The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Sometimes, on a rare day off, I am known to binge episodes of the Food Network classic, Chopped. As contestant chefs brainstorm dishes on the fly, using the surprise "basket ingredients," I play along imagining what I would create. I am often moved to shout at the screen when chefs make a doomed decision. NO, there is never enough time for risotto!

This past weekend, I had my own Chopped experience when my aunt called to invite me to a family dinner. She offered wild caught Alaskan sockeye salmon and sea scallops, as ingredients for me to experiment with. With what I had in my pantry and ga...