David Ross

Guacamole with Pork Rinds. I do a very basic recipe of smashed avocado, diced onion, cilantro, a bit of fresh jalapeno, a bit of diced tomato and lime juice. For this recipe I stirred in some baby shrimp. The best part is serving it with pork rinds. I buy the pork rinds at a local Mexican grocer and they are nice big thick shards great for dipping.

Yikes I'll check with the editor tommorrow

The story and recipe are posted at https://www.craftbeer.com/recipes/crispy-fried-asian-wings-with-ipa It took quite a lot of testing to choose the right beer. I wanted something a little bitter but some hints of sweetness. And in the NW, we are favoring hoppy beers right now but I didn't want such strong hop flavors to knock out the delicate soy flavors and light crispiness of the batter. While I show an iceberg lettuce salad in the photo, it's actually better with shredded cabbage for more texture and to stand up to the chicken. I was going to add some sliced pickled red bird chilies but they had gone off so had to throw the bottle out, but some sort of fresh chile I think would be nice.

Dang, now you've whetted my appetite so I am going to add clam chowder to the menu. That's a great dish for Superbowl. .

This year I'm going to do chicken wings, but I'm doing them with this wonderful Korean fry mix that I've been buying for a few years now. You mix it with ice water to make a thin batter but I use beer which gives the chicken a more crispy texture. It's sort of a tempura texture but a heavier coating. I marinate the wings in soy sauce and Chinese rice wine for about 4 hours then dip in the batter and fry at 375 about 8 minutes. I've got a countertop digital fryer and I can easily do many, many wings to serve a large group. This is a photo of what onion rings look like with the batter-

Made one of my favorite salads this week, and it got me to thinking it would be a nice addition to the groaning boards of chips, dips and snacks on Superbowl Sunday. I sort of made it up without really referencing any cookbooks. Just blanch the beans in salted water for about 3 minutes then into a bowl of ice to chill. The dressing is olive oil, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, capers, tarragon, salt and pepper. Garnished with chopped hard-boiled egg and these crispy little red onions that I but in a bulk carton at the local Asian store. Green Beans Vinaigrette-

I'll definitely share once it's published. There is a bit of dried red chile flakes in the dressing for the lettuce salad, but this gets me to thinking I should add some chile flakes to the marinade!

I've been working on this dish for a piece I'm writing about our local craft beer trade. It took about seven attempts to get the right balance between the ale in the marinade, the dressing for the salad and the right oil temperature and coating. But I think it's where I want it. The best part, eating all my test dishes for dinner. Crispy Fried Asian Wings with Sweet Soy Glaze and Shredded Iceberg-

I do like the show so far this year in terms of the creativity and level of the dishes, but I'm getting a bit tired of seeing some of the past contestants. However one Chef I'm so glad to watch again is Sheldon. Not only a good Chef but he comes across the screen as being a nice guy.

And some toasted, slivered almonds and sliced red grapes are always good in a chicken salad made from leftover roast chicken.

I have some leftover chicken that I'll be making into a chicken salad for sandwiches. Dice the chicken pretty fine in the food processor, add mayo, chopped celery, capers, Dijon mustard, capers, lots of pepper and salt and that's about it.

I'm an avid shopper at ethnic markets and I find them a fascinating place to learn, find new products and products that I would never imagine would find their way to Eastern, Washington. This past Fall I wrote a piece for a regional magazine that focused on some of our local ethnic markets. I explored markets that cover a wide range of cuisines-Mexican, Russian and Eastern Europe, Germany Italy and Western Europe, China, Korea and Asia. Over the Holiday season, I found another wonderful Russian market in Spokane. I no longer have to want for all manner of sausage and smoked fish, thinking that internet ordering was my only option. I'm thinking we all have a favorite ethnic market and special finds that we keep going back for. I'll start by posting two delicious items I found at Kiev Market in Spokane-- "Tushonka" Mutton cubes. Although it came from the Russian market, it's made by Alex's Meat Distributors of Brooklyn. I'll be putting in a country pork terrine. Caviar Cream with Smoked Salmon from Belarus. It has a very light taste. I stirred in some chopped salmon lox, sour cream, dill and celery seed. The original idea was to pipe it into some little choux pastry puffs, but I didn't want to take the time so just spread it on some thinly sliced rye bread I also found at this market.

Shelby that prime rib is cooked perfectly.

This delicious prime rib roast is from btbyrd and presented over in our Holiday Roasts cook-off. I've got mine waiting for this weekend's New Years feast. r

I didn't get an attractive photo of the Christmas ham, but I will take a photo of what I'm doing this week with the leftovers--something along the lines of a pork and ham terrine.

Throughout the Holidays I do some Asian cookery since there happen to be some many groaning feasts along the way. Something to break up the heavy roasts and such. This is a favorite, "Salted Fish Fried Rice." I actually use salt cod that comes from Eastern Canada, stir-fried with chicken, garlic and shredded bok choy. The recipe doesn't call for any ginger or soy sauce but I add a bit. The sauce is primarily Chinese rice wine and sesame oil. It's delicious with that salty funk of salt cod or salted, preserved fish. But probably not a good idea to make when your family is in the house for the Holidays. All windows should be open.....

Oh Dear. I suppose it was that mug of egg nog and Maker's Mark before bed last night, but this is what happens when you leave the dough in a bread pan to rise. Then forget about it until morning. It's supposed to be cut into thick slices for French Toast Christmas morning, so we'll see what hell I wrought by letting it go way too far!

I am fortunate to have one market in Spokane that sells tallow. Now they have done a good job in crafting a contemporary logo and calling the product "Pure Tallow" followed by a small graphic of a cow. But of course we all know it simply as "Beef Tallow." It's a great product and it can be used as is or even mixed with some of the drippings from the Holiday Roast. I actually just melt a few large spoons of the stuff and then roast potatoes, even when I'm not cooking a roast and I don't have natural pan drippings. I'll be using it in the coming days with a new varietal of WA roasting potatoes I found.

From my cherished Time-Life Foods of the World series, this time "The Cooking of Italy," 1968. Cannelloni, as in savory. I only make this once a year during our cold days, very rich and comforting. I use large wonton wrappers rather than make pasta sheets. Then the filling is a mix of ground beef, chicken livers, spinach, onion, garlic, cream and parmesan. Sometimes I'll add in some Italian pork sausage and sometimes ground veal. Then wrap the filling with the wrappers and cover with a thick layer of traditional besciamella-flour, butter, cream, milk and seasoned with nutmeg and white pepper. Then dollops of your best tomato sauce, then skads of grated parmesan and dots of butter. It bakes about 40 minutes in a 375 oven and then a turn under the broiler. I love how they used the broiler so often in home cookery back then, but then we seem to have forgotten our broilers. I use my a lot.

From my beloved Northern Pacific Railroad cookbook, the dark fruitcake that was served to passengers during the holidays. I'm not excited about the flat top, but looks, as we know, don't always tell the truth as to how a fruitcake tastes. I'll probably not be able to control myself and cut into one. The other two will need some "curing." One may be fair by next season. The other one shall go until about 2020. We happen to think that my Great Aunt Bertie Pink kept her fruitcakes to the 8-10 year range.

I have two store-bought plum puddings on hand, but after being reminded of this wonderful apple cake, I think that's what will be on the dessert table.

Just when I was looking for ideas for the Christmas sweet, I came upon this Facebook memory from back in 2010--Apple Gateau with Caramel Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream. Sometimes I look at past dishes and think, "me, I made that?"

Figuring I need to pace myself for the next two weeks, I thought a simple braised chicken dish would be good last night. The photo doesn't do justice to how delicious it was. I think cutting the chicken breast with a serrated knife made it look pretty roughed up, but it was moist and delicious. Just poached in hot chicken stock, a few slices of celery and carrot, a few peas and then some parsley and celery leaves.

Thanks for the info. We are discussing Holiday Roasts (below), and I think it would be interesting to bring in some discussion of using Sous Vide.

I thought everyone would enjoy following our discussion about Holiday Roasts. This is one of my contributions to the cook-off--Slow-Roasted Duck with Huckleberry-Cranberry Relish................