eG Foodblog: David Ross - Black Pearls of Gold

[racheld]

We're off for the weekend, and don't know your "close" moment, so I wanna say thanks for all the lovely visits, the cooking, the tours. I love where you live, your kitchen, your enthusiam, and I can't wait to try huckleberries someday!!

Thank you!!

[David Ross]

We're off for the weekend, and don't know your "close" moment, so I wanna say thanks for all the lovely visits, the cooking, the tours.  I love where you live, your kitchen, your enthusiam, and I can't wait to try huckleberries someday!!

Thank you!!

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THank you for your kind comments. Today I plan to post some more meal photos and photos of what I have planned for tonight's dinner.

I'm also going to talk about the Las Vegas dining scene and then the 'closer' to the week tommorrow-a short tale about another man from the Northwest who made a huge impact on the way American cooks and eats. Thanks again and enjoy your weekend.

[judiu]

Thank you so much for killing my Saturday afternoon plans with 5 pages of great reading! I do hope that your story of another guy from PNW is about James Beard; he's one of my culinary heros, even though he and I disagree about pineapple in cole slaw. Great blog, thank you!

[David Ross]

Thank you so much for killing my Saturday afternoon plans with 5 pages of great reading! I do hope that your story of another guy from PNW is about James Beard; he's one of my culinary heros, even though he and I disagree about pineapple in cole slaw. Great blog, thank you!

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Yes, you are right, Mr. Beard! I am off for a couple of hours to get some more groceries, and then I'll be back to start on the Rhubarb Chutney.

[David Ross]

Ok everyone, I apologize for being slow yesterday and this morning. I've got the computer issues resolved.

Last night I made an easy dinner of 'Soup and Salad.' Not what sounds like a 'gourmet' meal-but it actually turned out very gourmet and was uniquely Northwest in flavors.

The salad was simple mixed greens tossed with olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. But what made the salad unique were the garnishes-bleu cheese and 'candied hazelnuts.'

Just take some raw hazelnuts and put them in a pie pan. Roast them in a 400 degree oven for about 12-15 minutes or just until they turn brown.

Remove the hazelnuts from the oven and put them on a cotton kitchen towel. Wrap the towel around the hazelnuts. This 'steams' the nuts and loosens the skins. Rub the towel and the hazelnuts for a few seconds and the outer brown skin or the 'husks' will rub off.

Then roughly chop some of the hazelnuts and leave some others whole.

Heat some butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne pepper in a saute pan. Add about a tablespoon of corn syrup and a tablespoon of water and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the hazelnuts and turn the heat down to medium and cook the nuts for about 10 minutes to 'candy' them.

Spoon the candied hazelnuts into a bowl to cool. Once the hazelnuts are cooled you can break off some of the candied hazelnuts to garnish your salad.

The candied hazelnuts keep in a covered container about a month.

You get the crunchy, nutty, woodsy taste of hazelnut, a bit of spice from the cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne, then finally some sweet, candy-brittle crunch from the brown sugar. It's a simple but delicious and different salad.

I couldn't find any locally made bleu cheese so I bought some bleu cheese made by the Amish in Pennslyvannia. The Rogue Creamery in Southern Oregon makes very good bleu cheese.

I was raised in Salem, Oregon in the Willamette Valley. Salem is the State Capitol and is about an hours drive South of Portland.

We grow a lot of 'filbert' trees in the Willamette Valley. When I was a kid all we called the nuts were 'filberts. I know, it doesn't sound trendy enough for the marketing folks does it?

It was probably sometime during the 1980's that the filbert marketing board decided they needed to change the name of the little round nut back to the name it is called back in its birthplace in Europe-the 'Hazelnut.'

Well, being the nuts that we are in the Northwest, we protested at first because we thought it was sacriligeous to call a filbert a hazelnut. But we went along and of course the marketing gurus were right. The sale of Northwest hazelnuts took off and continues to grow. On occasion I'll still call them filberts just to throw somebody off track, like a waiter in a restaurant. "didn't you mean to tell me those were filberts on my trout?"

The 'soup' was 'Ivar's Clam Chowder.' Ivar's is a Seattle institution and they have a number of casual chip and chowder houses around the Puget Sound area and in food court malls throughout the Northwest.

I was surprised to see hot, fresh, Ivar's Clam Chowder at the hot soup bar in the grocery store deli. I couldn't resist so I brought a quart home.

I dressed up the chowder with some smoked salmon from a company in Oregon City, Oregon, just South of Portland. Sorry, forgot to get the name of the company and a photo. The salmon was hot smoked over Alderwood and it was very oily and juicy. We use a lot of Sockeye Salmon for smoking in the Northwest because the Sockeye has a lot of natural oils that keep the fish moist during smoking.

[David Ross]

Thank you so much for killing my Saturday afternoon plans with 5 pages of great reading! I do hope that your story of another guy from PNW is about James Beard; he's one of my culinary heros, even though he and I disagree about pineapple in cole slaw. Great blog, thank you!

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My Mother, who is now 83, would be someone who would have put canned, diced pineapple in coleslaw. I don't know if she got the inspiration (if that is what you would call it), from Beard.

Housewives in the 1950's loved putting stuff like pineapple in coleslaw. Better yet, how about that pickled carrot that my Mother put in pineapple aspic! Yuck.

[David Ross]

If you are like me, you don't eat a-what should we say 'good breakfast'-during your work week. But on the weekend-oh the weekend-and breakfast.

Food memories are some of my best memories from my childhood.

My paternal Grandparents lived on a ranch in Prineville, Oregon in 'Ochoco' County in the central part of the state.

My Grandfather cooked Sunday breakfast. On every single Sunday he made the same thing-pancakes. I don't know if he made the batter by hand or if it came out of a box. It didn't matter. They were the delicious-light, yet doughy and a bit tangy. Grandfather's pancakes always had that consistent, golden-brown, delicate crust that only short-order cooks at diners seem able to pull-off. I guess it's because his pancakes were so wonderful that I rarely try to make them at home on the weekend.

While I didn't make pancakes today, I did make another one of my favorite breakfasts-poached egg on toast.

Now don't think it's easy to poach an egg. It really isn't-at least for me. It took me about three years to finally get my technique down for poaching the perfect egg.

The ingredients? Two cost a couple of coins and one is free. One fresh egg, some white vinegar and some water. That's all-no salt or pepper until the end. You could probably change up the flavor of the vinegar, but if you do I don't think you would get the egg white to come out so brilliant.

[David Ross]

If you are like me, you don't eat a 'good breakfast'-during your work week. But on the weekend-oh the weekend-and breakfast.

Food memories are some of my best memories from my childhood.

My paternal Grandparents lived on a ranch in Prineville, Oregon in 'Ochoco' County in the central part of the state.

My Grandfather cooked Sunday breakfast. On every single Sunday he made the same thing-pancakes. I don't know if he made the batter by hand or if it came out of a box. It didn't matter. They were delicious-light, yet doughy and a bit tangy. Grandfather's pancakes always had that consistent, golden-brown, delicate crust that only short-order cooks at diners seem to be able to pull-off. I guess it's because his pancakes were so wonderful that I rarely try to make them at home on the weekend.

While I didn't make pancakes today, I did make another one of my favorite breakfasts-poached egg on toast.

Now don't think it's easy to poach an egg. It really isn't-at least for me. It took me about three years to finally get my technique down for poaching the perfect egg.

The ingredients? Just three. One fresh egg, some white vinegar and some water. That's all-no salt or pepper until the end. You could probably change up the flavor of the vinegar, but if you do I don't think you would get the egg white to come out so brilliant.

Oh boy have I been reading the thread about Alan Richman and the people who took umbrage over his comments about the $8 organic eggs in San Francisco. I'm not going to get into that today! I will tell you though that in order to get a perfect poached egg you have to start with fresh eggs. If they aren't fresh, the egg white won't blanket itself around the yolk. I buy 'naturally nested' local eggs. The hens are fed an all-natural, organic vegetable diet and are allowed to run around out in the open and peck at bugs and grass. They do taste better than standard eggs and they seem to gel up better for poached eggs over the standard ones.

What you see here is the stirring of the water with a chopstick. I use chopsticks in the kitchen almost as much as I use my knives. They are incredibly adaptable to just about anything you need to do.

I use about 2 tablespoons of vinegar to a full saucepan of water. I don't let the water boil, or even simmer. I put the egg in when the water is steaming really well but there are no bubbles coming up from the bottom of the pan. I guess I'd call it 'medium-high' temperature water. The vinegar helps the white of the egg set. The reason you stir the water is to create a little 'eddy' or tidepool of water circling around the pan. Then you gently slip in the egg and the white should immediately start to swirl around and encase the yolk.

The egg is perfectly poached after about 3-4 minutes.

This is the final poached egg breakfast. I love, love, but don't eat, eat, much bacon. I serve poached eggs on buttered toast. But my trick for toast is to 'fry' it in a hot pan with butter so that the toast gets evenly browned. I find that a toaster makes the toast 'curl' as it gets hot. The photo isn't as clear as I would have liked, but you get the idea. The yolk is set around the edges of the egg white, but the center is runny and gooey. The toast soaks up all that eggy juice. Delicious.

[Eilen]

David, I would love it if you would post your recipe for the huckleberry coffee cake--I've still got about four cups of berries in the freezer from my mother's visit last year.

Also, I'm so glad they finally remodelled that Rosauer's! I love the one up north on Division, but I lived on 11th and Lincoln. There used to be a cute little taqueria to the left of the store--have they survived?

Looking forward to your pics on LV too!

[David Ross]

We have a number of small Farmer's Markets in the Spokane and Couer d'Alene area. Our Farmer's Markets are certainly not huge in scale like the market down in Los Angeles, but we hold our own. Our local markets are usually open on both Wednesday's and Saturday's. There are a lot of locally grown, seasonal products available that give cook's wonderful ideas for supper.

Here are some photos of what was available at the Spokane Farmer's Market this morning:

The farmer told me that 'Garlic Scapes' are tender shoots of spring garlic with a seed bud just starting to form on top. They are delicious served fresh in a salad or served hot in a stir-fry dish.

There was an Asian family of women at this wonderful produce stand. I love these fresh, baby daikon radishes.

This was the highlight of the market for me-a bakery that was selling individual brioche! I have searched for brioche in Spokane for a few years and finally, fresh out of the oven! They were selling for $1.75 each.

Earlier in the week I talked about 'Bing' and 'Ranier' cherries. Now you see them fresh-picked at the Farmer's Market. It may seem late to you that we are selling cherries a week away from the 1st of July. But it takes that long for our warm weather to kick in and give the cherries that last few weeks of sweet ripening. You can see that the Ranier's are 50cents more per pound than the Bings. The Raniers were picked in orchards over in the Yakima Valley which is in the South, Central part of Washington.

I hope you may have had time to read my story on asparagus a few pages back. Here is a photo of our beautiful local asparagus. The stalks aren't too fat, not too skinny. I think it was selling for $2.50 a bunch.

I came away with a bag of fresh pea greens, one of those puffy little Brioche and a 'Fig and Anise' loaf of freshly baked bread. We'll see the pea greens and the fig bread later tonight.

[David Ross]

David, I would love it if you would post your recipe for the huckleberry coffee cake--I've still got about four cups of berries in the freezer from my mother's visit last year.

Also, I'm so glad they finally remodelled that Rosauer's!  I love the one up north on Division, but I lived on 11th and Lincoln.  There used to be a cute little taqueria to the left of the store--have they survived?

Looking forward to your pics on LV too!

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The two best Rosauer's now are the one on the South Hill on 29th and the one on East Sprague in the Valley. I think they did remodel the older store on Lincoln, but it is very small. I don't think the Taqueria is still there.

Thanks for the nice comments about the coffee cake. I started with an old recipe for 'Blueberry Buckle' out of a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, then added the huckleberries, almonds and crumb topping concoction on my own. I added some melted butter to the top just before cutting the coffee cake into squares.

Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup milk

Cream the shortening and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the egg to the shortening and sugar. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and then add to the shortening mixture. With the mixer running, add the milk and combine the batter.

Spread the batter in a 8" square baking pan.

1 cup blueberries or huckleberries, rinsed and drained

Sprinkle the top of the batter with the huckleberries.

3/4 cup sliced almonds

Spread the sliced almonds around the huckleberries on top of the batter.

Mix the crumb topping ingredients in a small bowl. I used my fingers to put little dabs of the topping all over the top of the coffee cake.

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup melted butter

cinnamon

nutmeg

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. I let the coffee cake cool about 20 minutes before cutting it.

[David Ross]

I just watched repeats of the first two episodes today.  What a poor show.

I do local cooking segments on the ABC affiliate in my home town, so I hope I'm pretty experienced when it comes to cooking on TV.

I also appeared in what was really the first 'reality' show about cooking that ran on US television-MasterChef USA on PBS six years ago.  MasterChef still runs on BBC today and is highly popular.

It was a 13 week series showcasing 27 amateur cooks from around the country, ultimately naming the top amateur chef in the USA.  I survived to the top 3 but didn't ultimately win.  Like all the cooking shows on PBS-we kept the food and the cooking as the main focus-not the personalities of the contestants.

I'm a food purist-I watch cooking on television to learn about food and cooking plain and simple.  While it is important that I connect with the host when I watch a cooking show, it makes no difference to me what shape, size, age, sex or tone of voice that the host has. 

I certainly loved Julia Child's crazy, high-pitched voice and her tendency to weild huge cleavers at sides of beef or ugly monkfish.  But that wasn't why I watched Julia.  I watched her because she was a good teacher of cooking and told us about food and ingredients.  That is what I think we captured on MasterChef USA-the 'reality' show tag was simply a hook, but I think we maintained our integrity as cooks by showcasing the ingredients, the food, the preparation and our talents in the kitchen.

I understand why this show is popular with viewers and why the Food Network pushes it.  I imagine it is because it gets good ratings.  Good ratings mean a lot of people watch.  If a lot of people watch, then the Food Network can raise the cost of a commercial because they can tell the advertisers that a lot of people are watching their commercial when it runs during this show.  WHile I do like many of the shows on the Food Network, I don't like this one.

The reality show has become mundane, ordinary and anything but unique.  The formula is basically the same whether the show is on CBS, NBC, Bravo, Fox, MTV, VH1, ABC or Food Network.  Take 'everyday' people and put them in a setting like a hotel or a fancy rental home.  They seem to spend lots of time drinking and deciding who sleeps where. 

The 'candidates' come loaded for bear as we say out West.  In other words, this is their moment to get on TV, so they come dressed in trendy clothes with trendy glasses, goatees and spiked hair and they will tear down anybody who gets in their way.  The one lady on this show that walked in dressed in a hot pink suit and knee length hot pink leather boots didn't look like a serious cook to me.

When I was on MasterChef I was simply competing with myself to present the judges the best food I could prepare.  I was not competing against anyone other than myself, and that's how I survived.

The 'candidates' seem more intent on creating drama and conflict among themselves than keeping focused on why they should be there-the food and the cooking.  I'm not doubting their abilities as chefs nor their knowledge of food, but they don't get it.  They don't realize that food comes first-not the personality or the 'shtick' entertainment value.  From what I saw on two shows I didn't see any of them being able to do a 30 minute show on Food Network.  Yes, there is way too much 'shtick' on "Emeril Live," but what keeps Emeril going is that he is at the heart of the matter a good cook and he knows food.  Doc and the Band aside.

Of course, Food Network encourages the feeding frenzy.  The formula of the reality shows is to focus on the arguing among the candidates so that we'll identify with 'good guy vs. bad guy' from the start.  Remember how Marcel was set up to be the villain from the start on last year's "Top Chef."  Right, you kept tuning in to see who would blow up at Marcel next.  You loved it when Cliff hog-tied Marcel and got kicked off the show. And you loved it on the last episode when Sam slammed Marcel's leadership in the kitchen in front of the judges.  That's right, Sam had to bring up the fact that Marcel left some of the ingredients in the walk-in cooler.  Then in a moment of "you can't write that,"  Marcel took credit away from Sam that the dish with the missing ingredients was changed at the last minute-and the judges actually loved it.  Sam was pissed he didn't get the credit for the dish because he was the one back in the kitchen who told Marcel what to do to make up for the missing ingredients. 

So that's just one little example of how they edit these shows, along with snippets of candidate interviews, a few clips of raised eyebrows, under the breath comments caught on mike, that sort of thing.  It raises the excitement quotient, but lessens the respect for the food and the cooking. 

Hey folks, did you learn to make a wedding cake on that episode today?  I didn't think so.

Now, just to add one more critical comment to my rant, (I've gotten stirred up now), let's talk about that wedding cake competition.  Some of those people didn't even know what fondant is.  They didn't know the cakes at their work stations already had a 'crumb coat' on them to make the final icing coat go on smoothly.  They didn't know because they had no idea what a 'crumb coat' is. 

I'm not saying that you have to know the definition of a crumb coat to be the good host of a television show about cooking.  What I am saying is that if you don't possess a basic knowledge of food and pastry and you are so naive that you don't know what fondant or crumb coat means, you are in trouble.  You won't last on a Food Network show or anything other cooking show for that matter.  Maybe they'll end up being famous for being famous and not for cooking.  I think some some of these people wouldn't know a Sea Bass from a Snapper-and most of them are professionals in the food business. 

Oh well, I supposed between clicks with the clicker I'll tune in again just to see whose survived the latest 'challenge.'  They've got me roped in, a little, even though I hate them for it.

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While I am writing the blog today I am watching Food Network. I'm watching Food Network because the cooking shows on my local PBS station are done for the day and "Simply Magic-Cooking with Heart and Soul" with Kylie Kwong won't be on Discovery Home for three more hours.

I wrote the above comments a couple of weeks ago in the 'Next Food Network Star' forum.

I wanted to tell you a little about what I think of the state of cooking on television today.

My list for the best in food and cooking on televison today is:

-Most shows on PBS with the exception of 'Simply Ming' with Ming Tsai. If Ming says "guys" to the viewers less than 30 times a show that would be a record. I like Ming and I like his recipes. I like the guests he has on the show and I like it when he ventures into a kitchen in Hong Kong to wok-fry crabs. I don't like Ming when he refers to viewers, including women, as "guys you need to clean the cutting board after you cut-up a chicken." We are not "guys" so don't call us something that sounds unprofessional and childish.

-Kylie Kwong "Simply Magic-Cooking with Heat and Soul" on Discovery Home. Ms. Kwong is stylish, sexy and knows her ingredients and how to cook them. She does get at the 'Heart and Soul' of Asian cooking through her tours of dark little alleys in Shanghai where peasant women are steaming dumplings. Her seductive, at least for me, Australian accent adds to the allure of the presentation. And while there is plenty of mood-inducing music and an 'aromatherapy' feel to the graphics and tone of the show, it works.

-Most (see Gordon Ramsay below) cooking shows on BBC America that is devoted to food and cooking. I find it sexy and intriguing to hear a Brit call sugar 'Caster Sugar' and a zucchinni a 'Courgette.' Of course, there are multiple pronunciations for all manner of foodstuffs, but a British accent just sounds cool and old-fashioned at the same time.

My list for the worst in food and cooking on television today is:

-See "The Next Food Network Star" and "Top Chef" above. I watched the latest episode of "The Next Food Network Star" today. If I can't congratulate the contestants in any way, I do give some kudos to the panel of judges. Not for producing this show, but for the honesty in their comments. I don't know the names of any of the contestants nor do I care to learn them. One lady who was let go last week-the one who walked into the set on day one in leather, hot pink go-go pants and thigh-high pink leather boots-was booted off. The head judge, I think he's in Marketing or Production or something, said "Our viewers can spot someone who is fake 500 miles away." Right on dude! Like most 'reality' shows on television, some of the contestants on "The Next Food Network Star" don't realize it isn't about being catty or bitchy to the other contestants. It isn't about scripting your own sense of drama. It should be, but isn't, about the food and cooking. Sure, the viewer has to like you and you have to have the type of personality that connects you to people. But you also have to know about food and cooking and be able to do it under the pressures of television. The 'entertainment' shtick value of this show gets in the way of the food.

-"Hell's Kitchen" on Fox with Gordon Ramsay. I haven't visited the "Hell's Kitchen" forum yet, but I'll start my rant here. This show is even worse than "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares" and "Gordon Ramsay's 'F' Word' on BBC America. No, the 'F' doesn't stand for that. It apparently means 'Food.'

At least Gordon makes attempts at focusing on food in the 'F Word.' He raised two 'organic' pigs in his backyard on the 'F Word.' He was trying his animal husbandry at raising 'heirloom pigs' to see if they tasted better than factory pigs. After the rendering service came to his home and slaughtered and gutted the poor beasts, Gordon cooked them. He said it tasted better than store-bought pig.

Gordon has made a living out of telling people to (bleep) off. He is incredibly rude and unprofessional. It may make for good tv, but isn't that the Fox way? I have met many fine chefs and I doubt that they became successful for shouting profanities at strangers. It really is a disgrace. This year, there is a man on "Hell's Kitchen" that has a kidney disorder which has stunted his growth. Fox certainly didn't position this poor guy from the standpoint that they were trying to 'help' show that someone who is disabled can have a career in the kitchen. Well they can. Anyone, should be given the opportunity to have a career in cooking regardless of the obstacles. They may not make it, but they should be given the chance. I was really disgusted that Fox played this up, knowing that there were would be a 'Jerry Springer' factor to showcasing this type of contestant. I hope this guy wins it all and opens the best new restaurant in LA in 2008!

I'll have to go on another computer and give you some links to stories I wrote about my own experiences with cooking on a 'reality' show on television-'MasterChef USA' on PBS about six years ago. I'll post the links tommorrow.

I will also give you a link to a story on Julia Child, still my favorite cook on television.

I've got to get into the kitchen now and start dinner.

Fig and Anise bread with Melted Bleu Cheese, Candied Hazelnuts and Mixed Greens.

Lots of Washington white wine.

Duck Confit with Rhubarb Chutney, Peas-Pea Shoots-Carrots, 'Pommes de Terre Macaire.' Lots of Washington red wine.

Bing Cherry Ice Cream with Chocolate-Almond Tuiles.

Bed.

[David Ross]

I wanted to add that I think the cooks on 'Top Chef' are pretty talented-both technically in their execution and creatively in the dishes that they come up with. They seem to work well under pressure and I think most of them would be comfortable in any good kitchen. My complaint is in the 'dramatic' element of this show and the focus weighs far too heavy on conflict rather than cooking.

[David Ross]

While I am not a fan of 'The Next Food Network Star,' I do love Iron Chef-both the original series from Tokyo and 'Iron Chef America.'

Currently in our time zone in the Northwest, Seattle Chef Tom Douglas is against Morimoto. If you've seen it don't tell me who won.

I have personally met Chef Douglas on two occasions. On the first, Tom was the judge of my first competition on 'MasterChef USA' on PBS for the Pacific Northwest cookoff. Imagine how nervous I was! Cooking for one of the top chefs in the Northwest. I won that round, so I guess Tom liked my 'Salt and Pepper Prawns with Chinese Cabbage Slaw.' I also did a 'Fragant Spice Pork with Litchee Conserve and Green Onion Noodles,' and then for dessert, 'Puff Pastry Stars with Apple Compote and Candied Ginger Ice Cream.' Thanks Tom.

I then hosted a food charity event in the 'Tri-Cities,' in central Washington. The tri-cities are Pasco, Richland and Kennewick. Tom had a booth at the event selling his books and spice rubs and did a couple of demos.

Tom is very outgoing and friendly-his personality is as big as he is, and that's big!

After MasterChef some of us who competed from the Northwest went to Tom's 'Dahlia Lounge' in Seattle for dinner. Tom hosted us with appetizers and a champagne toast and then treated us to many courses off his menu, all seasonal Northwest fare.

Tonight Tom and Morimoto are going head to head in a wild salmon battle. They must have a big budget for this show, they have so many whole, wild Chinook salmon it probably cost them a fortune.

[David Ross]

Earlier today I mentioned that I once heard Julia Child say that Cheetos were her favorite junk food snack. Another time she mentioned she liked a Big Mac, but not as much as a 'real hamburger' grilled on the barbecue at home.

I consider myself a serious foodie, but I also have the occasional appetite for a bit of junk food. Do you to? Am I going to be the only one to embarass myself on the blog and admit my most recent junk food binge?

Yes, I admit it-I bought a box of the 'new Twinkies.' You probably heard that about a month ago Hostess made a big deal out of the national debut of the 'original' Twinkies. The original Twinkie was filled with banana cream. When bananas got too expensive during the War, the switched to vanilla cream.

Yes, I'm eating a duck confit tongiht and I ate a Twinkie last week. I don't recommend them though, the banana filling is really sweet and it has a metallic sort of banana twang. The box had 10 Twinkies-and there are still 8 of them left. I guess they will be good for another 20 years or so.

[Pierogi]

If Ming says "guys" to the viewers less than 30 times a show that would be a record...  We are not "guys" so don't call us something that sounds unprofessional and childish.

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Thank you thank you thank you, Amen and Alleluia. I love Ming, I think he's adorable (not to mention sexy.... ) but I absolutely want to b*tch-slap him silly every time he says "GUYS". Just sets my teeth on edge.

And Julia is the BEST. And always will be.

[David Ross]

If Ming says "guys" to the viewers less than 30 times a show that would be a record...  We are not "guys" so don't call us something that sounds unprofessional and childish.

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Thank you thank you thank you, Amen and Alleluia. I love Ming, I think he's adorable (not to mention sexy.... ) but I absolutely want to b*tch-slap him silly every time he says "GUYS". Just sets my teeth on edge.

And Julia is the BEST. And always will be.

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Oh thank you, thank you. MING ARE YOU AN eGULLETEER? If you hear us, please stop now. No more 'you guys.' Last week it got so bad I turned it off. Ming-it's not hard-try something like "o.k. folks, now we are going to plate the stir-fried scallops and brocolli." That's right, "folks." It's safer and less abrasive than calling grown adults "guys."

[David Ross]

Well, my fellow Northwesterner won. Yes, Tom beat Morimoto in the Salmon battle on Iron Chef. Great job Tom!

My favorite dish Tom did was a roasted salmon 'collar.' The salmon collar comes from just behind the head of the salmon where the gills meet the body of the fish. The meat is very oily, fatty and juicy. The best way to eat it is with your hands so you can suck all the juice out of the salmon. Tom just roasted it and that was it. The garnishes were just for show in my opinion. The salmon collar looked delicious.

[David Ross]

I'm in the middle of cooking while watching "Are You Being Served?" on PBS. Hmm, British comedy from the 70's while cooking potatoes.

The rhubarb chutney stewed down to a thick, spicy and fragrant relish, but I've got to let it cool in the refrigerator overnight so I'm going to subsitute something I had been keeping in the fridge. It is a bottle of 'Marionberry' syrup. Yeah! Another Northwest product and one I had totally forgotten was in the drawer of the fridge. I bought it last Summer at 'Baumann Farms' fruit stand just outside Salem, Oregon. Should go well with that rich duck confit.

[C. sapidus]

David: I have enjoyed your enthusiastic foodblog very much. With your long commute, I am amazed that you manage to cook such remarkable meals. Thank you for sharing your week, and for providing a knowledgeable tour of your food-rich part of the country.

I am looking forward to the rest of your foodblog, and (after you take a well-deserved break) to your contributions on Dinner!

[mizducky]

You've got the touch, David.

I was about to ask you if you were familiar with Bai Tong, the venerable Thai restaurant just outside Sea-Tac Airport, but when I went to look up their website just now I found it a "dead" front page; I also stumbled upon a web posting suggesting they had closed. Do you happen to know the place, and what may have become of it? I cherish the taste and mouthfeel memory of their black sticky rice pudding.

Edited June 24, 2007 by mizducky (log)

[David Ross]

You've got the touch, David.

I was about to ask you if you were familiar with Bai Tong, the venerable Thai restaurant just outside Sea-Tac Airport, but when I went to look up their website just now I found it a "dead" front page; I also stumbled upon a web posting suggesting they had closed. Do you happen to know the place, and what may have become of it? I cherish the taste and mouthfeel memory of their black sticky rice pudding.

←

Wow, thanks for bringing back some wonderful Thai food memories. Yes, I do remember Bai Tong. A lot of people who worked in the airline industry and at the airport used to go there. It was good, spicy Thai food at cheap prices.

I am not sure, but I think it has been out of business a couple of years. There has been a lot of construction in that area and that may have sealed the fate of Bai Tong. They widened the street and added a center island between the lanes. There is currently a big project being built right outside the back door of the site of Bai Tong. The local governments approved building a light rail to the airport-a much needed mode of transportation that will help ease some of Seattle's terrible traffic congestion around the airport.

I never tried the black sticky rice pudding at Bai Tong but it sounds very interesting. I do remember they had very good Pad Thai and there was a spicy chicken stir-fry (can't remember the name) that was also a favorite.

[prasantrin]

I have one more question that I've been meaning to ask for quite some time (but I keep forgetting, so I hope you don't mind my asking here rather than the original topic).

Over on the Dinner topic, you posted your recipe for onion rings--soak in milk, dredge in flour, fry. But your coating looked so solid, that I was sure they were batter-dipped rather than flour-dredged. Did you dry the onions before dredging, or were they still wet from the milk? And is it just a single dredging, or do you dip them in the flour two or three times? I'm wondering how you go the flour to stick to the onions so well. And have you ever tried using cornstarch instead of the flour mix?

[David Ross]

I have one more question that I've been meaning to ask for quite some time (but I keep forgetting, so I hope you don't mind my asking here rather than the original topic).

Over on the Dinner topic, you posted your recipe for onion rings--soak in milk, dredge in flour, fry.  But your coating looked so solid, that I was sure they were batter-dipped rather than flour-dredged.  Did you dry the onions before dredging, or were they still wet from the milk?  And is it just a single dredging, or do you dip them in the flour two or three times?  I'm wondering how you go the flour to stick to the onions so well.  And have you ever tried using cornstarch instead of the flour mix?

←

Great questions and thank you for visiting the blog-and for remembering my onion rings on the dinner forum.

By the way, I start by slicing the onion rings very thin, only about 1/8-1/4" thick. They seem to fry up quicker and get really crispy when they are fried if they aren't sliced too thick.

I soak the onion rings only in whole milk. I then take them out of the milk with my hands and put them straight into the fry mix. Because I use my hands to take the onion rings from the milk straight to the fry mix/flour, some of the milk goes with the onion rings. When you then dredge them in the flour it sort of makes its own batter-but it's just simple mix/four-dredged.

So soak the onion rings in milk and then take them out of the milk and put them into the flour. I only dredge them once and then they go straight away into the oil

I use a seasoned flour sold at the market in the spices/flour section. It is 'Pride of The West' brand that is made in Portland, Oregon. It may be hard to find outside Northwest Markets. I tried a lot of mixes and that is the one I liked the best. 'Krusteaz' brand is also a very good fry mix. It is made in Seattle and they also make muffin, bread and pancake mixes. They are a big national company so you may be able to find it outside the Northwest.

I prefer a pre-made fry mix over plain flour. The fry mixes usually have some baking powder mixed in with the flour and they may also have some cornstarch. The baking powder and cornstarch seem to add to making the onion rings more crisp and light over regular flour.

Cornstarch does make fried foods extra crispy. I use a 50-50 mix of flour and cornstarch when I do Asian style fried foods.

In the past I almost always used vegetable or canola oil for deep-frying. It is certainly cheaper than peanut oil and I didn't like the strong flavor of foods deep-fried in peanut oil when I used it in the past. But I got back on the peanut oil bandwagon a couple of months ago, and now I prefer it for frying over canola oil. It gives fried foods that extra flavor element from the peanuts you wouldn't get from tasteless canola oil.

For the onion rings to be perfectly crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside, you have to get the oil to about 365-375 degrees. I don't use a fancy deep-fryer. I pour the oil in a deep Calphalon stockpot. I use a long candy thermometer to make sure the oil is the right temperature before I start frying the onion rings.

If the oil is not hot enough the onion rings will be soggy and soaked with oil. The taste of poorly fried onion rings is like drinking a cup of peanut oil-awful.

On the other hand if the oil is too hot-like 400 degrees-the onion rings will immediately burn when you drop them into the hot oil. The flavor of over-fried onion rings is bitter and not at all pleasant.

Onion rings sound simple, but like 'bread,' simple sounding foods take some experimentation to get them just right to suit your own personal tastes.

Let me know how it goes for you. In fact, I'm working on my last dinner for the blog tonight and I think I'll make some of those onion rings!

[prasantrin]

Great questions and thank you for visiting the blog-and for remembering my onion rings on the dinner forum.

I've been thinking of those onion rings almost every day since I saw them! Good onion rings just don't exist in Japan (the ones at Kua'Aina aren't bad, but they're expensive, and I've never been to Okinawa to try the Japanese A&W ones) and I'm an onion ring lover, so yours just called out to me. It's quite hot and humid right now, undortunately, so deep frying isn't an option for me right now.

I like to make fried chicken with 100% cornstarch, by the way. I love the crust I get. I don't know if I'll be able to get any kind of seasoned flour here, so I'll have to experiment with flour/starch/rice flour combinations.

Thanks for your help, and I'm looking forward to seeing your last blog dinner! (But I'm a little afraid I'll be too jealous of your onion rings!)