FrogPrincesse

What about the texture? Looks pretty challenging to me! (Never had a chance to try though.)

This Averna cocktail was a good winter drink. The spices and rye make a great combo and the Averna brings everything together. Winter Waltz 2 oz rye (I used Bulleit) 1/2 oz Averna 1/4 oz allspice dram (St Elizabeth) 2 dashes Angostura bitters Stirred, up. Star anise garnish.

That sounds wonderful... Added to my to-do cocktail list. Templeton is rye from what used to be the LDI and is now MGPI distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana who makes a ton of different distilled spirits that they sell to others for use in their own brand. Essentially the same stuff is also found in Bulleit and Redemption rye and quite possible several others. High West uses LDI rye in some of their blends. Templeton, Bulleit and Redemption don't make any of it themselves, despite what they may claim in their marketing. It is not a bad rye mind you but between the three I would be inclined to buy the one that has the best price. My experience is that it is usually not Templeton. I did see somewhere before that Bulleit and Templeton were related, and it's interesting to read in your post that these products are coming from the same distillery. I don't pay much attention to marketing because I am doubtful that a true "small batch rye" could be found at Costco of all places! In my area, Bulleit (~ $25) is sold cheaper than Templeton (~ $35). Even if they are produced at the same place, their taste is quite different. I've done a mini side-by-side rye tasting recently and here were my thoughts. Templeton (80 proof) was very smooth and was the best neat. I found it a little thin but it was the most sippable. In comparison, Bulleit (95 proof) was very spicy and not especially pleasant neat (but I really like it in cocktails and the price is right!). Rittenhouse BIB remains my favorite overall (~ $25 when I can find it). It's the most interesting one of the three, a great combination of smooth/full flavors with enough spice to make it work beautifully in cocktails. I like to have different options though based on the type of cocktail that I am making, so it's good to have ryes with different flavor profiles on hand. I didn't have enough ryes in my collections anyway. Since we are on that topic - what other ryes would you recommend in that price range? I've had Old Overholt which I found OK but a little too basic.

It's good to read everybody's resolutions, please keep them coming. How could I forget my favorite... Learn more about Candies and Confections at the 2013 Workshop and meet some of my eG colleagues! This should be a lot of fun and I am very much looking forward to it.

We've had a topic on food resolutions for the past few years now. 2012 New Year Food Resolutions Resolutions for 2011 Resolutions for 2010 Food Resolutions for 2009 Food Resolutions for 2008 Culinary Resolutions for 2007 Culinary Resolutions for 2006 It's resolution time! Last year my goals were to learn to make cupcakes for my daughter (check), macarons (check), pulled pork (check) and a few others things that I now need to move to my 2013 list: sourdough bread, confitures, caramels, and vinegar. I am adding to my list that I would like to make more tiki drinks and continue my experimentation with cocktails in general. What are your culinary goals for 2013?

I made Chef April Bloomfield's Chicken Adobo last night. It was ready in a little bit over an hour. Very flavorful and rustic - she does not peel the garlic or the ginger. With jasmine rice The recipe is available here for those who don't have the book.

+ 1 Christine Ferber's Mes Confitures (French edition)

A riff on Anthony Schmidt's Autumn in Jersey (the original uses applejack which I replaced with calvados): 2 oz calvados, 3/4 oz each homemade orgeat and lemon juice, 2 dashes angostura. It's essential an Army & Navy with a different base liquor. I really like these flavors.

Beautiful!

That sounds wonderful... Added to my to-do cocktail list.

My latest puchases: Plantation Barbados 5 year rum (surprisingly good for less than $20), Templeton rye (from Costco - very smooth), Landy cognac VS (less than $25, bought for mixing and better than the big brands around the same price point in my opnion, including Courvoisier VS and Remy Martin VSOP), Siete Leguas tequila blanco (discovered during a tequila tasting - full of flavor, should be great in cocktails).

[Moderator note: This topic became too large for our servers to handle, so we've divided it up; the earlier part of the discussion is here: The Soup Topic (2007–2012)] After an extremely bland pumpkin soup (Not pictured. Apparently my pumpkin had not taste at all which was very odd), I made Paula Wolfert's Autumn Squash Soup using a kabocha squash. It is served with a piece of rustic bread fried in duck fat and seasoned with a touch of Espelette pepper. The soup has a little bit of potato and some cream that is added at the end. Chives from the garden.

Here is a recent salad wtih Warren pears, pomegranate, mixed greens (baby romaine and butter lettuce) and a walnut oil + sherry vinegar dressing.

I made a batch of orgeat yesterday to celebrate the New Year and we had an Orgeat Punch (from BeachBum Berry Remixed), a tart and likeable concoction with spiced rum (Kraken), 151 rum (Lemon Hart), a good amount of orgeat (1 oz per person), limoncello, lime juice and lemon juice. The limoncello muted the spice in the spiced rum somewhat but it was still a very pleasant concoction.

You are right, it is a seasonal beer and therefore it is a little harder to find. I will check BevMo, thank you!

You are right, it is a seasonal beer and therefore it is a little harder to find. I will check BevMo, thank you!

You are right, it is a seasonal beer and therefore it is a little harder to find. I will check BevMo, thank you!

Sounds great, but I've never seen it in stores :-( Where did you get it?

Quick update on ratios - I redid my math and realized that I had actually been using a 0.7 to 1 spirits to water ratio (excluding the ice). My most recent batch of Fish House Punch was at 1 to 1 and I felt it was a good target (it's easy to remember as well!).

Stone Vertical Epic 12.12.12. Delicious Belgian-style strong dark ale. Not too sweet; rich flavor with spice and some bitterness. I am going to stock up on this one!

In general I prefer puréed soups. I put everything in the blender (with a thick towel on top to contain explosions!) or use a stick blender (which is handy, but there are always a few stray pieces left which drives me nuts). Last night's soup was pumpkin, blended. I don't think I would have liked the broth (which was just the cooking liquid from the vegetables) with pieces of pumpkin floating. But there are soups that work well unblended.

One more - PDT has a twist on the 20th Century called the 21st Century with tequila, creme de cacao (recipe calls for the white but I am sure the brown could work although it will not be as pretty!), and lemon juice. That would be a fun one to try.

You could make a Brave Bull, which is the tequila version of the Black Russian. The DeGroff version has 1 ounce each of tequila and Kahlua, on the rocks. PDT has a recipe for Café arroz that calls for tequila (reposado) and Kahlua, plus horchata. I can look up the recipe if you are interested in the specifics. Other than that, I would just make tequila cocktails. The Paloma that Hassouni already suggested, a Bee Sting, or Tommy's Margarita (with agave syrup and lime juice).

I am glad to read that you enjoyed Noble Experiment, my favorite cocktail spot. I agree that it's best to avoid Fridays and Saturdays if you can. If you can't you just have to do your best to ignore all the "trendiness" around you - but the bartenders are always very happy/relieved to chat with true cocktail connoisseurs.

After reading Chris' thread about the "Angostura & Absinthe Thing", I was inspired to have a Hendrick Cocktail, which is an Old-Fashioned with a drop of absinthe. A ton of spice in that drink. Adding the absinthe (pastis in my case) changed the mood of the drink quite a bit.