David Ross

Oh what I would give for a Mutton Satay!

One of my favorites I'll be making this week is Satay with Red Curry Dipping Sauce. I love hot dogs and hamburgers on the backyard grill, and not a brisket cook, and I like seafood grilled, but I also tire of the same dishes all summer long. People love Satay and love putting their own skewers together. I do pork, beef and chicken and serve it with the sauce and a quick cucumber pickle with Thai bird chiles, rice vinegar, sugar, salt and cilantro.

Yes I forgot about that big container of fried shallots I have. The prices are almost too low. Another one of my favorites are the pickled green peppercorns. Perfect for a Steak au Poivre with Green Peppercorn Sauce. A tiny jar of those in a grocery store is big bucks.

And topped with my favorite form of garlic, Vietnamese Fried Garlic from the Asian store

My current favorite pasta, bucatini, this time with mushrooms, spinach and lots of asiago cheese.

From my family cookbook collection, the Sunset Kitchen Cabinet Recipe Books. These are small bound books that are full of recipes of the times, 1944, and wonderful illustrations. My guess is that they were available for purchase by subscribers to the magazine. Each book is about 50 pages or so.

Those are my favorite. I also like Yaquina Bay oysters that come from the Oregon Coast, and Kushi oysters from British Columbia.

Changed my fried oyster recipe just a bit. I soak them in evaporated milk first, a trick they used to use at Howard Johnson's for the fried clams. Then I changed the dry flour mix. Still use a 1/3 flour to 2/3 corn flour ratio, but instead of all-purpose I tried pastry flour. I read somewhere the pastry flour with a finer mill but good protein helps the oysters get crispy during frying. Always delicious. I choose extra small oysters from the Washington coast. This time served with a remoulade sauce.

Yes. I just thawed a bag of Bing cherries I kept from last season. The texture of the cherries will be softer, but for the recipes it doesn't make much difference when you taste it.

Tommorrow I'll make another one of my favorites with cherries, the crostatta. I love these easy pastries that don't take a lot of work. The crostatta is basically just cherries on a circle of pie crust that you fold up the edges and the center is open. Delicious.

I know it's delicious. I've got a bottle of Luxardo maraschino liqueur I might try mascerating some cherries, but it could be too sweet.

Shortbread Crust- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup powdered sugar 12 tbsp. butter, melted Cherry Clafouti Batter- 1 ½ lbs. pitted Bing cherries ⅓ cup Amaretto, (Italian almond liqueur) substitute German Kirsch or cherry brandy 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour ½ tsp. salt ¼ cup granulated sugar 4 large eggs 2 egg yolks 1 cup whole milk 1 cup heavy cream ¼ vanilla bean substitute ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract ½ cup sliced almonds ¼ cup powdered sugar for dusting For Shortbread Crust- -Heat the oven to 350. In a bowl, combine the flour, powdered sugar and melted butter and stir to combine and make a dough. -Using your fingers pat the dough into the bottom of a 9" round non-stick tart pan with removable bottom. Use a paring knife to trim the excess pastry from the edge of the tart pan. Save the pastry crumbs. Prick the crust all over with a fork to help keep the crust from rising while baking. Another great technique is to put a sheet of parchment on the dough and add some pie weights. -Par-bake the crust just until it is set and just starts to brown, about 10 minutes. Cherry Clafouti Batter and Baking- -Place the cherries in a glass bowl or plastic container. Don't use a metal bowl as it will react with the liqueur. Pour in the Amaretto liqueur and toss the cherries. Let the cherries steep in the liqueur for at least one hour at room temperature or covered in the fridge overnight. -Heat the oven to 375. -Add the flour, salt and sugar to a mixing bowl. With the mixer running, add the whole eggs, egg yolks milk and cream and blend on low speed. Cut the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the batter, or pour in the vanilla extract. Mix the batter again to incorporate the vanilla. -Drain the cherries from the liqueur, Reserve the liqueur for making cocktails and sauces. Arrange the cherries in a single layer in the shortbread crust. -Pour the batter over the cherries up to about ¼" from the rim of the tart pan. Using the trimmed pastry crust, and sprinkle the bits over the cherries and batter. The pastry crumbs help thicken the batter during baking and add texture to the top of the clafouti. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on top or the cherries. -Bake the clafouti in the oven until the top is browned and the custard is set, about 40 minutes. Remove the clafouti from the oven and place on a cookie rack. Let the clafouti cool 10 minutes, then unmold from the outer tart shell ring. Cool before serving. -When the clafouti is cooled to room temperature, dust with powdered sugar and cut into slices. Serve the clafouti with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. (like the clafouti for breakfast)

It is delicious. Sometimes I soak the cherries in Kirsch or a local cherry brandy. Amaretto is probably my favorite for the cherries.

Very easy and I've made it for years. Thanks for asking: Shortbread Crust- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour ⅔ cup powdered sugar 12 tbsp. melted butter In a bowl combine the flour, powdered sugar and melted butter and stir to combine until the mixture forms a soft dough ball. Press the dough into a tart pan with your fingers, pressing out to the edges. Trim off any dough with a paring knife. If I'm making a tart with fruit with a lot of liquid, scatter some of those trimmed dough pieces over the fruit. It soaks up the juice and makes a sort of crumb topping. This is a technique Robuchon used in his cherry clafoutis recipe.

I started making clafoutis about 10 years ago and every spring try to make a new version of the clafouit. Cherry is where I begin just as the cherries in the central area of Washington come into season. The biggest orchards are in Wenatchee, WA. This recipe starts with my basic shortbread dough. I like the butter flavor and firm texture and it's so easy to make. This season I used my standard recipe, but instead of Kirsch, I soaked the cherries overnight in Amaretto. Then added sliced almonds on top to get toasted during the baking. So easy to make and so delicious each year.

Here in the Northwest it grows and grows and likes a lot of rain. It comes back every year after a good cold, snowy winter.

I love rhubarb crisp and it's earlier in this discussion. I loved it from when I was a kid. Father grew it in the backyard and Mother made the best pie. We always just had rhubarb pie, no strawberries in this pie. We saved the strawberries for shortcake. Now I use rhubarb in savory dishes. A lot of younger people turn their nose at rhubarb, but I don't think they've ever had it.

Since we launched this Rhubarb Cook-Off some seven years ago, I'm sure we've all added new rhubarb dishes. And seeing this is rhubarb season where I live, I thought I'd add to the cook-off with this Rhubarb Pot Pie I crafted last season. Incredibly easy to make. 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed 1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water 1 tbsp. demera sugar or icing sugar 6 cups chopped fresh rhubarb 1 cup granulated sugar ½ tsp. cinnamon ¼ tsp. nutmeg 3 tbsp. flour 6 tbsp. butter, cut into small chunks Bring the puff pastry out of the freezer and let it thaw at room temperature. Be careful not to unfold the puff pastry while it's still frozen or it will tear along the fold lines. Heat the oven to 425. Spray 4 serving size ramekins with cooking spray. Prepare the rhubarb by cutting off the end of the stalks. Cut the rhubarb into ¾" pieces, enough to have 6 cups of chopped rhubarb. Heat a saucepan of water to the boil and add the rhubarb. Cook the rhubarb for just 2 minutes to soften. Drain the rhubarb. In a large bowl, add the rhubarb, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour and butter and toss to combine. Unwrap the puff pastry and gently unfold. Place a ramekin on the puff pastry and use it as a guide to cut the pastry in the shape of the ramekin. Cut about ½" wider around the shape of the ramekin to have enough puff pastry to hang over the sides. Spoon some of the rhubarb mixture in a ramekin. Top with the puff pastry and brush the puff pastry with some of the egg wash. Cut a small slit in the top of the puff pastry to release steam while baking. Sprinkle the top of the puff pastry with some of the demera sugar. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet and place in the oven. Bake the pot pies until the pastry is puffed and golden, about 20 minutes. Bring the ramekins out of the oven. Serve the rhubarb pot pies warm with vanilla ice cream and our recipe for rhubarb chutney on the side.

That sounds delicious.

Did a new asparagus recipe this season, grilled with a chive blossom hollandaise. The chives are the one plant I can always rely on to come back even if we have a cold, snowy winter. And the chive blossoms are delicious. It's fresh asparagus season here and we get it from the fields around Walla Walla, WA, cut daily and then brought up here, about a two-hour drive. The price right now is $1.59 a pound. I just brush the spears with olive oil and grill, then season with salt and pepper.

Yes thanks for searching.

Hello everyone I need some help. I have been going through all my eGullet photo archives and came across a photo, but no recipe, of grilled spring onions with a smoked tomato vinaigrette. I know I can write the vinaigrette from scratch, but thought I would see if anyone has a good smoked tomato vinaigrette you make? I've got lots of ideas of how to use this vinaigrette. Here is that very old photo.

Over in the Daily Sweets Thread I posted a photo of a Walnut Tart I made. Someone reminded me that walnuts also make a delicious pesto. In fact, my favorite pizza I made last year was a Walnut Pesto Pizza with Fresh Mozzarella. https://bit.ly/3vuR6yc

I'll post my Walnut Pesto Pizza over in the dinner thread.

I make a delicious walnut pesto, I'm glad you mentioned it.