FrogPrincesse

As you may know, the omelette skin is made separately to the filling. [...]I did not realize that the filling also contained eggs. Thanks for the detailed description.

judiu, You are very observant! It's a whole wheat bread with walnut and scallion bread from Bread and Cie, a local bakery in San Diego. It is so good it's like cake, and I have to make an effort not to eat the whole loaf...

I do like the Vieux Carré, but not having an iPhone or iPad, I don't have the Bartender's Choice app. Is their ratio anything like what I found here (http://www.examiner.com/article/new-york-vs-los-angeles-cocktail-competition-part-i) with the addition of the Angostura? Yes, the same with the addition of 2 dashes of Angostura bitters.

Beet greens remind me of sorrel which I love. They are slightly acidic (from the oxalate). The recipe for beet green soup in Molto Italiano starts by cooking onions and garlic in olive oil, then adding diced potatoes and sliced beet greens. I adapted this recipe and mixed them with radish greens and turnips greens that I did not want to throw away. Everything is then cooked in water with a bay leaf and red pepper flakes. I chose to put everything in the blender but it would also work without that step for a more rustic soup. The key for me is the pecorino garnish. Very comforting (although not especially photogenic) with a slice of rustic bread. It's another soup that changes color with the temperature, by the way. Hot (left) it's noticeably darker than cold (right).

I made one for lunch too, with chives and a chive blossom. I cheated a little though as it was a two-egg version. Came out decent - no brown spots & slightly runny in the middle.

Since the famous modernist omelette is popping up on this thread I thought I should ask something that has been bothering me. Can you describe the texture? It seems from the photo that the inside is fully cooked. To me it seems very "well done", more like a crepe than a traditional omelette, but it's hard to tell without having tried it...

Nice tutorial. Do you use a spatula to fold the omelette or do you just shake the pan ?

Green Flash Saison and Lost Abbey Framboise de Amorosa at Blind Lady Ale House. Both on draft and both fantastic. The Framboise was not sweet and I found it more complex than Lindemans.

Kent - I use this swivel peeler from OXO. Not just for cocktails - I use it to peel vegetables too.

None but the Brave: cognac, lime, allspice liqueur, ginger beer. The recipe in the Bartender's Choice app called for homemade ginger syrup with soda water but I just used Bundaberg ginger beer. A little tikiesque with the allspice but curiously ginger + allspice is not a combo that you see very often.

Beautiful omelette, Soba!

+ 1 Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries, found at the used book store.

Last night was an encounter with the Merry Widow from the Savoy Cocktail Book. She has a beautiful pale orange color and an exuberant flavor thanks to the combination of Benedictine with absinthe/pastis and Angostura bitters. Gin, dry vermouth, Benedictine, Angostura bitters, rinse pastis; ratios from Bartender's Choice which are heavier on the gin and Benedictine compared to the original. Here was the original as described by Erik.

There is one that I know of in San Diego (haven't tried it). They call it a "private supper club". I can see the appeal for some people but personnally I would rather have my friends over for dinner than a group of perfect strangers!

In addition to the John Collins and the Ice Pick that have already been mentioned by Rafa, other favorites are Eric Alperin's version of the Holland Razor Blade and David Wondrich's Barbadian Gin Punch Swizzle. There are more ideas in the Genever thread.

Ramps Garlic scrapes Pea shoots Fiddlehead ferns Fava bean greens Soft-shell crabs No specific rhyme or reason. Just what caught my eye...

I like your lazy bark idea, Kerry. Kerry & Alleguede - Thanks for the great ideas. I am sure that we will come up with something fun for the kids.

It looks like an interesting book. I would try contacting Greg at cocktail kingdom (info@cocktailkingdom.com) since he has an extensive collection of vintage cocktail books and may be able to help you.

Last night's Manhattan variation was Toby Maloney's Violet Hour. 3/4 sweet, 1/4 dry, with a touch of black strap rum. I used Buffalo Trace barrel 19 for the bourbon, Dolin for the sweet and Noilly Prat for the dry vermouth, Cruzan for the rum, and the whiskey barrel aged old fashioned bitters from Fee Brother's. Very pleasantly aromatic. Violet Hour by Toby Maloney, Violet Hour 2 oz Bourbon 3/4 oz Sweet vermouth 1/4 oz Dry vermouth 1/10 oz Virgin Islands Rum, Cruzan Blackstrap (a bit over 1/2 tsp) 3 ds Bitters, Fee Brothers Old Fashion Build in a rocks glass, stir.

Beautiful indeed. I was wondering about that silicon mat for macarons. I've seen something similar at the kitchen supply store but read mixed reviews. Do you like yours?

I made chocolate bark for the first time this weekend with my daughter. Dark chocolate with dried apricots + cocoa nibs (front), and milk chocolate with marshmallows + rice crispies in the back. That second batch has sprinkles too but I made the mistake of adding them to the mix rather than sprinkling them on top, therefore they are not really noticeable. You can tell I am a complete novice at this. At least I am practicing my tempering technique and I am sure that they will taste decent... For the chocolate I am using the "Pound Plus" Belgian chocolate bars from Trader Joe's. The IR thermometer that I bought from Kerry was very handy. These will be party favors for my daughter's birthday this weekend. I am looking for a third flavor. I know that at least one of the kids is allergic to nuts so I am avoiding them. I was thinking of a white chocolate base with maybe shredded coconut and...? I thought about candied ginger or candied lime zest but that may be too intense for the kids. I need something with texture. A couple of related questions - what is a typical thickness for the bark? In France less than 1/5 inch (1/2 cm) seems to be desirable for "mendiants" but I've seen thicker barks in the US. Mine is thicker because I poured too much on the sheet pan and I feel it's a bit too thick. What's your favorite spatula for spreading the chocolate? I used a small offset spatula (4 in) and thought that a larger one would have been easier to use. Thanks!

A comparison of Hemingway Daiquiris last night with Banks 5 Island white rum and an oro blanco grapefruit. PDT version [on the left] 2 oz rum 0.5 oz grapefruit juice 0.75 oz lime juice 0.5 oz maraschino liqueur Bartender's Choice App 1.5 oz rum 1 oz grapefruit juice 0.5 oz lime juice 0.75 oz maraschino liqueur The PDT version puts more emphasis on the citrus. The flavor of the maraschino is more pronounced in the Bartender's Choice version and it is a touch sweeter. Both work with a preference for the Bartender's Choice version (I don't think that I am biased but in any case I also included my husband in the study as a blinded subject and he had the same conclusion).

Thanks Matt and Plantes Vertes. Fig Leaf is indeed a more familiar name. David Embury's Fine Art of Mixing Drinks was first published in 1948. The Fig Leaf was included in Trader Vic's Bartender Guide (1947). There is also an earlier reference in Crosby Gaige's Standard Cocktail Guide (1940) according to this reference, with a recipe here. But the Fig Leaf seems a bit different from the Crescent City because the proportions between rum and sweet vermouth (1:2) are reversed compared to the Crescent City (2:1). I like the concept of the Crescent City as a Daiquiri with sweet vermouth as the sweetener. It also reminds me of a Palmetto with lime juice. I will have to try it despite the less than enthusiastic introduction by Embury.

In the new list, I am intrigued by The Crescent City (Jamaican rum, sweet vermouth, lime, Angostura bitters). I spent a bit of time trying to find a recipe online but had no luck so far. Does anyone know more about this cocktail?

Here are my Brooklyn experiments from last Thursday. I used Bulleit for the rye and Noilly Prat for the dry vermouth. On the left, the dry vermouth-heavy version: 2 oz rye, 0.25 Picon, 0.5 oz dry vermouth, 0.25 oz maraschino liqueur. This is similar to Difford's but with the rye increased from 1.5 to 2 oz. On the right, the Picon-heavy version: 2 oz rye, 0.5 Picon, 0.25 oz dry vermouth, 0.25 oz maraschino liqueur. This is the version from the Bartender's Choice app that I've been using lately. The first version is drier and feels a little bit lighter. More crisp. The second version is more rounded and has a fuller flavor. They both work but the second one is my first pick because it accentuates the flavor of the Picon and makes a more distinctive cocktail.