Keith Orr
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Posts posted by Keith Orr
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What a lovely gift!
The knive is unusual and kind of scary looking - here's the Williams Sonoma description: Perfect paring knife has a unique hybrid shape that combines the characteristics of a standard paring knife, sheep’s-foot paring and bird’s beak paring knife for deft preparation of fruits and vegetables.
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I needed falernum in a hurry so I made up a batch of rich falernum syrup from the Kaiser Penguin blog. I'm not sure what the fridge life is going to be but I haven't made much of a dent in it in almost two weeks. Would heating it again buy some time? Maybe tossing it in the the freezer? I'm happy with the flavor so I don't really want to end up tossing it if I can avoid it.
With that much sugar it should be pretty stable in the refrigerator. If you add a couple of oz of overproof rum or everclear it should last indefinitely in the refrigerator.
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I'm not again it (M.C.), but I find it funny that if we make fake cherries at home with gelling goop and enzymes, its "cool", but if you buy them made by a large factory, its 'gross'.
The difference I see is that if I'm making fake cherries, I can start with top-quality real cherries. With industrially produced fake cherries, the quality of the cherries themselves may be questionable. In other words, it's not the magic white powders that make the fake cherries "gross"; it's the quality of the natural ingredients.
I come from the land of fake cherries - Oregon produces industrial tank loads of them. The quality of the cherries used is very high in order to produce a blemish free product. What they do with the fruit is another thing. Bleaching the color out of them until they are whiter than white, treatment to give them texture, coloring and flavoring is added.
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It's National Margarita Day! I discovered that after I had consumed an Old Fashioned. I made up for it by drinking two Margaritas!
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Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito, which claims to be America's longest running cooking show. I can't bear to watch it.
Cucina Amore wasn't my favorite show and Nick Stellino (born in Palermo Sicily) seemed more like an enthusiastic actor than a chef - some of the things he did skills wise were pretty amateurish. His bio says he apprenticed with the best chefs in America, but makes no claim of ever owning a restaurant. That being said he seems to support himself well with his cooking shows, books and motivational speaking if his wardrobe is any indication of his success.
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I like the the Red Beans & Rice Recipe from Chuck Taggart's Gumbo Pages. It's worth the effort to start a couple of days early and make the pickle meat. Good Andouile and Meaty, Smoky Ham Hocks are worth their weight in gold too.
Also a critical element of the full enjoyment of Red Beans and Rice in my house is a Zydeco playing loudly and a liberal dosing of Sazeracs!
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Picked up a SodaStream at Costco today - came with the larger CO2 tank, two of the 1 liter bottles with the stainless bottoms and an assortment of flavorings - all for $99.99.
So far so good - I filled the bottles with water from the Brita Pitcher.
The main reason I bought it was that I really hate the carting bottles of the store bought product and returning the bottles afterwards. I don't think that the financial savings will be large, but the savings in time and aggravation will be. I figure by the time I run through the 130 liter CO2 tank I'll have broken even dollar wise at about a dollar per liter. It appears that refilled CO2 containers are available locally for $30 which would bring the refill price per bottle down to about a quarter each. The water bottles are supposed to be replaced every three years, which would work out to $10 per year for the more expensive style that came with my unit - so add another nickle or two to the per bottle price and I'm still a happy camper.
I don't disagree with the poster who said that using a Cornelius Keg in his Keggerator is cheaper, but I don't have a Keggerator or the space to put one even if I had the desire to have one.
Also if anyone is so inclined, there is an adapter available on eBay for $90 that lets you hook up a larger CO2 tank - It kind of takes it out of the realm of kitchen countertop friendly though.
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Most mint used for flavoring is distilled into peppermint oil. Peppermint oil is readily available and may make a better end product, if not a true infusion.
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There's a local roaster here in Portland that has developed reusable filters for the Aeropress and a cone type drip coffee maker - they are different than the gold type screens. They use some sort of micro acid etch process I think. They come in a couple of grades of fineness and may be a good option for something between a French Press and a paper filter.
There's a ton of coffee geekness on their website
http://coava.myshopify.com/collections/store
Darienne - I find a lot of difference in the way different coffees affect me - French Roast from one roaster can have a totally different level of acidity than from another roaster
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Here's a fairly new Vermouth Resource courtesy of Martin Doudoroff - Vermouth 101
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FWIW also the name of a Salem Oregon Microbrewery (Gilgamesh)
Edit to add - I was trying to reply to the Gilgamesh Cocktail Post
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Call around to your local homebrewing stores, they all seem to carry dried elderflowers
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So Bitter Orange season is coming up and I'm going to make more of Boston Apothecary's orange liqueur.
I've reread the thread and I'll comment generally.
I had no problem with louching.
This stuff is better than second rate triple sec in my opinion. In fact it's pretty damn good and the price is right. I've made cocktails with it and Cointreau and most of the time the difference in overall quality is insignificant (in my opinion).
I've had great success using this product in Sidecars, Mai Tais (I make my own orgeat too) and Margaritas.
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I drink gallons of cold brewed iced tea in the summer.
I mostly use the Trader Joe's Mango Black Tea, occasionally Earl Grey - 8 bags in a half gallon jar, fill it with water and put it in the fridge overnight.
I pull the bags out when I pour the first glass. I like it straight on ice, no sugar or lemon.
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I just came across this thread during a search.
According to Dept of Agriculture, there are patches of blackthorn in the NE where is has become naturalized. According to legend there are some thickets of blackthorn here in the Willamette Valley of Western Oregon - I haven't figured out where just yet.
While I'm looking for the naturalize patches around here I'm working on growing my own. I acquires eight rooted suckers this weekend and I've got them potted up and I'll plant them on my property once they're going well.
Hopefully in the not too distant future I'll be picking my own.
Unfortunately the fruit from the bush I got the suckers from is spoken for.
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So my original effort was a failure - the dried orange peels I bought had very little flavor and less aromatics.
I saw Boston Apothecary's post a while back and using 100 proof vodka made a couple of litres of sour orange peel flavored infusion that I'm very happy with.
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Keith: do you think if we make it to his recipe (but with bourbon) and leave it for a few days that'll do the trick then?
I think it's certainly worth a try. It's easy enough to make that you might want to try aging a batch and making a fresh batch to make a side by side comparison. Might be a good topic for your blog...
One thing about the amount of sugar in Morganthaler's recipe is that is makes nog that's comparable in sweetness to the commercial product. I prefer it less sweet.
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I think Morgenthaler's recipe is great for quick and dirty eggnog - use 1/3 less sugar though or it's overly sweet to my tastes. I don't think it's in the same league as eggnog that's aged for a minimum of three days and more is even better.
I also agree that even for this Yankee, bourbon is a must ingredient.
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It's eggnog season again, at least in my mind.
I just made a two batches of my Shop Eggnog.
I varied a bit in one batch by using Whaler's Rum which is darker and sweeter than the Cruzan 2 yo I usually use. I also substituted some housemade pimento dram for some of the brandy.
The traditional batch is aging for Thanksgiving festivities.
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On my recent trip, with less time on my hands than I'd have liked, I devoted one full evening each to drinks at Clyde Common, where Jeff Morgenthaler is now holding court, and at Teardrop Lounge, where I enjoyed the work of the estimable trio of Dan Shoemaker, Ted Charak, and Daniel Shenaut. (Allison Dykes was also behind the stick but didn't make me any drinks, sadly -- not that I wasn't putting my head back frequently.) Both bars are serving world-class drinks from terrific bartenders who are really nice people to boot.
Clyde Common
I have no idea what was happening at Clyde Common before Jeff recently arrived, but his uber-professional sensibility, mad skills, and terrific demeanor set the tone there now. (Props to Nate Tilden, proprietor, who brought Jeff up from Eugene and who gives a great BOH tour. I'll never tell where the super-old Pappy is, Nate.) Though he moves very quickly on a busy night, Jeff measures, tastes, and adjusts every single drink that goes out, and not just the cocktailian brews. His team's ability to handle a wide array of personalities was pretty impressive, too, never anything but friendly no matter the drink order and appropriately explicit with the drunks.
The drinks were all stellar. (Jason Barwikowski's food was great, too, especially the cocktail-friendly food I focused on: confit lamb belly, olive oil poached octopus, and one of the best cod dishes -- seared with razor clams and pickled celery -- I've ever had.) I really loved the Norwegian Wood (Krogstad aquavit, Laird's applejack, Cinzano rosso, yellow Chartreuse, Angostura) and think it would be off-the-charts good if Jeff had access to BIB Laird's. I also thought that the Bittersweet Symphony (Martin Miller, Aperol, Punt e Mes) was note-perfect, and Jeff's version of an Old Fashioned using the Evan Williams 1998 (from CC's remarkable rye list) was the best I've ever had, a truly superior match of spirit and preparation.
Teardrop Lounge
I think I'm in love with Dan Shoemaker (and not -- full disclosure -- because he comped a drink or two). If it didn't happen when he said, "When I decided I had to open this place, eGullet taught me everything," it happened the moment when he handed me his version of an Improved Gin Cocktail, a breaktaking glass featuring Hayman's Old Tom gin and Marteau absinthe. In its evocation of both the classic lessons of the past and the remarkable state of the craft today, it was the most memorable cocktail I've ever had, and I'm damned if I can give you a word more description than that.
Dan, Ted, and Daniel have a passion for cocktails that would be somewhat hard to believe if their drinks didn't deliver on every promise, implied or otherwise. Over the course of my evening, I enjoyed samples of homemade libations including dry vermouth, Amer Picon, tonic water, grenadine, creme de cacao, ginger beer, kummel, and several tinctures, including costus and pau d'arco; a vodka flight, including one distilled from honey, that changed my mind about what vodka could be; eau d'Amis; and a gin flight.
I also had cocktails: a September Morn; a Modus Operandi (Sazerac rye, Amaro Nonino, Carpano Antica, sasparilla & clove tintures, Pau d’Arco bitters); a Dizzy Sour, with Depaz blue cane rhum, Sazerac rye, Bénédictine, lemon, and sugar; and a Sandcastles in the Sky, with Glenfarclas 12 year, Bénédictine, floc de gascogne, Marteau absinthe, and citrus oil. It was the most astonishing series of cocktails I've ever had, each topping the previous. I can't imagine better drinks than these.
I closed the evening with an on-the-spot invention by Daniel with Hayman's St. Germain, Dolin dry, orange flower water, and an orange twist; he called it an Ephemeral Cocktail, but it lingered well after I wandered out onto the Portland streets, as has the memory of that wonderful evening.
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The two places are very different: Clyde Commons evokes an old, wood-grain Portland that probably never existed, with a bar set to the side of the main show in the dining room and open kitchen; Teardrop Lounge is all 21-century cocktail bar, with the well, the "droplet" shelf, and even the walls oozing tinctures, projects, books, and barrels. Coming from a town with not one solid choice for a quality bar, I would be happy in Portland never having to make a decision about which was better, given how fantastic both are.
Teardrop is the ultimate Cocktail Experience. Clyde Commons is a wonderful place, but the old wood grain experience was Erickson's - at one time the longest bar in the world, at least according to local legend. It was a working man's bar and probably had very little other than alcohol in common with Clyde. Clyde Commons has much to recommend it. Even more so since Morgenthaler took the helm at the bar, but it's more than cocktails and IMHO is the best Happy Hour place in Portland. Second best, but first in other's opinion would be Ten-01.
Teardrop is the Cocktail Intellectual's hang out of choice. Personally a couple of Clyde Common HH cocktails, a burger and fries followed up with a visit to Teardrop is as good as it gets for this Oregon Boy.
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Heading to Portland next month and wondering what bars are a must hit. I already know about the Teardrop and plan on going there. Anything else I shouldn't miss?
Ten01 Bistro with Kelley Swenson behind the bar is pretty good. Heard good things about 50 Plates, though they were too mobbed the last time I was in town and I didn't get a chance to visit the bar. Jeffrey Morgenthaler just started working at Clyde Common, which already had a decent bar. And best of all, these are all within a few blocks of each other (and of Teardrop).
Thanks for the recommendations Paul. I'll hit as many as I can. By the way, I'm a big fan of your blog. Lots of great info and very well written. If you ever happen to find yourself in Reno, NV stop by Chapel Tavern. We're a small place but we're doing our best to raise the bar, so to speak, in the land of sweet and sour long islands and red-headed sluts. Thanks again.
Those three places are probably the cream of crop. Happy Hour starts at 3 pm at Clyde Common and they have great $5 cocktails, HH Burgers & Fries and then it's a couple of blocks to Teardrop and or Ten01.
Powell's Books which is an enormous local bookstore is right in the middle - a square block multistory bookstore.
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You have to calculate the algebraic percentage of alcohol in the finished product.
You begin with 25.4 ounces of 100 proof (50% ABV) vodka. When you finish, measure the total volume. Divide 25.4 by the total volume and multiply by 100 to get the final proof.
Tim
Thanks, Tim.
But are you assuming that the alcohol and water of the spirit get absorbed into the solid matter at an identical rate? Because it's been my experience that the solids (fruit, herbs, etc.) absorb more alcohol than water. If you taste a piece of fruit that's been macerating in booze for some time, it hardly tastes like fruit, just fibrous booze. And the resultant liquid is much more flavorful and has a lower proof than the spirit used, hence the ability to freeze. Without a hydrometer, how can you tell what the proof is?
Hi,
I never assumed that precision was important to this equation. If you have to be that precise, a $10 hydrometer is the obvious solution, and probably faster than a caculator.
Tim
A Hydrometer won't tell you the alcohol of the resulting liquid only the specific gravity of the finished product. Alcohol has a lower specific gravity than water, sugar a higher specific gravity.
You can come up with an approximate amount of alcohol by comparing the volume of alcohol you started with and the volume of the finished product. I.e if you started out with a liter of 100 proof vodka and you end up with 1.25 liters of finished product it would be about 80 proof.
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How are you going to make the orange gin? I've occasionally tried to fake that up by microplaning an orange's worth of zest into several ounces of gin for a brief infusion.
Yeah, that's exactly what I will do.
I've heard there are some brands of around, but I don't see much point in searching them out for a couple cocktails.
Prolly, the quick orange infusion is superior, anyway.
I'd been looking for an excuse to make something with my homemade apricot brandy and this drink looked interesting. I didn't have any orange gin so I used a couple of dashes of Angostura Orange Bitters.
I liked the drink. A bit sweet but the flavors worked well together.Moderator note: This topic continues in the Stomping Through the "Savoy" (2007–2008) topic (The original 'Stomping Through the "Savoy"' topic became too big for our servers to handle, so we've split it up).
Sitting down with a Byrrh
in Spirits & Cocktails
Posted
Byrrh showed up in Portland Oregon last week. $21 A bottle. Excellent addition to the local choices.
We made Byrrh Cocktails - 1.5 oz Byrr, 1 oz VSOP Cognac & 1/4 oz kirsch - shaken. I tried it stirred and it wasn't nearly as good. The kirsch didn't show as much and the shaking develops a nice froth.
We also made the Le Negociant Cocktail Recipe on the back of the bottle of Byrrh - 1 oz Byrrh, 1 oz Rhum Agricole, 1/2 oz Elderflower Liquor, 1/2 oz lemon juice - shake and strain.
The Byrrh Cocktail would make a great after dinner drink. The Le Negociant is lighter and very refreshing. I'll be making them both in the future.