David Ross

Fresh rhubarb pie. Not cut with strawberries to dim the taste of the rhubarb and with just the right amount of sugar to allow the tart flavor of the rhubarb to come through. Sorry I didn't get a shot of a slice of the pie. I absolutely had to dig right in. Actually, I dug in twice and then had a third slice for breakfast this morning.

Boy is that delicious looking. Have you got a specific recipe you use?

I'm feeling pretty confident now in my ability to cook baby octopus in soups, stews and sauces. The key for insuring the octopus is tender is to start with the slow simmer in water/vinegar bath. I prefer octopus over calamari in these braised dishes because of it's stronger and meatier texture. For my latest dish, I started with an old standby recipe for a Thai Red Curry Sauce. I substituted green curry paste for the red and added some minced lemongrass for more punch in flavor. The curry starts with garlic and ginger sauteed in vegetable and toasted sesame oils. Then a small chopped shallot goes into the pan, followed by sliced mushrooms, 1 can of coconut milk, 2-3 tbsp. of green curry paste, soy sauce, lime juice and zest, diced eggplant and the baby octopus. The stew is cooked for about 30 minutes, then just before service I added some chopped fresh mint, basil and cilantro- This is the minced lemongrass. I buy it frozen in a large, flat plastic bag. When I first used it I thought the freezing process would have diluted the flavor but it's nearly as fragrant and flavorful as fresh lemongrass and far easier to use- The baby octopus, simmered for an hour in water diluted with vinegar, (and 2 wine corks)- Served with steamed white rice- Braised Octopus in Thai Green Curry Sauce- A good dish, (the sauce could have been thicker and needed more heat)--almost as good as the Baby Squid in Spicy Tomato Sauce and Pasta. We're into halibut season here in the Pacific Northwest, so I'm thinking the baby octopus would be delicious with halibut and crab in a cioppino.

Superb. Thank you for sharing. We look forward to seeing many more creations.

I started the prep for my next octopus dish--a Thai Green Curry with Octopus and Eggplant. I simmered the octopus in the same manner as my first dish--cooked for 50 minutes in simmering water with red wine vinegar. I'll let it chill overnight and make the sauce tommorrow.

Interesting. It almost looks like octopus jerky. I bet the flavor is really concentrated?

This is going to be interesting. The countdown is on....

I would buy that product at $20 per lb. I bet a pound is a good amount of octopus so if I looked at it more in terms of the cost per serving, I think it would be worth it if it's a decent product.

There have been some new categories added in the past couple of years to have broader recognition of online writing, which wasn't previously recognized by the Beard folks.

Who ? Alan Richman. Alan could be called the Meryl Streep of the Beard Awards. Won more Beard Awards than any other Food Writer and every year some of his best work is entered. Yet when I read the list of finalists for this year's Journalism Awards, Alan's name was missing. I've read some of the works that are up for a Beard Award in the restaurant review category and the blog categories and I don't see the same depth that I do with Alan's work. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it seems that the PR machines and politics behind the Beard Awards are pushing to have younger, more contemporary and trendy work recognized. This was one of my favorite pieces that Alan wrote in 2012. I have no idea if it was entered into the Beard Awards, but really a great piece on the dining scene in Portland and one that I think would be worthy of recognition. http://www.gq.com/food-travel/restaurants-and-bars/201211/alan-richman-portland-restaurants-guide

When the most decorated Food Writer in America doesn't even get a nomination for some of the best work of his career, then you have to wonder if the Beard Awards have fallen further into the abyss of pop culture. I suppose a fitting name would be the Oscar, Golden Globe, Screen Actor's Guild, Justin Bieber pop culture I wanna be liked Awards.

Well folks, here are the finalists for the 2013 James Beard Awards. I'm sure you have your favorites, and more than likely have some comments on the nominees. Do you see a Chef or Restaurant that is glaringly missing from the list? And how about the Journalism Awards. The Beard group added some different Journalism categories this year. Now let's have some fun and do a delicious critique on this year's nominees: http://www.jamesbeard.org/sites/default/files/static/additional/2013-jbf-nominees.pdf

I've served squid with kiwi, passion fruit, pomelo and grapefruit. Passion fruit was the most interesting and delicious. I just squeezed it over very quickly grilled squid. Given the mention of rhubarb, I'm now wondering whether gooseberry would be going too far... Ah gooseberries. We've pushed this glorious berry aside for so many years. When my Grandmother made gooseberry pie in the 1960's it wasn't unusual. Use gooseberries today and people wonder what you're talking about--and I live in a part of the country where gooseberries flourish. I think a squid or baby octopus ceviche would be wonderful with grapefruit. Gooseberries and squid, I'm skeptical, they are one tart berry. Then again, it would be worth a shot. Could be a new discovery.

Thank you for the details of your dish. Very nice for sure. For my next dish I'm going to do a squid curry.

Thanks for adding a very unique dish to our Cook-Off. I have a few questions about the Trisol. Do you have an online source? You mentioned that the batter was 40% Trisol and chopped herbs. What were the other elements of the batter, (another type of flour and what type of liquid)?

That pretty much describes the last mayor, Oscar Goodman!

I suppose it was only a matter of time, maybe a sign of the times. While the celebration of the landing of the Four French Masters is but a distant memory, (yet Ducasse, Gagnaire, Robuchon and Savoy still endure), the economics and state of cuisine in Las Vegas, (if you can call it that), has reached somewhat of a low with this unsurprising news: http://www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/guy-fieri-to-open-first-restaurant-on-las-vegas-strip?src=soc_fcbks As Las Vegas struggles to come out of this long-suffering economic malaise, Caesar's doesn't do serious foodies any favors. May the tourists fight each other at the trough of Fieri.

Looks delicious. We're about a month away from the first asparagus of the season in Eastern, WA, so I'm going to add this to my list of new asparagus dishes.

Thanks for the information on the calamari steaks Heidi. I remember shopping at a Bristol Farms in Hollywood many years ago.

It seems that the tomato sauce base deepens in flavor if you hold it over to day two and then add the garlic and chili to finish the sauce. And......it gets better from there. I may use the combined sauces and add meat on a third or fourth day and each step the sauce flavors gain more depth.

When I've made this sauce in one day it didn't have the depth of flavor as the 2-day version. It might be my taste buds suggesting it's an old wives tale, but it just seems to taste better once you let the sauce settle after the first day.

Wow Heidi, I'm really envious. That looks delicious. I'm heading into a challenging long week, (literally week), at work, but when I get a weekend back I'm going to try your calamari steak.

Heidi I'm impressed by your flavor combinations, especially the introduction of walnut oil in the Korean marinade. Where did you find such thick calamari steaks? You've got me hungry for dinner.

Thanks for all the info. I'll remember that next time I do some deep-frying. Great tips. The batter was good. I had no problems with the batter at all. It was the calamari itself that was problematic. Another variable is the quality of the squid itself. I don't think it was very good: hence why I didn't just go to the fishmongers in the first place, as I think it's something with a short shelf life. I bought three different brands of frozen squid. The product I bought from my fishmonger that was from a California producer was the best. I know he regularly rotates his frozen items so I'm sure it wasn't too old. I cooked with it three times and it always turned out tender yet firm. The batch from Safeway was tasteless and tough. Although it was still within its "best by" date, I think it was a combination of being old and brined in salt before it was sold. The third batch, from the Asian market, was the worst. Their frozen seafood is typically mushy, mealy and sometimes smells like old gym socks.

For my next dish I did a version of Jose Andres "Smoky Paella with Shrimp and Squid." It was a good starting point for a paella novice. As I move through my squid dishes, I've found that it's a great addition to seafood dishes. It adds texture and a mild flavor, and this paella without the squid would not have had that extra dimension. Always tinkering with recipes, I made a few variations from Andres instructions: -He calls for "large shrimp," and I used frozen, "jumbo prawns." I knew they probably wouldn't be great, but that's all I could find. I preferred whole body, head-on prawns, but the frozen ones I can find locally are mush. Unfortunately I don't live in a city where I have access to live shrimp or fresh langoustines. So I was left with fairly tasteless thawed, farm-raised prawns. -Andres says you can substitute arborio rice for Valencia. I haven't cooked enough paella so I don't know the difference and I can buy arborio rice locally. -The recipe calls for 1 tsp. of hot smoked paprika. I was still aching to use the beautiful dried Spanish chorizo I had, so I added about 3/4 cup of chopped chorizo in addition to the smoked paprika. Probably not something I would do next time. The chorizo was overly-salty and the combination of smoked paprika powder and the heavy amount of smoked paprika in the chorizo over-powered the seafood and the delicate taste and aroma of the saffron in the dish. -I added fresh Mussels from Puget Sound on the West side of the state. In the end, I could have eliminated the prawns and just used mussels and squid and it would have been a delicious paella. -I don't have a paella pan, so I used my old deep, cast iron skillet. My naivete as to the specific type of rice used in paella spills over to the cooking vessel. The cast iron skillet worked fine, but I'm not in tune with the results that come from using an authentic Spanish pan. -This is an easy and quick recipe and you don't have to fuss much with the mussels and squid. Just place the seafood on top of the hot rice and let it cook until the squid is just done and the mussels open.