David Ross

Most of the fine dining rooms at the big hotels on the strip are offering both Christmas and New Year's special menus. If you want to spend big, meaning over $200 per person, you might want to look at this Christmas menu from LeCirque in Bellagio here. The menu is $145 and the wine pairing an additional $95. Looks very good to me. You might want to call Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare at the Wynn about a seafood menu. That would be the top restaurant in town for a Feast of the Seven Fishes.

According to the folks that are watching "Last Chance Kitchen" (available online), wherein chefs booted from the main show get a cookoff with other booted chefs for a chance to return, Chuy bested the big guy, Keith. So Chuy isn't necessarily out of it for good. Chuy wasn't the only one who could have gone, but he stood out in my mind for his utter lack of good judgement. I found his response to the Judges to be disingenuous. I have to wonder if he was really being truthful when he said he served the cheese/salmon/tamale type dish at his restaurant. If he does have it on his menu, one can only hope that he doesn't muck it up and serve over-cooked salmon with barely melted cheese like he did to the judges. Maybe it gave Tom gas and that's why he was in a foul mood. Chuy is just another example in a long line of lower-tier contestants who pack their knives and go home in the early stages of the competition. It's that age-old problem that Chefs face--poor judgement in choosing ingredients and a dish that won't work within the confines of the challenge and the time limitations--then screw it up through poor execution. My early favorite is Paul. I mean really, how can you not root for a guy who wins with Brussels Sprouts?

Right. Note to self. If you're trying to come up with a clever and attractive and appetizing food dish, probably best not to fashion it in the shape of something that's already pretty disgusting all by itself. Like a half-smoked cigar butt. It didn't come close to looking like a cigar--or cigar butt. It looked like the logs my dog leaves behind on the carpet when he's mad.

5 letters.....A--W--F--U--L.

If you'd like to review the recipe of the winning chili, (all the recipes no less), go to this section of the Top Chef website here and get a more clear picture of the ingredients that the Cheftestants put in their chili bowl.

I'm quite surprised you had such an intolerable experience at Valentino. I'm sure that Chef Pellegrini and Mr. Selvaggio would be extremely disappointed that your expectations were not met and they'd want to hear your criticisms. I would bypass the Manager level and direct your frustrations directly to them.

Padma on a Horse and a Top Chef Chili Cook-Off.

I suppose the question is "Even if they only eat two spoonfuls, would they have a cardiac incident if the taste was not 'classic'??" We discussed the issue here. A minor tweak would be to use fresh crimini mushrooms (perhaps I am deceived by the darker color but I think they have more flavor then white buttons) and some haricot verts or other thin young green beans (Trader Joe's has excellent frozen ones) and using a simple white sauce as the binder. I snuck some fried shallots (from Asian market) over the top of the last one my step mom made and it was a flavor boost without being shocking - more of an enhanced familiar taste. My recipe is basically the same as Heidi's. I use haricot verts sauteed in butter then garnished with some toasted, slivered almonds. Now you can use the canned french-fried onions, but I'm going to use some fried shallots that I can get at the local Asian Market. They are tiny little deep-fried nuggets bursting with flavor and I can buy a 16oz. jar for about 2 bucks. Mind you, it doesn't have the soy sauce or cream soup called for in the recipe on the onion can from the supermarket.

I have to agree with Chris H.-I'm not a big fan of pumpkin in the pie style so I'm doing something different with pumpkin for dessert this year, albeit not a cake. And I'm with Chris A.-I'm planning on using ras el hanout spices. I typically make a Thanksgiving dinner a week after the actual date with the family. Their tastes are not quite as adventurous as mine and I would have a hard time getting them to even try something other than what we've eaten at Thanksgiving for the past 50 years or so. Oysters on the Half Shell, Fresh Lemon Roasted Squash Soup, Foie Gras and Black Truffle Mousse, Ras el Hanout Spices, Buttered Croutons (I'll do a basic roasted squash, cream soup, then I'm going to stir in some foie gras mousse studded with black truffle that I buy from D'Artagnan. The foie gras should melt into the soup. I'll season it with ras el hanout.) Slow-Roasted Turkey and Gravy Sage Sausage Dressing with Dried Cranberries and Hazelnuts Mashed Russet Potatoes Pureed Yams with Pecan Streusel and Marshmallow Spiced Ras el Hanout Cranberry and Orange Relish Haricot Vert with Buttered Almonds and Fried Onions Pumpkin Panna Cotta, Walnut Shortbread, Huckleberry Compote

Last week, the second edition of "Eating Las Vegas 2012, The 50 Essential Restaurants" was released. My how things have changed in the Las Vegas restaurant scene in the past year. To refresh your memory, this was the "Top Ten," list that was included in the 2011, first edition: -Alex, Wynn, (now closed and Chef Alex Stratta has landed in NYC) -Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare, Wynn -Bar Masa, Aria -Cut, Palazzo -Guy Savoy, Caesars Palace -Joel Robuchon, MGM -L'Atelier de Robuchon, MGM -Picasso, Bellagio -RM Seafood, Mandalay Place -Twist, Mandarin Oriental You can read our discussions about last year's Top Ten here. Authored by the three most recognized, (and qualified), Las Vegas Food Writers--John Curtas, Al Mancini and Max Jacobson--the 2012 edition has three new surprise choices in the Top Ten: -Bar Masa, Aria -CUT, Palazzo -Guy Savoy, Caesars Palace -Joel Robuchon, MGM -L'Atelier de Robuchon, MGM -Picasso, Bellagio -Twist, Mandarin Oriental -Le Cirque, Bellagio, (new) -Estiatorio Milos, Cosmopolitan (new) -Michael Mina, Bellagio (new) I have no real problems with the list, but I would say that in terms of service, cuisine and overall experience, Le Cirque is far above my most recent experiences at Twist and Guy Savoy. (You can read the reviews here). While I respect the Michelin stars that Gagnaire and Savoy have garnered, the Maccioni Family and their Staff present a more memorable haute cuisine dining experience to their customers. I have never been on Rick Moonen's Top Chef bandwagon, so it is nice to see that both Milos and Michael Mina landed on the list in honor of their seafood-based cuisine. While both Milos and Bartolotta procure the freshest Medittereanean seafood, Milos hit a chord with the dining public when it opened last year with their 3-course under $25 lunch specials and a more convivial, and affordable, atmosphere than the competition down the street at Wynn.

I couldn't tell from the video, but it looked like they added milk rather than cream?

It felt cheap when I saw the clip for next week. Oh no, please no. They won't bring back the "Pig Butcher Boy" for "one more elimination cook-off." Will they?

Can't wait to hear, and see photos, of your meals.

I agree. I let one of my Bolognese sauces sit in the fridge for three days and it was much better when reheated.

Not really sure if rattlesnake is "Texas" cuisine, but Bravo is billing one of tonight's challenges as a sort of battle rattlesnake.

Wow, so many wonderful Bolognese dishes. Whether it's "traditional" or not, I think we opened the door into how a classic Italian sauce has so many possibilities for so many different tastes.

Paul--Delicious. Based on what I see here, I need to make my own fresh spinach pasta ribbons. And by the way Mjx, I think the Bolognese over Rigatoni looks delicious.

I've never subscribed to the grandmother principle. Everything I recommend is done for a specific reason. Adding ingredients at different times means that they will cook differently and have a different impact on the taste. You add cream or butter to a dish as a finishing element after it has finished its key cooking, otherwise it splits. Same thing applies to vinegar, which loses its volatility and the sourness that you want it to achieve if you cook it. You can cook and reduce cream, which I do in one of my pepper sauces. This reduces and caramelises to provide a counterpoint to the heat of the pepper. But I'd never do this in a Bolognese as it would detract from the meat profile with an unnecessary sweetness. Actually, I think you and Margaret are saying the same thing, i.e., "mine is right, yours is wrong, but all DELICIOUS!"

Dave, since making fresh pasta is far from rocket science, might this be a subject of one of your future cook-offs? Flour and water (egg or not) and a will to eat pasta? Some years ago when I had several high metabolism males at table, I used to turn out a fresh pasta most nights a week. It's a simple feat that should be revived and made part of our general repertory. Definately a good subject for another Cook-Off.

Great job in the kitchen--so far. ScottyBoy has promised us his take on Bolognese. Shelby, tell us how all the duck flavors worked.

It was the aforementioned recipe from the Time-Life Series the Foods of the World: The Food of Italy. Per the recipe I didn't add the milk or cream early on and let the sauce cook for hours. The sauce had already cooked for about 4 hours. In both the milk batch and the cream batch I added it the last few minutes of the cooking process and stirred it a few times to incorporate it into the sauce and to insure the sauce was heated well.

I should add that the recipe I followed instructed one to add the cream at the last "few" minutes of cooking--don't stir it in too early and let it cook for hours.

The grating of cheese was very light so it only added a bit of salty flavor. I did stir in some chicken broth when I sauteed the confit with the sprouts and channterelles so the mix wouldn't be too dry. Then added the pasta and just a spoonful of the pasta water to again keep things moist.

Well, today I finished my Bolognese challenge with three variations of the sauce, 1) No cream or milk, 2) With milk, 3) With Cream. Each dish was served with the Cencioni pasta and garnished with a small amount of finely grated Parmesano-Reggiano. I must say I was surprised with the results: No cream or milk- With milk- With cream- The first version, sans dairy, was not technically "traditional." It had good texture and substance and decent flavor. The second version, with milk, had an added creaminess but not an overpowering creamed flavor. It tempered the first sauce and had added flavor. The third version was my least favorite. The cream almost tasted bitter in competition with the meats and the small amount of chicken liver. In fact, I pushed the bowl aside after just a few bites. I definately won't be eating a Bolognese made with cream in the future. Which version was my personal winner? #2 with the addition of milk. I was suprised yet gave myself a bit of a chuckle. I learned that in my case of searching for Bolognese, the traditional style with dairy, aka milk, was the best.

Chef Pellegrini told me that typically Bolognese is paired with a flat pasta like Pappardelle or Tagliatelle and preferably fresh. We don't have much in terms of fresh-made pasta where I live, but we do have a very good, small Italian market where I bought dried Pappardelle, Tagliatelle and Cencioni. Cencioni is literally "little rag" pasta-a befitting name for its shape which looks like shards of torn rags. It's smooth on one side and textured rough on the other side so any sauce will cling better to it. I wasn't familiar with Cencioni when I spotted the package in the store, but it was flat, little scoop spoons if you will and I thought it would hold up well to the Bolognese. Left to right-Pappardelle, Tagliatelle and bottom, Cencioni- I love Pappardelle, but the brand I bought is somewhat thin and falls apart quickly. For a tough sauce like Bolognese with a lot of structure, I went with the Tagiatelle which was thicker yet the width of the noodle was thinner than the Pappardelle. The Cencioni took a lot longer to cook, about 30 min. in boiling, salted water. In the end, the Cencioni would prove to be my favorite.