While this is probably not any type of traditional curry you might find in a cookbook, it's a Thai-style green curry I did for our Squid, Calamari and Octopus cook-off back in 2013. Another sort of fusion, hybrid, out of my cupboard type of dish but as I remember, very tasty.

Been searching through many years of eGullet posts to see what I've done with curry and found this recipe for a rhubarb chutney. It's funny because I put a note in the recipe for "curry powder optional." I think that now the recipe should not make the curry powder optional because it makes this a better chutney. Sort of an American dish using curry powder as an accent but delicious at any rate. Served with pork chop, asparagus and hash browns.

Looks wonderful and thank you for the photos of your process.