David Ross

Beautiful Kerry--and I just want to pour all those rhubarb juices over a slice of your galette.

My vote would be Carnevino. Call the restaurant and ask them to send a message to Executive Chef Nicole Brisson that you'll be dining there. She's a fantastic Chef and loves to talk with "foodies." If you're willing to splurge, she'll reserve one of the "Riserva" steaks that are aged about 240 days. We dined on the Riserva when I was there last October. Funky, minerally (sp), earthy, smokey and you won't forget it. Was it worth the price? Yes. Her sides and the desserts are also fabulous. If he is still there, ask for the bearded waiter from Brooklyn, great service and he really loves what he is doing. My only complaint, stay away from the grappa cart!

I love summer squash and Shelby that is one beauty of a basket. Picking a few of the buggars is o.k., but I worked harvesting zucchini in a commercial farm many decades ago and it is literally back-breaking work. Just last week my favorite grocery store started their annual baking of zucchini bread. Delicious.

Rhubarb definitely cooks down quickly and loses it's crisp texture. I try to make sure when I cook the chutney that some of the pieces don't totally turn to mush, or I add some of the chopped rhubarb during the last 10 minutes or so cooking. I want it soft and cooked, but I also like the texture contrast with the few stronger pieces in the finished chutney.

Thanks for presenting that delicious looking pie and the mention of lard reminds me I've got to add a bit to my next pastry crust.

The bounty of rhubarb season up here has delivered enough rhubarb chutney that we'll be dressing meats with the stuff all the way to Thanksgiving. This recipe couldn't be easier--a lot of spices but the whole lot goes into the pot, stews down for about 30 minutes and voila, a nice batch of fragrant, spicy, sweet rhubarb chutney. I forgot that I had a bottle of rose water, lest I would have added a few drops to enhance the floral notes of the rhubarb. But now I have another idea--rhubarb/rose water ice cream. The ingredients for the chutney- Served with a grilled Carlton Farms, (Oregon), pork chop, fresh asparagus and hash browns- The next platform for the rhubarb chutney will be a decadent slice of pork belly, http://forums.egullet.org/topic/147019-eg-cook-off-65-pork-belly/?p=1953722, based on a pork belly confit recipe from Thomas Keller. My Rhubarb Chutney- 3 cups chopped fresh rhubarb 1/3 cup golden raisins 1/4 cup currants 1/2 cup diced red onion 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger 1 tbsp. minced fresh garlic 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/4 tsp. ground cumin 1/8 tsp. cloves 1/8 tsp. cayenne or red pepper flakes 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 1/8 tsp. ground allspice Salt and black pepper Optional-curry powder Water Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add all the ingredients and spices and stir to combine. When the mixture begins to bubble, turn the heat down to low and let the chutney cook until the rhubarb breaks down. Add water to thin the chutney if it is too thick.

Thanks for all the information. I do have some palm sugar so I'll try that next time. I actually thought at first it looked like too much rice, but after tasting I agree that I need more rice to soak up that sour curry broth.

Just yesterday I got more wonderful rhubarb and from the looks of things, our season will continue. The rhubarb I've been buying in the market is usually very thick stalks, but from the backyard garden the size of the stalks has been varying from pencil thin to nearly 1 1/2" thick. Since I have so much rhubarb coming my way I'm going to vacuum seal and freeze it. That will be a good test to see how the flavor holds up. Today a friend told me she thought a rhubarb-cranberry sauce would be quite nice for the Thanksgiving turkey so that will be one of the dishes I'll try with the frozen rhubarb.

My first attempt at Southern Thai Sour Curry. I've been focusing the past week on our rhubarb cook-off, http://forums.egullet.org/topic/148879-eg-cook-off-66-rhubarb/?p=1976200, so it was a bit of a change of mindset to go from rhubarb crisp to this dish. The broth was a mixture of sour curry paste, yellow curry paste, fish sauce, tamarind paste, water and lime juice. I added some zucchini and carrot then garnished the dish with grilled prawns, steamed jasmine rice and fried red onion. It was intensely sour and spicy, definitely an acquired taste but one I'll revisit again. I welcome any comments from cooks with experience cooking sour curry.

Wow, rhubarb candy is something I never thought of.

Another rhubarb pastry, this time a Rhubarb Crostatta, basically an open face rhubarb pie. The filling and topping were the same as the rhubarb crumble. I used my time-tested pasty crust recipe which is a mix of all-purpose flour, cake flour, butter, Crisco, salt, sugar and ice water. Once the pastry is combined into a ball, I refrigerate it for about two hours, then bring it back out and let it come to room temperature before rolling out. I brushed it with egg wash and sprinkled some demera sugar on the pastry. Just before bringing it out of the oven I'll turn up the broiler to get a bit of char on the top.

A beauty of the Pacific Northwest, Fried Columbia River Walleye-

Last night for dessert I made Rhubarb Crumble. It's incredibly simple--rhubarb cut into chunks and tossed with flour and sugar. I used about 3 tablespoons of flour and 1/2 cup of sugar for 4 cups of rhubarb. I like it tart! The topping is a mixture of 6 tablespoons of butter, (I prefer salted butter), 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup quick-cooking oats. The crumble bakes in a 400 oven for about 30 minutes, then about 2 min. under a low broiler to crisp the topping. I served it with a scoop of Snoqualmie Ice Cream, (Seattle), French lavender ice cream.

Do you think this recipe would work as a layer for a lemon bar? I was toying with the idea of modifying my lemon bars to add a layer of rhubarb between the shortbread crust and the lemon layer.

I freeze it and use it later for cooked dishes like chutney. I vacuum seal it in small bags. Seems to be just fine.

When I mentioned to friends and family I was doing a rhubarb cook-off, a 15 year-old teenager let out a big "yuck," as did his Mother. (Neither have ever tasted a really good rhubarb dish). The few who said they liked it were my generation, aka 50+ years. Then again, the people I've encountered who don't care for rhubarb also don't take kindly to our most coveted fruit in Eastern, Washington--the wild huckleberry. They tend to prefer sweet Bing cherries from the orchards in Wenatchee. Depending on the amount of rain and sun in the Spring, on the West side of Washington and Oregon, we'll see rhubarb show up in May and continue into June. I live on the East side of the Cascade Mountains in the Spokane area and our growing season is typically 6 weeks or more behind the folks in Seattle or Portland. We had a mild winter with not much snow, a fair amount of sun in May then heavy rain the first weeks of June. Now our rhubarb is flourishing and the daily temperature is in the 85-90 range. A friend delivered about 8lbs. of fat rhubarb stalks just yesterday and her plants are thriving in her backyard. (We're at 2,000 feet elevation). We expect the rhubarb to taper off once we get into the hottest heat of the Summer in a couple of weeks.

One of my dishes will be rhubarb chutney, a wonderful accompaniment to your pork roast.

This looks like something that should be sold off the back of a pickup parked in a remote swamp, but I'm hoping in 30 days it will be a perfumed elixir of rhubarb vodka.

It's a nearly forgotten fruit, rarely thought of these days except by old-soul cooks with a farming heritage. Utter the word 'rhubarb' and watch the listener's face contort as though the poor devil had just bitten into a lemon. Some decry rhubarb as an invasive species that crowds out the dainty pansies in the flower bed. Yet their disgust of rhubarb is simply due to ignorance. Like the gooseberry, rhubarb can't be fairly judged by gossip alone -- one must savor it firsthand to discover the wondrous tastes that lie within. You can find rhubarb in commercial pies in the grocery store, but rarely in its purest form--it's often watered-down with the ubiquitous strawberry. The most talented and creative professional chefs of our day covet rhubarb for its red pastel color, floral perfume and tart flavor--the perfect accompaniment to a rich slice of sautéed foie gras. Yes, my friends, rhubarb is back in vogue and summer is the perfect time to welcome back our cherished eG Cook-Off series with rhubarb in the leading role. (Click here http://forums.egulle...cook-off-index/ for the complete eG Cook-Off Index). Rhubarb - pronounced 'roo-barb' - is known as the pie plant. It is a member of the buckwheat family and is a perennial, meaning it grows back every year. And boy does it ever! Rhubarb has a preference for warm, sunny climates, yet it is perfectly at home in the rainy environs of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Originally from Asia, rhubarb was first used for medicinal purposes. In the 18th century, the British brought rhubarb into the kitchen. By the late 1700's, rhubarb had journeyed across the Atlantic with the British and landed in the soils of early America. By 1947, the United States Customs Court of New York had officially declared rhubarb a fruit, although to this day many scientists consider rhubarb a vegetable. Rhubarb is low in calories yet high in phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron and vitamins, though one should avoid the leaves which contain large amounts of poisonous oxalic acid. Because it is so tart, rhubarb does require a fair amount of added sugar. Aside from pie, rhubarb works wonderfully as a condiment for roasted meats. The tart flavor and sweet perfume of rhubarb accents duck, game, pork and lamb. Sweet or savory, rhubarb does not discriminate. Please join me in creating, crafting and sharing the wonders of rhubarb.

Sadly, fate has brought us to the point where the number of "worst" cooking shows far exceeds the quality cooking shows. In terms of the worst shows of the day, my votes go to The Next Food Network Star and Master Chef, aka from the house of Gordon. Both shows are terribly detached from true cooking and cuisine and as interesting as Premium Saltine Crackers, but I suppose if you are looking to shill soup in Food Network Magazine, you need a young, sprite, cutesy sort of personality. But there is hope my friends in the form of the true "Master Chef"--as in the UK version. You can view a number of episodes on You Tube, including this production with incredibly vivid, delicious images of food. And whoever said British cooking is bland isn't aware of the creativity going on in the UK today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMXbIo0GFMo

People have caught on--they're buying more and more beef short ribs, stoking the meat cases with a regular supply of these hefty chunks. I seasoned them with "Stubb's" beef rub, seared in olive oil in a Le Creuset stock pot, doused with beef stock and then into a 280 oven for 4 hours. (Not much further and the bone slips out). Then reduced the stock, whisked in flour, butter and a few drops of Kitchen Bouquet, (ok, call me a cheater but it gives deep flavor and color to gravy).

Anyone planning a Las Vegas trip may want to try out the new Daniel Boulud Brasserie in Las Vegas. I'm hearing good reviews for the first weeks of service.

Well you have certainly dined at two of the top Asian restaurants in Las Vegas in Raku and Lotus of Siam. If you go back, Lotus has a crispy rice dish, (which I can't define by name), that is outstanding. Now I'm looking forward to some sweet confections!

It's on page 172 of the main hard-cover book. The recipe is just titled "Pizza" rather than pizza dough. Oddly, they call for either all-purpose flour or "granulated flour," which I've never heard of. I used King Arthur bread flour, which supposedly is a high-protein flour similar to the protein content in some Italian 00 flours. Also interesting is the recipe calls for quite a lot of olive oil, 3/4 cup. Most of the modern recipes I've seen for pizza dough don't call for any olive oil in the dough itself. This is the great photo on the page opposite the recipe:

Thanks, nearly identical to my favorite all-time crust from "Pietro's Pizza Parlor" in Salem, Oregon. One trick I use is to brush the entire, (to the edge), dough circle with a coating of olive oil just before garnishing and baking. Gosh, I think I'll have pizza now every other day.