evilhomer

i've been enjoying blackstone's this season prior to that we typically keep plymouth around - it's got the most distinctive juniper flavour of the available brands . for tonic, while schweppes is lovely, i'm gonna have to plum for good ole canada dry - very assertive quinine, perfect with gin and a lime twist which more closely approximates a swatch.

is etobicoke the burbs? cheese boutique on ripley is worth the trip (which is formidable if you don't have an auto and live downtown) it's near the meeting og the queensway/kingsway

so i tried this americano but with cynar instead of campari just 1:1 sweet vermouth and cynar. topped up with some soda water. it needed a few dashes of angostura to balance out, a nice simple prelude of a drink. They had some other amari's at the liquor store (montenegro was the only one i recognized) alongside jaegermeister, unicum and alpenbitter. also a luxardo amari and luxardo fernet - the world of bitters is indeed vast.

4 recipes to cover an array of technique, which can be varied in infinite ways to incorporate an infinte array of ingredients eggs benny. roast chicken with roast veg. salad nicoise. flourless chocolate cake.

watered down espresso gin-less cocktails I can't help but wonder is 'Americano' isn't something of a diminutive term

http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/nlpde...php?prodid=1046 Nice to see some attention for this product from Padua -- which, I am given to understand, is a great place to go if you want to wive it wealthily (with apologies to Cole Porter). ← UK delivery only - they have a rather serious selection there though. (the drink shop, not the UK, although I'm sure they're not too shabby either)

of course you can't where is it available?

In addition to some nice meatstuffs (but pricy - these are whole foods prices - with the added advantage that this is at the halfway point between home and work and of course all organic and largely local) They have a really great selection of sheeps milks cheeses. pecorino fresco, a great semi soft cheese rolled in rosemary and juniper (ate a sizable chunk of this last night), the best baa feta, some cheddars, an ash covered pyramid - very nice. and very nice people working. I came by ten minutes after they had closed, they were wiping down counters and sweeping the floor but still happy to open up and sell me some chicken and a little cheese and chat about them for some time - with good humour to boot. I'm very excited about this addition to the neighbourhood.

the vini fratellini in firenze make probably the best sandwiches i've ever had. I usually opt for caprino and cinghiale piccante which is spicy salami and tangy goat cheese. there's not much like a tomato, basil and mozzarela sandwich though or ham cheddar and apple and when it comes right down to it I could never turn down a nice chicken salad, made laurie colwins way (this is not a simple recipe as first you have to bake a loaf of white bread....)

Given the three recent experiences of mixing a negroni that knocked my socks off, reading the cocktails before dinner thread and searching the forum (unsuccesfully) for an existing thread I have some questions about the myriad drinks which seem most appropriate before a meal. While martinis and their ilk are of course imbibed before many a meal, I'm thinking more specifically of the bitter beverages which i've seen lots of in italy (campari and occasionally cynar are all that's available at the local lcbo though) and I understand the french have plenty of their own apetite stimulating beverages. firstly - what are these drinks. grain alcohol infused with various herbs and spices? they do seem to constitute their own category of drink but I can't quite discern its boundaries. secondly - are there some other resources, online or otherwise, which deal comprehensively with this subject. A row of two dozen foreign bottles can be an (enjoyably) overwhelming experience so as we prepare to head overseas again I'd like to prime myself a bit more thoroughly. finally - what are your personal faves. do you make them at home or just enjoy them at fine restaurants. are they available here, ordered online, brought back in your suitcases?

it ain't friday but tonight was our first fully settled evening in the new apartment so cocktails away. i had a negroni - i'd only read about these before so without any baseline to compare, I think it was exceptionally good, 1:1:1 campari:martini&rosso vermouth:blackstone gin with an orange twist. It was bitter refreshing sweet herbal pungent complex intense and ultimately very refreshing drink. somewhere between a manhattan and a campari soda i suppose, i think a lot of blackstones subtlety got overwhelmed and if we still had something more juniper-y i'd give that a go. the negroni of june 14 will henceforth be the baseline. mrs. homer had a G&T with a splash of ouzo which gave it the slightest milkiness. good drinks for watching a serious thunderstorm unfold

thanks for sharing that doc - what a warm wedding gift (and one that will certainly keep on giving). I got a little confused on the jigger details, we're talking about 3 jiggers, each of a different size?

This looks (and I don't use this word lightly) stunning. I see how the edges could be a bit tighter - there's room for geometric refinements but it is a very exciting plate. Could you please explain a bit more thoroughly how this is prepared?

not the quickest easiest recipe but not too time consuming either - i recently made this for a wine gathering based on sauv blanc. garlic soup poach the young garlic (I had a bunch of ~6 stems) in a light veggie broth (mine was lots of celery, some parsley stems, an onion, some peppercorns and the peel of a lemon) along with a small potato. Season, puree along with one raw garlic clove and half a raw shallot and adjust the seasoning (you could strain it here too). Toast a piece of bread, rub a garlic clove all over it and schmear with brebis (a young goat cheese could work too). Put the crostone at the bottom of a wide bowl, pour hot soup over top and enjoy (with a sancerre or any other sb which tickles your fancy)

there are a few things you can try - blanch the basil for about 10 seconds, shock it in ice water, wring it dry and make sure that it's very dry, add the oil and whizz the hell out of it in a blender and then you can strain it if you want. the product will be as good as your herb/oil but that's a solid technique for intense flavour extraction.

Just what precisely is a "bar set" There seem to be simple shakers and then straining devices, various spoons and jiggers and then the tools start looking archaic. I'm sure there as many answers as people mixing drinks but what's at the core of it? what are interesting additions? what do you see as useless additions? what determines the quality of these? they have been prominent design objects since at least the 1920's (perhaps someone will pull the rug out from under me here with a louis 14 bar set) so there's an obvious functionality and aesthetic element, are some materials better than others, what sets superior bar sets apart from run of the mill ones. I have many more questions but I think this sets the tone of my inquiry, I look forward to your feedback and the inevitable pics of your bar sets too.

a few years ago in sorrento we found that tonic cuts nicely through the sweetness of the drink (I don't know how sugary yours is though). from that, back home i've not strayed too far from adding a hefty splash to a gin and tonic and making a sort of granita with canteloupes - basically put a canteloupe in the blender with 1/2 C of limoncello, about a tsp. of salt and then freeze it, stirring every 20 minutes.

in the spirit of pasta carbonara - a dish to be consumed at the end of an evening full of drink and merriment - we make a good deal of late night blt spaghetti. which is just what it sounds like - hot spaghetti, crisp chunks of bacon, an egg yolk added off the heat with a little acidity (which is of course traditional to the carbonara, but also approximates the mayo) and then fresh tomato and lettuce(s). It's very satisfying and a great use for fresh lettuce. I often think that a sort of pangritata would add to the blt-ness of it all, but i've not ever gotten around to it.

dates (though i'm sure other dried fruits hold potential) a smoked date is a fantastic thing, the texture becomes denser and chewier. the smoke meets the deep sticky sweetness. it's a fantastic combo. go for big ones with some moisture left in them.

it's now on st clair a bit west of christie, still great and a much larger space than when they were eglinton. It's also largely laotian - I want to say this is different somehow from thai food, but as all lao restaurants in this city seem to be run by the same family it could well just be their take on it.

fonzie's (available seemingly only in the dodgiest of italian grocery stores) are a gorgonzola flavoured cheezy. they're not particularly pungent (actually they taste more like fontina to me) but they're delicious.

they teethed me on bagels

i'm right around the corner - really ought to check them out sometime soon. at habitat on saturday i saw that 'healthy butcher' is proudly proclaimed as proof of the steaks provenance. ayone tried the prepared food - what are they doing there?

given the responses - this needs reiterating. it really is a notch above everything out else right now. for takeout salad king is great also flip toss thai on harbord at bathurst though the ambience really is (as i think NOW put it) comparable to the cafeteria at nearby central tech.

don't test mcgee