David Ross

I have fried it but it was years ago. Did it in a tempura batter.

This is another dish I found in my asparagus files that I did a few years back. And I'll do a new variation of it in the coming days for our cook-off. It shows how well asparagus pairs in a salad. I had cured some wild spring salmon gravlax style, then paired it with some dark dye croutons, shaved asparagus and tips, some chive blossoms from my garden, lemon zest and olive oil. It's a nice lunch or starter for a bigger dinner. Lox is good on its own, but the asparagus brings in that woodsy, herbal flavor. Delicious. I love a good omelet stuffed with asparagus and I'll be making a dish with asparagus, prosciutto and honeydew.

I've found some good asparagus from Mexico in the supermarkets this spring, but nothing beats our local asparagus when it comes into season, yet it's just not the same as our local asparagus. Right now we're at the $1.79 per pound mark and it may go a little lower depending how the season shapes up. We're also blessed with wild morel mushrooms this time of year. Last spring I found some for $7.99 a pound, foraged wild and sold at both a grocery store and the local farmers market. Both an incredible buy for asparagus and wild mushrooms that have a short growing season in these parts.

Sounds delicious!

I've been going through my recipes in preparation for our celebration of all things asparagus. I thought I'd start with a Chinese-style asparagus dish. I think the first time I made it I probably surprised a few folks who typically only make steamed asparagus. They'd never imagine asparagus paired with Asian flavors. Sometimes I trim the stalks using a vegetable peeler, which makes the asparagus more tender to the bite. In this case I cut the asparagus stalks in half, giving a mix of the crunchy stalk with the inner, softer core. A quick blanch in boiling water. I usually add a few dashes of "Fruit Fresh" (basically ascorbic acid), which keeps the asparagus bright green. I don't need to pull it from the hot water and then plunge it into an ice bath to get the same effect. Then into a hot wok with some sesame oil, a spoon or two of chili, garlic, black bean sauce I buy at the Asian market, a sprinkle of sesame seeds and there we are.

We were driving through Southeast Washington when suddenly Marnie shouted, "look, there it is, stop the car!" Needless to say, we were all a bit stunned and thought there must have been some critter scooting across the highway. And then I saw it for the first time: asparagus. It was decades ago, but every spring I relive the memory of seeing asparagus growing for the first time. Our family had been at a horse show in Pasco, a town in the Columbia River basin in South-Central Washington. We decided to drive over to Walla Walla, the heart of Washington's asparagus fields, to visit Whitman College. Mother had graduated Whitman in 1946, and we were taking our family friend Marnie to visit campus where she would start her freshman year in the full. It was then that I fully understood why asparagus--seasonal, local asparagus--is a prized delicacy of spring. I had the idea it grew on a bush. Or maybe it grew in some sort of cluster, cloaked within a heavy blanket of outer leaves like cabbage or cauliflower. Yet there it was, one stalk at a time, bursting up through the rich soil fed by the Columbia River. Rows and rows of single stalks of asparagus standing in a perfect line. Given Mother's ties to Whitman College and Walla Walla, the role that asparagus would play in shaping our family's tastes for this special vegetable should have been easy to predict. (As an aside, Walla Walla is also the home of the "Walla Walla Sweet" onion. Mother used to tell us she loved a raw Walla Walla sweet sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise). Now I'm sure you've got your own culinary memories and favorite asparagus dishes to tempt us. So today we'll begin eG Cook-Off #77: Asparagus, the Spear of Spring. (See the complete eG Cook-Off Index here.)

I was just talking to one of my former employees and her kids, age 3, 5 and 9 all love rhubarb which is wonderful.

Been making pretzel rolls for about 6 months and I'm getting fairly good at it. Now these taste delicious, but they got a bit out of hand in terms of size. I was planning on making them for hamburger buns, but I got them too big. And then when I dipped them in the hot water/baking soda mix, they grew. Then they grew again during baking. Too big for my burger tastes, but I'm quite sure they'll be good with butter or mustard. Or just the way they are.

Part of my annual rhubarb celebration. This time, what I call a "Rhubarb Pot Pie." Poached rhubarb with a bit of flour, butter, sugar and tiny dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. Then into individual crocks and topped with puff pastry. Forgot the egg wash this time and did melted butter on the top, so it isn't as golden as I'd like, but it didn't affect the wonderful rhubarb flavor. I grew up in Oregon in the Williamette Valley and we always celebrated the rhubarb season. It fell out of favor a bit over the years, but I think, and hope, it's being rediscovered by cooks and bakers.

And after I took the pictures I realized I forgot to add the crispy fried onions--which made the dish even better!

I recently finished a clean-up of my recipe files and came across some dishes that I had forgotten about. Like these little "Gougeres." It's just a basic choux pastry dough with the addition of cheese, in this case Swiss cheese. Then I filled them with a blend of cream cheese, whipped cream and Nova lox style salmon. And while we are on the cusp of fresh Washington asparagus season, it's not arrived in the markets yet so this was very delicious asparagus from Mexico. And when I want to do it up right, I always make homemade mayonnaise. Pretty delicious for a buffet or brunch.

It's one of my favorites, as are two other shows you can catch on YouTube that are produced by the BBC, MasterChef the Professionals and MasterChef UK.

Look what I found in downtown Spokane today!

In addition to the pineapple on top, I put pineapple in the middle of the dough and brushed it with butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg then rolled up like we'd do with cinnamon rolls.

One of the best meals I ever had down there was a dim sum lunch at Ping Pang Pong in the Gold Coast Hotel, not known as a bastion for great dining. John Curtas was with us, along with our dear friend Steven Shaw who was a founder of eGullet and left us far too soon. Steven was in town to accept an award from a society for his Asian Dining Rules book. That restaurant has only gotten better in recent years and folks line up every morning waiting for dim sum to begin.

I've been wondering what folks thought of Momofuku. 2017 wasn't kind to me with a knee replacement followed by a broken arm 5 months later, so travel "wasn't in the cards" so to speak. But I typically make 3-4 trips a year for eating and dining, (no gambling or shows), just pure indulgence. I try to categorize my choices, so for example my favorites in the fine dining, ridiculously expensive French category are L'Atelier by Joel Robuchon at the MGM, LeCirque with the generous manage Ivo Angelov at the Bellagio and Guy Savoy at Caesar's. I've met Guy Savoy a number of times when he's been at the restaurant and he's charming and gracious. Not at all pretentious. I avoid Twist by Pierre Gagnaire. I met him once and he's also an affable fellow, but the General Manager and hostess when I was there were awful. Gave me a signed copy of the Twist book, saying it was "complimentary", then put a charge of $75 bucks on the bill. Anyway I love seeing photos and reviews from the great restaurants in Las Vegas.

John is one of my best friends. We met over 15 years ago, being introduced by another great friend, the noted food writer Alan Richman. I was going to a lot of food events in Las Vegas at the time, including the first years of Vegas Uncork'd sponsored by Bon Appetit. What great memories of many great meals, all at the time that the first "celebrity" chefs were coming to town and there was a big return of very fine dining.

Oh my oh my! I'll be on that later today and thanks for the hydration ratio. I admit I had no clue about that but this thread has sure helped. And I'd much rather make that type of sumptuous bread at home than traipse over to the market and spend $5 bucks for it. And it wouldn't be that fresh.

I've been making my recipe for caramel sticky buns for years. But why I never thought of using the pineapple upside down trick I don't know. Now I do know................

Thanks for the information. And I'll start delving into the hydration issue.

The recipe calls for 3 cups of all-purpose flour and they say you don't need bread flour. But on other recipes I see where they call for high-gluten flour, suggesting Bob's Red Mill brand. The interior of my bread is a bit too dense I think and while it has some "holes" I'd like it to be more similar to a very good artisanal bread with the larger "holes." Any help out there?

I've been on a bread making craze for a few months now. But I have to admit, I'm a cheat, a novice and no where near all of your expertise level of making bread. A cheat I suppose because I started by using the artisan bread no knead bake in a dutch oven derivation. But I have made modifications along the way. Yet I'm still searching for the proper "inner bread hole" mystery. In any case, fresh out of the oven this afternoon....

Oh that's fantastic and Yes, I too still make the recipe. Which I might add came from my cherished Time-Life foods of the world series, this being from "The Foods of Italy." Although in the book they of course didn't use wonton wrappers.

How delicious. I'd love the recipe. I've been craving that type of noodle dish. My own attempts haven't been too good because I think I'm not using the right noodles.

I must have about 12 different recipes for Asian-style fried chicken, my Korean recipes are my favorites. But I'm always tinkering with different fry mixes and last night did a blend of cornstarch and Wondra flour. I actually liked the delicate crust. It was crispy, yet not has hard I would say had I used regular flour. It was the same sort of texture you would get using rice flour. I'm not a big fan of sweet dipping sauces, but this blend of orange juice, soy, ginger and sweet chili paste was pretty good. All in all a good dinner dish.