FrogPrincesse

The bottle on the right. So it looks like they brought back the old Noilly Prat dry vermouth formula (now known as "extra dry"), but not the bottle design. Also I went to K&L Wines in Hollywood and managed to only buy these two items- a local souvenir and a restock. Crazy, I know, but this is just an excuse to go back soon . They had a nice selection of bitters right by the entrance below some very expensive wines. The rum selection was not bad either. Good to know that I don't need to fly to Martinique to replace my rhum Neisson. Apéritifs and a few other interesting things.

Hassouni, My first thought is that this sounds like a ton of fun; I really wish I could join you as a guest or behind the bar! Have you ever bartended outside of your home bar?

Chocolate pound cake from Williams-Sonoma's Complete Entertaining Cookbook. I had this recipe bookmarked for the longest time. My daughter LOVES chocolate so I made this for her. I was a little skeptical of the recipe (which uses a surprisingly low amount of chocolate/cocoa powder) but it's actually very good and moist. I did not have sour cream on hand and substituted 1/3 crème fraîche and 2/3 Greek yoghurt. The chocolate was Trader Joe's 72% dark; the cocoa powder was 1/2 TJ's, 1/2 Scharffen Berger.

We had these fun little snow cones at Son of a Gun, a restaurant in LA. They are great with only one complaint - way too small. The Sidewinder Fang in the front (Atlantico rum, Smith & Cross rum, passion fruit) was nice and tart with depth from the S&C; the Lost Cause in the back had a Don the Beachcomber feel to it with the spices from the aquavit (Korgstad aquavit, Banks 5 rum, coconut, lemon, lime).

Toby Maloney's Three Seasons with Pimm's No. 1, Junipero gin, muddled lime, lemon, orange, cucumber, strawberry & mint, topped with soda.

Out of curiosity, is slivovitz the same thing as plum eau-de-vie, or is there a difference in the production process? I am familiar with plum eau-de-vie from France or Switzerland, but not with slivovitz. Thanks!

That sounds fantastic, Chris. I still haven't seen Malacca in San Diego (but I haven't been actively looking for it).

Kerry- what is your go-to larb recipe? It looks good.

Regarding the topic of citrus juice and general citrus handling for cocktails, here is the latest update from Kevin Liu on Serious Eats. His article gives a lot of food for thoughts. It is a continuation of many discussions that have happened on eG and elsewhere in the past. I am not sure that I agree with all the conclusions, but at least he has made an effort to reference his sources. Going over the main points of the article: 1. Fresh is not always best I'm still a bit on the fence regarding that one. It's one thing to taste the juices in isolation, but are the conclusions the same when they are tasted in a cocktail? In the now famous experiment by Dave Arnold the juice was tasted neat and his panel preferred the aged lime juice. However I've had opposite observations when tasting grapefruit juice in a pre-batched cocktail: the aged cocktail tasted worse than the freshly made cocktail. Was this because the fresh juice tastes better in a mixed drink? Because citrus juice ages differently in a pre-batched cocktail? Because grapefruit behaves differently from lime? Or maybe there is such a thing as too much aging (4 hours vs. 9 hours) as Chris suggested upthread? In the follow-up comments after his article, Dave Arnold mentions that 4 to 6 hours may be optimal. I would like to see a simple comparison of two freshly made cocktails, one with aged juice, one with fresh juice. I am sure someone has done this already. 2. Store citrus in the refrigerator, prep it in the microwave I would expect that heating the citrus would impact its taste. It does not seem like a common practice to me. In the comments after the article, Kevin recognizes in that the microwaved citrus produced a juice that "tasted less aromatic than fresh equivalents" so I don't think that this practice is recommended. Also, the practice of rolling the limes on the counter, which is discounted in the article, softens the skin and makes it easier to use a hand-held juicer without having juice squirting out all over - I speak from experience. 3. Lemon and lime juice are not interchangeable. There is no debate about this one; adjustments are needed when substituting limes for lemons in recipes. The article states that limes are slightly more acidic (is this correct?) and contains less sugar compared to lemons (this is confirmed by many sources), which would suggest that you need to use more sugar when using limes. Based on experience however, it seems that it may be the opposite. A rule of thumb discussed by Sam Ross in this article is that for 3/4 oz of simple syrup you will need 3/4 oz of lemon juice or 1 oz or lime juice for a typical sour. Also I've seen typical pH levels quoted at 2.4 for limes and 2.3 for lemons, so lemons may be more acidic than limes. I think this requires more research. 4. Twists: Get their oils out! No debate from me on that point. 5. For faster drinks, use an atomizer He recommends using lemon extract in a bottle rather than a twist. But he is the first to recognize that the aroma will be affected... ("In my experience, commercial lemon extract doesn't quite match up to a real lemon peel, but it's worth it for the convenience value."). I will stick to real lemon peels. 6. Or use frozen juice This is not recommended either ("don't expect it to be the same as freshly-squeezed"). 7. Or pre-make infused citrus syrup (aka oleo-saccharum). Here he summarizes Jeff Morgenthaler's finding that oleo-saccharum can be made without muddling, just letting time do its thing. It's a good tip and oleo-saccharum has it use in punch. It's not a substitute for juice tough. 8. Citrus flavors don't only come from citrus I've recently tried tamarind but did not get the intensity I get from lemon or lime and it ended up diluting the drink. There are interesting ideas for other citrus flavors in the article.

Hassouni - it's spearmint. I use Miracle Grow every once in a while (and whey from ricotta production; I read that some plants liked it).... It grows in a pot and has been trying to take over neighboring pots. I do my best to keep it under control!

Mukki- That was a little ambiguous I realize. It's just a 1:1 syrup made with a local wild sage honey.

I can see Chris' point, but I find that certain foods can amplify the flavor of cocktails and highlight elements that can be missed when they are tasted in isolation. Also there is the enhanced experience of eating delicious foods with a great cocktail. It could be fun to start by tasting the cocktails with just some nuts and then studying the flavor profile when they are accompanied by more substantial foods. It's a matter of personal preference obviously. My husband too will only eat nuts with his Manhattans.

Cheese goes with everything... A blue cheese could be an interesting contrast. tanstaafl2's smoked gouda sounds pretty good too. Cured/smoked meats or a terrine of some kind. Foie gras. Bone marrow toast. It would be great with a dessert course too. I would do something with cherries.

Kerry, It's great to be able to follow your food adventures in Manitoulin again. Just out of curiosity, how many hours a day do you devote to cooking projects? The amount of stuff you produced in just a day or two is quite impressive already!

Was it too tart Kerry? Nothing that a litle bit of extra sugar cannot fix. Lately I've been making my Southsides with limes but lemons can work too. The cocktail is really nice with Bols genever which tastes a little sweet on its own.

Yikes! Thank god the sculpin on the label is much more attractive than Mr Blob here! Here is an explanation about the name from their website:

This really nice Sculpin IPA from Ballast Point. It is crisp and refreshing with a slightly bitter finish, perfect with a fish taco on a hot summer day. Bear Republic Cher Ami Belgian Pale Ale (front), Anchor Fort Ross Saison at Fathom Bistro, Bait & Tackle, a tiny little restaurant that serves homemade sausages and craft beers in a Life Aquatic setting right on the water in Point Loma. I really liked the Fort Ross Saison.

A few classic warm-weather drinks these past few days. Queen's Park Swizzle with Appleton 12 year rum and mint from the garden Honeysuckle with Flor de Cana white rum, sage honey syrup, lime juice Gin Gin Mule with Junipero gin, Bundaberg ginger beer, lime juice, simple syrup, mint

Named after the old name for St Lucia ("Land of Iguanas"), this drink is normally made with Chairman's reserve silver. I did not have it on hand so I used Flor de Cana 4 year white rum. Interesting alliance of Campari with allspice, lime and strawberry. It works quite well. Refreshing, tropical, a little tart, and with intriguing spices. It reminds me of the Jungle Bird which is one of the rare tiki drinks that uses Campari, but it feels more light & subtle. Louanalao (Richard Boccato): white rum, campari, allspice dram, lime juice, cane syrup, muddled strawberry.

EvergreenDan's creation (still unnamed?) It's very good indeed.

Heidi - They were added to the pan with the turnips so they had time to toast a little bit in the pan (this is Mario Batali's recipe - here).

Recent weeknight meals. Roasted chicken and vegetables (cauliflower, Texas sweet onions, parsnips) Cacio e pepe variation with fresh black pepper fettucine, grana padano, pecorino, olive oil, butter (when in doubt - use both!) Grilled lamb chops scottadita with cumin yoghurt. More of the black pepper fettucine this time with Babbo's tomato sauce. Grilled duck breast seasonned with juniper berries and thyme from the garden... ... served with pan-roasted parsnips with paprika & poppy seeds.

Warm apricots with orange blossom from Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries. Making the best of apricots that are not completely ripe by roasting them with a little bit of orange blossom water. This can be topped with chopped pistachios.

I've had this dish at Nine Ten a few times, and your rendition is impeccable! Did you like it?

The Cloak and Dagger, a Daiquiri with a mix of rums. The recipe in the Bartender's Choice app called for Gosling + aged rum. I went with Coruba dark Jamaican rum and Flor de Cana 4 year extra dry rum. Simple but to the point.