FrogPrincesse

lesliec- this looks good. It reminds me very much of the Old Sombrero, another tequila/mezcal/cynar/egg white drink I had at Comme Ça, a restaurant & bar in LA. They serve it tall with soda water and it makes a great brunch drink (French bistro food + craft cocktails = bliss). Last night I wanted something strong in the old-fashioned family. I went with a Monte Carlo, a David Embury creation with rye, Benedictine, and Angostura bitters (ratios from the Bartender's Choice app). I had been introduced to this cocktail at the Varnish a while back. They garnish it with lemon & orange peel, but I had run out of lemons so I went with orange only. With Rittenhouse rye it's a fantastic drink.

Mini cheese assortment from last night. Elderflower cheese from France on top, Manchego underneath (and whiskey salami by Creminelli). I was intrigued by the elderflower cheese but it's not very interesting. It is a semi-soft cheese that reminds me of raclette or morbier, with a little bit of flavor from the elderflowers. Very forgettable, plus I am not really a fan of this kind of texture. I much preferred the Manchego. (And the salami was good but did not have any whiskey flavor that I could detect. I think it's false advertising!)

The Bruery's Autumn Maple (holiday yam ale), St Feuillien Saison Yam ale is not something I would normally order, but I've had a great pumpkin & yam beer by the Bruery & Stone in the past (La Citrueille Celeste) so I was excited about this one. Unfortunately the yams were overwhelming in this beer, and not in a good way. Good thing it was a small glass. The St Feuillien Saison on the other end was really great.

Hotel Room Temperature by Kirk Estopinal. The third one in a series portaying the various stages of a relationship. I had tried the All's Fair before and liked it a lot. I decided to cut to the chase and go straight for the last one. They all have the same ingredients and amounts; just the method of prep is different. This one is served at room temperature. I find it amusing that they still specify a garnish in this context (apparently a good bartender always carries a peeler around!). In any case, I got quite a different vibe from the first one. The vermouth is the first flavor to draw you in, then the rum takes over and it's quite intoxicating. Beware. The salt (of tears?) does not become obvious until the very end.

The Rattlesnake from the Savoy Cocktail Book is one of my favorites for winter. 2 oz rye, 3/4 oz lemon juice, 3/4 oz simple syrup, egg white. Shake without ice, then shake with ice. Strain into an absinthe (or pastis) rinsed coupe.

JJ, This is no more dangerous than homemade chocolate mousse or mayonnaise, which also contain raw egg whites/yolk... I think that the risks are minuscule, but if you are really concerned, you can always buy pasteurized eggs.

I was considering a White Lady last night but only had these ridiculously expensive free-range eggs, so I went with a close relative, the Fine and Dandy from the Savoy: 1.5 oz gin, 1 oz Cointreau, 1/2 oz lemon juice, 2 dashes Angostura bitters. The ratios I used are actually from the Bartender's Choice app; the Savoy version equates to 1.5 oz gin, 3/4 each Cointreau and lemon juice, and 3 dashes Angostura bitters. I used Beefeater and realized after the fact that the Savoy actually called for Plymouth (the app does not specify brands). Is Plymouth still preferred for White Ladies and the like? In any case, this was a very nice cocktail. In my opinion that's the way to do orange in a cocktail, because the juice rarely works and often falls flat. Here with lemon juice and the Cointreau, you get the best of the orange flavor and it stays interesting.

It's been on the shelves for a few months already. The dry formula is still being offered which is good. As a bonus, the 375 mL size seems much easier to find these days. Here they are :

For this month's MxMo Smoke Challenge, I tried the End of the Road by Chris McMillian in Beta Cocktails. With equal parts green Chartreuse, Campari, and Laphroaig I was quite nervous to say the least. I even managed to spill my cocktail in its entirety and had to prepare a second one amidst the Laphroaig vapors. But it was worth it - it's quite a fascinating drink. It's hard to describe because each sip was a little different. It's definitely on the bittersweet end of the spectrum.

5150 IPA from Ironfire in Temecula ("ales for outlaws") to accompany a mahi mahi ceviche and a white seabasss taco. This one is not for the timid - pungent funky/cat litter aroma, very bitter on the first sip (no wonder with 95 IBU), amazingly hoppy, hardly any malt to relieve the palate. Still it's pretty good and full of interesting flavors from the hops, but it took my a while to finish my glass. It reminds me of Green Flash's Le Freak. I will have do try them side-by-side some day. Ironfire 5150 by *FrogPrincesse*, on Flickr

Lapin a la Moutarde/a la diable (rabbit with mustard) is what my mom used to make when I was little. It's a nice braise with Dijon mustard, white wine (I believe) and crème fraîche. It is really delicious because it has a lot of flavor (rabbit on its own does not usually have much), and the rabbit stays very moist. I think I attempted it only once on my own, but did not have a clue about how to properly break down a rabbit at the time (I could only find it whole and it did not occur to me to ask my butcher to do it for me). I want to try this again soon.

brinza, I mostly use my Suze in White Negronis, but I also love PDT's Brown Bomber. The Two Cups of Blood from beta cocktails is fun if you are in the mood for something different.

Sorry I am not following you. I did not mean to imply that cavolo nero (aka black kale, Tuscan kale, dinosaur kale, lacinato kale, etc) was the same as spigarello, just that they were related and can be used in the same way.

weinoo - there was an article about Spigarello in the LA Times a while back, and some updated information on the Specialty Produce website. Spigarello is related to cavolo nero (Italian black kale) and is the parent of the brocoli rabe (friarielli). Restaurants in Southern California made it somewhat popular (the now defunct Campanile, Lucques, etc). I use it the same way I use kale - sauteed. It's not bitter at all which is nice.

Found some info about the US Suze on a blog. It's ironic that they reference Lillet as an example of product that has changed over the years (less quinine, etc). Lillet's current line is that their product was not altered with the 1986 change when Kina was dropped from the name. It may be true, and we may never know for sure, but what a PR fiasco...

Mainly I was surprised because it didn't show up on their website so I wasn't expecting to see it there. That's interesting. I didn't know there were two formulas. Why are there two formulas? How are they different? It's still a wonderful product. I prefer it to Salers.The US got a new product called "Saveur d'autrefois" and different packaging. It is 20° instead of 15°. Maybe it was modified because it is mainly drunk neat in France but we use it in cocktails in the US, and it has been "optimized" accordingly? (That is the optimistic theory.) Why they always feel they have to fiddle with formulas for the US market, I don't know... It reminds me a bit of the Noilly Prat dry vermouth fiasco. I still have my old bottle of Suze and will share if someone wants to do a comparison. On this photo you can see the old bottle. Have you had a White Negroni yet?

Regarding Zombies, even pastis works. At these low amounts, I don't think that you would be able to detect a difference from absinthe.

For reference, there is also this thread about Mai Tai recipes.

Very nice! Suze is now distributed in the US (US formula though, not exactly the same), so I am not surprised that you were able to find it.

Matt - Excuses, excuses...

What is so bad about it? Just curious; I have not read it.

Adam - excellent catch! For his restaurants, Stephen Crane did not really create new drinks from scratch but seemed to have heavily drawn from Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber's signature drinks, with a few nice tweaks here and there. He hired a lot of ex-bartenders from these places, including Ray Buhen who later opened his own place, Tiki Ti. So they are very strong similarities. The Luau Grog has Angostura bitters that the Navy Grog doesn't have. Other than that, I believe that they are pretty much the same. Of course they may have used a different rum mix at the Luau vs. Don the Beachcomber's, changing the drink somewhat. To me the Navy Grog is a fine drink that is lacking something and is a little bland for a Don the Beachcomber creation - usually his drinks have a distinctive spice profile that this one lacks. Adding a few drops of Angostura makes a difference and I prefer that version. Note that I skipped the soda water in my rendition (my excuse is that the glass was too small!).

We need more Tiki love... Here is the Luau Grog from Stephen's Crane defunct restaurant in Beverly Hills. After attending a fun seminar about Stephen Crane by Martin Cate at Tiki Oasis a few weeks ago, it's fun to recreate these drinks at home. This one calls for Demerara, dark Jamaican and gold Puerto Rican rums (I used Barbados for the Puerto Rican rum), grapefruit and lime juice, honey syrup, and Angostura bitters. It's really nice - in general tiki drinks with grapefruit and a bit of spice work quite well. The recipe is in Sippin' Safari.

I also use an EdgePro system. I just used it this weekend on a Forschner 10" chef knife and a small Global pairing knife. I try to use it about every 6 months to keep a good edge.

Overhyped maybe. The thing is, if the same cheeses were sold in France, I don't think that they would get much press. In the US there aren't that many artisanal cheese makers I guess, and the types of cheeses she makes seem fairly rare, so it's a big deal to some people. I am happy to find a high quality product regardless of the hype. It's clear that she puts a lot of care into her products. Her cheeses are still hard to find but my local cheese shop has them occasionally and I make sure to buy them when I see them. Based on my small sampling, so far I prefer Andante to Cowgirl Creamery. From Cowgirl I tried Mt. Tam, Red Hawk, St Pat, Devil's Gulch, and Wagon Wheel, and don't feel compelled to buy them again. Usually they are sold quite young with sub-optimal affinage (even at their store in the Ferry Building), which is the shame because it's an essential part of the process.