FrogPrincesse

@Cocktologist Welcome! As others have said, @eje has done quite a bit of research on Hercules and published his own recreations on this blog, Savoy Stomp. Here is his recipe. Some people just use Punt E Mes as a substitute. Interestingly, The Savoy Cocktail book is the only cocktail book that has recipes made with Hercules. I am guessing this was some kind of clever product placement. In 2022, The American Bar at the Savoy brought it back, but there aren't much details other than it is a vermouth type ingredient that was recreated by this distillery.

I also tried this product. The flavor is exactly as advertised but I wasn't a big fan of the texture. They are hollow and very crunchy / dry.

This was the sweet corn burrata ravioli. I think next time I will just make the pesto from scratch with fresh basil. I have access to fresh herbs, nuts etc and it's not that hard to make. I just got "lazy" this time...

Here is dinner I made two days ago using all TJ's products: sweet corn burrata ravioli, pesto, ricotta, and arugula. Out of these 4 products, the ricotta is the standout for me: it tastes as good as the one I make from scratch! It's a great product. On the other hand, the pesto tastes very vegetal if that makes sense, and not very basil-y. Homemade is clearly a notch above. The ravioli is decent, good but not great.

Never mind. Amazon Produce network is the larger importer of mangoes into the US, and has no connection to Amazon. Sigh of relief!

My Trader Joe's had these mangoes a couple of weeks ago. Only got a box, and regretted not getting more. It looks like they didn't get more. They were really good. Funny now I see the fine print: distributed by "Amazon Produce network"! (odd, especially after reading this)

See this cook-off thread for more taco inspiration.

The fish taco is San Diego's signature dish, so I feel compelled to respond as a 25+ year resident. We usually see them topped with salsa fresca, shredded green cabbage, and fresh avocado. A little bit of crema and a squeeze of lime. A dash of hot sauce to your liking (cholula, tapatio). That's it. If you are feeling fancy, finely sliced radishes for extra crunch. Some restaurants make theirs with mango or pineapple salsa which is nice too. At the end of the day, it's really about the fish so everything else is there to highlight rather than cover it.

It looks like I have been in the mood for pineapple lately, because after Nik Sharma's pineapple serrano gin, I made the pineapple upside down cake from Sweet Enough! It's something I have had of course, but I don't believe I had ever made it. It's quite easy. I used 1/2 pineapple and a 10" springform pan. It starts with a heavy sprinkle of brown sugar on the buttered pan, that is covered by a mosaic of pineapple (I had just enough). I skipped the cherries because I am not a fan of maraschino cherries, even the good ones. Then you drizzle with rum (I used pineapple rum, because I could), and pour the batter on top. (Note: I had a little bit of rum leakage during cooking because of the springform. If you use a regular cake pan, this shouldn't be an issue.) The batter also has rum, plus vanilla extract. She says to bake for 40-45 minutes. At 40 it wasn't ready, at 45 min the toothpick test said it was ready but when I cut the cake, the center wasn't entirely cooked. Next time I would bake it for 50-55 minutes. Warm, this cake is absolutely delicious! And the larger cake pan is the way to go in order to maximize the pineapple to cake ratio.

I made the "pineapple serrano gin" from Season. The name is a bit confusing (and might scare your guests); this is actually a gin cocktail that starts by infusing gin with pineapple and serranos. The technique is interesting, I have made pineapple gin in the past for the Violet Hour Riviera cocktail by just infusing chunks of pineapple into gin for a few days, but here he blitzes the pineapple and gin in a blender, adds sliced serranos and sugar, and infuses in the fridge for 1-2 days. After 1 day I was happy with the level of heat, so I proceeded to strain (he says to use a cheesecloth, I used a nut bag which is infinitely more practical). This results in a concentrated infusion with a nice color that is diluted with water (2 parts concentrate for 1 part water) and served on ice with a sliced serrano garnish. It's delicious! I am sure it would taste equally great with tequila or mezcal.

Thank you! They tasted good. Just not sure they were worth the extra dishes to clean. Interesting suggestion about the microwave... for those who have one (I don't! 😄). Maybe steaming would achieve the same result?

A few days ago I finally got my hands on the tik-tok touted kimbap (3 per person maximum!). I don't have a microwave so I reheated them in a pan with a little bit of oil. It smells very good and my daughter loved it! (Picture taken before cooking).

I think that any nut would work - cashews or almonds as you said, peanuts even (as long as they aren't heavily salted). Honestly the flavor wasn't discernable. About the brined grape leaves, I looked for them in the shops I usually shop at to no avail. I was about to go to a middle eastern store to get them but ended up finding them at Ralphs of all places. Hot tip: instacart is very handy to search store inventories before heading over to the store! Other people have reported that fresh fig leaves also work very well in this recipe.

The Perfect asparagus with garlic and salted olive oil from Dining In. Is it overhyped? Probably. Unexpectedly fussy? For sure. Peeling and blanching asparagus before dirtying a pan to make an olive oil / garlic / Aleppo pepper drizzle... it's a fairly big production for a side dish. I used way less than the 1/4 cup of olive oil it calls for (a few tablespoons was enough) and the drizzle in a pan to which I added the asparagus so I could coat it well, rather than making it in a small saucepan as described in the book. This was a nice accompaniment for steak, but not something I will likely make again any time soon. I liked her roasted broccolini much better!

Reactivating this thread initiated by @blue_dolphin! March's theme for the cookbook club I participate in was Nik Sharma, and I decided to prepare the Grilled grape leaf-wrapped shrimp for the occasion. I liked the concept of marinating shrimp in something tasty and then using grape leaves to steam the shrimp on the grill (one of my favorite San Diego restaurants used to make swordfish dolmas, which is the same concept and is absolutely delicious). The marinade is a paste of pistachio nuts (Trader Joe's was out of raw pistachios, so I used dry roasted), lemongrass, cilantro (lots of it), baby arugula, serrano chiles, peppercorns, salt lemon, and olive oil. This gave quite of a workout to my trusted and somewhat ancient Hamilton blender, but we managed to make it work. 😄 Regarding the pistachios, to be honest they impart more texture than taste, and I wonder if something else could be used instead. The (peeled, deveined) shrimp marinates for an hour in the fridge, and then it's time to wrap it in grape leaves. Once skewered, they cook for 3-4 minutes on each side on a hot grill (I used a grill basket for convenience so there would be no risk of losing shrimp between the grates). They are served with some of the reserved marinade on the side. I enjoyed this recipe which would make a very nice snack for a cocktail party!