Quotes from Tom Douglas

Thanks to the abundance of shellfish in Puget Sound, Washington State is the largest oyster producer in the country.

Often we eat squid fried, so it's fun to grill it for a change. To grill squid, slice the cleaned bodies open into two flat pieces and thread them, along with the tentacles, onto skewers, then grill quickly over a direct fire with the coals as close as possible to the grate, turning the squid several times.

Every chef has his treats. By that, I mean bits and pieces from things you're working on - crusty little cake trimmings, ends from a brisket, collars from a salmon, scraps. But they're snacks to me, and I eat them right off the cutting board - maybe too much.

When I wrote my cookbook, 'I Love Crab Cakes,' I asked some of my best chef buddies to contribute recipes.

Who doesn't love digging into a plate of crab cakes or going after a chilled cracked crab with crab cracker, cocktail fork and a plastic bib for protection?

After being cooked, ling cod tends to bleed out some moisture, so, before serving, let it rest a few moments on a plate. Once the moisture has been released, you can carefully pick up the fillet with a slotted spatula and transfer it to another plate for saucing. This way, you won't sog out your beautiful sauce.

I would love to see McDonald's pay more money.

I think that people need to stand up with their backbone and not go to places where they feel like the workers aren't taken care of.

I particularly like to make crunchy slices of garlic bread to serve with steamed clams.

If you want something beautiful to put on the dinner table, pick up a sockeye, the salmon species with the most vivid red flesh.

Cooks are an undervalued, awesome profession.

Steaming is a great way to cook any firm fleshed fish, but it's often overlooked by the home cook.