FrogPrincesse

Interesting. How old is your jar? I (nearly always) have a jar in the fridge and it has an intense apricot flavor, with a nice tartness. It is somewhat thick but not overly so. The color is the color of fresh apricots, not dark. To me it's very close to a homemade product. Sorry to hear that you did not like it.

Appleton is always good, or maybe go with something more substantial like the black seal.

Apparently it's rich and sweet with vanilla-caramel notes. From drinkupny (this is for the 7 years): More detailed review here. What are you planning on using it for?

This idea of caramelized apple crêpes with calvados was stuck in my head, so I made a caramel last night. I cooked a couple of Granny Smith apples in the caramel (this is similar to making a tarte tatin). I reheated the crepe in a pan, moistened with a tablespoon of calvados, and added the apples and caramel Voila What was missing was a little dollop of crème fraiche (Isigny of course) and a glass of Norman cider, but still it was delightful. Thanks PV for the inspiration!

I like Bonne Maman. It's not organic but it tastes great, not too sweet. Good texture too, with big chunks of apricot.

Here. I have to admit that I don't really understand the calvados + bonded applejack combo, because they are very similar.

I went for bold last night with the Brass Rail (Zachary Gelnaw-Rubin). 2 oz Highland Park 12 years (the recipe called for a blended scotch), 0.5 oz Averna, 1 dash of orange bitters (I used a mix of Regan and Fee), lemon zest. It tasted boozy, smoky, a little bitter. A slight metallic taste also.

Sorry... It came to me as I was daydreaming while looking at your photos. I may give it a try tonight; I have a few crepes left from last night. Speaking of last night, I made a double batch of crepes de froment (wheat flour) (6 eggs, 250 g flour, 600 mL milk, 60 g butter, teaspoon salt, half teaspoon orange flower water; yield 16 crepes). They were consumed with crystallized sugar, Nutella, and a homemade chocolate sauce. A correction: *I was actually a full batch. Eight crepes is never enough, so I would always recommend doubling Anne Willan's recipe.

Reporting on the bottle of Perry's Tot Navy Strength gin from New York Distilling Company that I got in the Secret Santa gift exchange. I tried it first in a Martini. I wanted to go with Rafa's recommendation from the Drinks discussion... ... but didn't have any Dolin, so I went with Noilly Prat extra dry. I smelled the Martini and felt that it needed grapefruit rather than orange bitters, so I used that. (The cocktail was not completely clear; from the bitters maybe?) It was a delightful Martini, with none of the "bite" I was expecting from a high proof gin. The juniper was there but quite subdued. Very aromatic combination. I also tried the gin neat at room temperature, with Beefeater as a reference point. The nose is extremely flavorful with a sweetness to it. The taste is deceptively smooth with juniper and citrus (grapefruit, lemon), but also a lot of coriander and floral/sweet notes, and a soft finish. I read later that they use a touch of honey in the gin and that makes sense. I just bought a bottle of Dolin, so that means that I will be able to try Pouring Ribbons' version very soon.

Beautiful. I can just envision a version of the caramelized apple crepes flambéed with calvados...

Is anyone using the app Speakeasy Cocktails (by Jim Meehan and Joseph Schwartz)? It's a bit pricey ($9.99), but based on the free chapter, the recipes look pretty good. There may be a bit of overlap with the PDT cocktail book and the Bartender's Choice app.

Serious Drinks published A Beginner's Guide to Belgian Beer Styles, which provides a very nice overview of Belgian beers.

It turns out there is such a thing as a World's End cocktail, but it's not related to the Last Word. It's a riff on the Corpse Reviver No. 2 with blue curaçao, inspired by the movie. Who knew? I tried a tequila variant of the cocktail recently, Adam Robinson's Last Rites: blanco tequila, lemon juice, yellow chartreuse, maraschino liqueur. It's from a little book, The Cocktail Hour - Tequila (thanks Rafa, my secret Santa!). It's very good. Switching from green to yellow chartreuse allows the tequila to shine.

From the Bonal thread, the No. 65 is a very aromatic Manhattan variation with rye, Bonal, falernum, and bitters (Angostura + orange). Recently I also liked this one very much - Stood Up by Michael McIlroy. It's a 50:50 rye Manhattan with a heavy rinse of Luxardo Bitters (I used Campari - they are very similar). A bit bittersweet, lighter than a regular Manhattan. A perfect apéritif.

Hi Franci, Regarding Anne Willan's recipe, that's the one I still make too, with the addition of a little bit of orange flower water (my secret ingredient). Some people add a touch of honey. Regarding buckwheat, her recipe is 50:50 buckwheat and wheat which helps a lot. 100% buckwheat must be very hard to handle. I believe that they are not flipped, just garnished and folded in the pan.

For regional cooking, I really like Anne Willan's Country Cooking of France. On technique, also by her, La Varenne Pratique is very good.

I started early and made buckwheat crepes last week with the traditional jambon - oeuf - fromage filling (ham, egg, cheese). The first one is always a miss but that's ok. It's the cook's treat. The buckwheat crepes are very delicate and break easily due to the lower gluten content. I had to be careful not to turn them too soon. Assembly I also made nutella and sugar crepes a couple of weeks ago, but not enough to satisfy my craving. Only a half batch (about 8 crepes) and they were gone in a few seconds. I only got to eat one. The plan is to make more crêpes de froment (wheat) tonight.

Thanks. Usually I rest for half as long as the cooking time, but I noticed that duck breasts need longer. Good tip on reheating afterwards.

A souvenir from Australia. Eau de Vie is a bar in Darlinghurst (Sydney).

How long of a rest would you recommend?

There will be blood... Finally opened AleSmith's My Bloody Valentine, their Valentine's day release. Dark amber in the glass. Good hop aroma. Not a ton of carbonation. Hoppy and malty/caramel at the same time. It was nice with a Delmonico steak cooked rare and some red carrots (it looks like there was a theme there, although it was completely unintentional!). The bottle had notes in the back similar to Stone. I don't believe they were doing that in the past.

Simple but satisfying dinner last night. Delmonico steak (cast iron skillet method) (not shown - the bone which is my favorite part after the cap of course), red carrots (cooked in foil with cumin and dry vermouth), My Bloody Valentine red ale from AleSmith, ciabatta bun from Bread & Cie.

Not enough Bonal love. I am still working on the same bottle which, miraculously, still tastes fine (I keep it in the fridge and purge the headspace after every use with inert gas). Yesterday I was looking for rye + Bonal combos and was every excited to find a recipe that also includes falernum. With homemade falernum this is great. A very aromatic, somewhat tropical Manhattan, with orange and spice notes and a long finish. I only used 1/4 ounces of falernum because the homemade stuff (Elmegirab recipe) is very concentrated. I added 1/8 oz of simple to compensate for the decreased amount of falernum, but it did not really need it. No. 65: rye (Bulleit), Bonal, falernum (homemade), Angostura and orange (Fee) bitters.

Time to revive this thread. Who is making crepes tonight for Mardi Gras? What is your favorite topping?

Their attempt at retiring the 101 rye may be part of it?