FrogPrincesse

Exactly my thoughts. It does not seem that they have done much research.

Nice selection, and welcome to eGullet from another Negroni fan! From the photo, it looks like you already made a dent in your supplies! What cocktail(s) did you make with the white dog? I have a small bottle that I haven't used yet.

Anybody ever tried crossing Batavia Arrack with S&C plus other assorted ingredients? Seems like that would be a better representative for a drink called "Both Indies". Of course it also sounds a bit like Banks 5 Island rum... It looks like Dan had a similar idea with his Shining Path cocktail (batavia arrack as the base with a float of S&C). I haven't tried this combo personally but it sounds like it should work.

This thread continues to be an amazing source of inspiration. Between Prawncrackers' beautiful crab dishes, Paul Bacino's beef porn, scubadoo97's pork belly, Brown Hornet's handmade pasta with oxtail, and so many other beautiful dishes... WOW

The Eater published a solid list of 38 Essential Restaurants in San Diego, many of which have been discussed on this thread including Cafe Chloe, Blue Ribbon Pizza, Carnitas' Snack Shack, FarmHouse Cafe, Sushi Ota, George's, Cucina Urbana, Nine-Ten, Whisknladle. On the other hand, Zagat just released their 2013 San Diego guide but their selection seems hit-and-miss, and just out of tune in general. It never not looked like they put much thought into their San Diego guides in the past (which are not updated frequently), and maybe this time more than ever. Here is their top 5 list for food: Sushi Ota (29), Tao (28), Market (28), Tapenade (28) and Pamplemousse Grille (27), followed by a bunch of steak houses (Ruth's, Donovan's). Quite puzzling.

Treviso with roquefort, walnuts and saba I substituted roquefort for gorgonzola that the original recipe calls for. Great interplay of bitter (treviso), acid (the dressing is quite zingy), salt (roquefort), sweet (saba), and even umami (roquefort). The walnuts add a welcome crunch and another layer of flavor.

After an unremarkable daiquiri from the PDT cocktail book (see the Hotel Nacional here), I tried the Winter Daiquiri from the current issue of Imbibe Magazine. I was a little nervous to use vanilla syrup thinking that it would be another overly sweet daiquiri. It's a creation from Mindy Kucan (from Hale Pele, the relatively new tiki bar in Portland owned by Blair Reynolds) and it has aged rum (I used Plantation Barbados 5), lime juice, vanilla syrup, allspice dram, and angostura bitters. Lovely spice and the balance is right, the vanilla is there as an undertone but does not overwhelm the drink. Very well done.

Rope Burn (Ron Dollete, aka LushAngeles). Equal parts S&C, Bonal, Aperol. Flamed grapefruit twist (discarded). It is described here as a Negroni variation. It does not have the intense bitterness of the Negroni though, but you get a ton of crazy aromas from the S&C and Bonal combo.

Amber ale from Mission Brewery (Dusseldorf-Style Altbier). Crisp and quite light with some burnt caramel, honey.

Nice. What else did you use in the soup?

I made this Manhattan for my husband last night while I was enjoying my Cynar drink. Blanton's single barrel bourbon, Dolin sweet vermouth, Fee Brothers whiskey-barrel aged bitters, brandied griotte (morello) cherry. It was quite smooth with a hint of spice from the bourbon, but I think my drink was more fun.

I tried this cocktail last night which reminded me of the Little Italy. Slippery Slope (Tona Palomino) 2½ oz rye whiskey 3/4 oz cherry liqueur 1/2 oz cynar There is an illusion of sweet vermouth in the drink with the cherry and cynar combo (I used Luxardo's cherry liqueur). It's just the right amount of bitterness/bite for me.

My margarita ratio was 1.5/1/0.75 tequila/orange liqueur/lime. I never liked Grand Marnier in margaritas but my husband thought he did - not anymore after this.

Merci. Now regarding Bacardi in daiquiris (or Bacardi in general) - not much flavor to begin with!

Is this the recipe in question? 2 1/2 oz aged rum 3/4 oz fresh lime juice 1/2 oz simple syrup (2:1)

That's what I do - mix panko with olive oil and seasonings, and brown in the oven before using. I'm not sure you would even need the oil: it's just "bread," so it should toast up nicely even without it! Olive oil for the flavor, not for browning.

Thanks for reminding me about the okolehao. I have a bottle of the liqueur that I use in tiki drinks, including one that I think is in Remixed - the Polynesian Paralysis. It's really flavorful/funk. I don't remember a coconut taste though, I will have to check.

Upthread, Sam had suggested mixing S&C with Bonal. In the same vein, there is this cocktail. Gramercy Tavern's Crossfire 1 oz Smith & Cross 1/2 oz Cherry Heering 1/2 oz Bonal 1/2 oz orange juice 3 dashes orange bitters I used Luxardo Sangue Morlacco, and a Cara Cara orange (a type of Navel orange with a pink flesh). For the orange bitters I used Regan's + Fee. It tasted a bit bitter from the Bonal at first sip (my husband thought for a second I had attempted sneaking some Campari in his drink), then an explosion of flavors. Intense - definitely a sipping drink.

That's what I do - mix panko with olive oil and seasonings, and brown in the oven before using.

Scallops in Tangerine Sauce from the Cooking of Southwest France. I used tangerines and Cara Cara oranges from my CSA for the sauce. The technique for the sauce is detailed by Paula Wolfert in an eGullet post here. The recipe is from chef Jean-Louis Palladin. It's a reduction sauce they call stratification and it looks like it could easily be adapted for other applications. The resulting sauce was transparent (like stained glass) and slightly viscous so it adhered to the plate and the scallops. The sauce was beautiful and the technique was fun & quick. Taste-wise, I liked the intensity of the tangerine flavor. There was an aftertaste however from the fish fumet/demi-glace. Probably my mistake, I used veal demi-glace (the recipe did not state which one to use). Chicken stock or chicken demi-glace would be a more neutral choice, even though in the end the flavors blended together. The scallops were half-moon scallops from Catalina Offshore which are kidney-shaped. They have a lovely flavor. Their texture was more firm that what I am used to, although I was very careful not to overcook them. They may work better in ceviche.

Inspired by a recipe in Babbo, a roasted vegetable salad with carnival squash, parsnip, torpedo onions, arugula, goat cheese toast. All vegetables were from my CSA. The squash was cut in little cubes and roasted in the oven with olive oil and sage (wild white sage collected during a hike). The parsnip was sliced and roasted with cumin. Sherry vinegar and arbequina olive oil dressing.

I made Dorie Greenspan's mustard allumettes with leftover puff pastry dough. Rolled a long rectangle that I brushed with Dijon mustard. Folded in half, egg glazed, sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds (+ one version with poppy seeds). Baked for ~ 10 minutes at 400F. Delicious with a cocktail (XYZ aka rum sidecar).

I love Appleton 12. It's great in tiki drinks and daiquiri variations too. I feel that it's a bargain at less than $35 typically.

Going back to one of my first (cocktail) loves, the Sidecar. A few years ago, when I did not know anything about cocktails, I made myself a sidecar after being intrigued by this recipe in one of Jamie Oliver's early books. Needless to say, I loved it and the rest is history... Anyway - there is a Sidecar variation with aged rum substituted for the cognac in the Bartender's Choice app. It's the XYZ Cocktail, first published in the Savoy Cocktail book. I wanted to finish up a couple of bottles of rum (in an effort to make room for new ones...) so we tried Appleton 12 year and Flor de Cana gold 4 year side-by-side. Appleton 12 was the clear winner, more depth of flavor whereas the Flor de Cana felt thin in comparison. I want to try it next with Havana Club 7 per David Wondrich's recommendation in Esquire.

Chicken stewed in wine, aka coq au vin, is a well-known French dish. But why not try something different. Chicken with beer (Coq à la bière), the Flemish twist on this recipe, is a very nice stew that does not take a lot of effort to prepare. The chicken pieces are sprinkled with flour and browned in a pan. Then the pan is deglazed with genever which is flambéed (it's hard to go wrong with a recipe that calls for genever AND pyrotechnics!). The chicken is removed from the pan to allow the sliced onions and button mushrooms to cook. The chicken pieces are added back, together with brown beer, and braised for about 45 minutes until tender. Cream is added to the cooking liquid at the end to enrich the sauce. I served it with fingerling potatoes.