FrogPrincesse

The Fish Shop in San Diego (Pacific Beach) always has a nice (small) selection of local beers on tap. This weekend they had a coconut brown ale from Mission Brewery. It was malty, a little bitter/sour and quite refreshing despite the dark color. You could taste the coconut in the finish but it was subtle.

This was equal parts. Luxardo Sangue Morlacco has a deep ruby color (sangue = blood, which seemed appropriate). Re: double straining, you are right and the small crystals bothered me for a second or two, but they had melted by the time I had finished posting the photo... and at that point I was more concerned about not finding the cocktail to my taste.

I made garlic soup, aka "Evening Garlic Soup in the Manner of the Corrèze" from Paula Wolfert's The Cooking of Southwest France, a couple of nights ago. Very comforting. It's the French answer to egg drop soup - it's thickened with egg. There is a touch of red wine vinegar to brighten up the flavors. I also made a large batch of Carrot Ginger Soup last night for us and for a friend who is recovering from surgery. I had carrots and ginger from my CSA. I love the flavors together. Touch of curry powder and heavy cream, chives from the garden.

I checked and don't have Talisker anyway. I don't have too many options for mixing - other than Glenfiddich 12, I have Glenlivet 12 and 15 and that's about it. I also have Bunnahabhain and Lagavulin but we prefer to drink them neat. The Bowmore Legend looks interesting - I will keep my eyes open for it!

Sounds like a plan! Do you recommend changing the ratios as well (I used equal parts)?

After the (relative) disappointment of the Blood and Sand, I decided to take a risk with the Broadmoor (Andreas Noren). The name was evocative of the British moorlands which made sense because of the greenish color of the drink and the fact that it is Scotch-based. I later found out that this was actually the name of a high-security mental institution... which also makes sense because on paper this drink does not make any (sense). Scotch whisky, green Chartreuse, simple syrup, and orange bitters. I was concerned that it would be quite sweet and had a hard time imagining the interaction between Scotch whisky and Chartreuse. There was only one way to find out... As opposed to the Blood and Sand, it is a very strong cocktail that is best sipped slowly. It is also very harmonious and complex. The herbal notes from the Chartreuse complement the smoke from the Scotch. The orange bitters add an element of brightness that is welcome. This is a really nice cocktail (in small doses as it is very potent!).

Growing up in France, I had access to these game birds and had a chance to eat them relatively frequently in the colder months, but unfortunately I did not know how to cook at the time. Now I live in the US and I've only prepared quail because the other game birds are harder to find. The quails were spatchcocked, marinated and then grilled. It's a fantastic little treat. They were marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and honey (the recipe is from Babbo, here). The recipe works for squab too. I liked the fact that it was a very approachable/everyday recipe. If you are looking for something more elaborate, foie gras-stuffed quail is a classic. There is a recipe in Les Halles for Chartreuse of Quail that I've been eyeing for a long time. Regarding pheasant, it's quite good in terrines.

I tried my first Blood and Sand this weekend. I had high expectations but this was not what I was expecting. It felt a little "thin"/dilute and had more in common with a variation on vermouth than a scotch-based cocktail per se. The scotch was really getting lost in the drink. I was using a fairly non-descript Glenfiddich that I use for mixing. It allowed me however to taste the cherry liqueur in combination with vermouth and I liked the taste. Once I had recalibrated my expectations to just a nice pleasant aperitif cocktail, I enjoyed the drink. In general I have to say though that most orange cocktails are a let down. There seems to be too much sweetness in regular oranges to make these drinks "pop" and something seems to be missing in the end.

A friend gave me a bottle of Luxardo Sangue Morlacco cherry liqueur (disclosure- she works for Anchor Distilling which imports Luxardo in the US), one of the things that were missing in my ever-expanding liquor cabinet. The first cocktail I knew I wanted to try was Remember the Maine, a wonderful Manhattan variation. 1/4 oz of the sweet vermouth in the Manhattan is replaced with cherry liqueur, and the glass is rinsed with absinthe (I used a little spray bottle). It was better than a version I had made a while back with maraschino liqueur (I realize now that maraschino and cherry liqueur don't have much in common even though they are both based on Marasca cherries!). The cherry liqueur adds fruit and sweetness to the drink that the absinthe balances very well with just enough spice.

For some reason I have this thing with pirate's booty cheese puffs. I have to hide the bag otherwise I can go though most of it in one sitting. I love pistachios as well...

Thanks for the nice comments Patrick! This was the "Variation of Ragu with Pork" from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, which is the version with 1 part pork to 2 parts beef. I followed it pretty much as is and we loved it!

Continuing to catch up with the cocktails I have tried recently. I almost want to keep this one to myself because it's SO good. The Professional by Benjamin Schwartz: bourbon, Campari and overproof Jamaican rum. It feels like a cross between a negroni and an old-fashioned. It tastes bitter and deep/complex, and the Smith & Cross adds a fantastic finish. Love it.

I will have to try Averna neat to see if I can detect this too. I am curious now. Or maybe it's the combination with the apricot liqueur that is creating this sensation?

I occasionally get rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods or Bristol Farms. Similar to what others are doing, I keep the carcass (in the freezer if it's more than a couple of days) and make stock using my pressure cooker. I get the chickens with just salt on them or lemon/herbs. I prefer the flavor and the light seasoning does not interfere with the stock. No, but I noticed that the quality of the rotisserie chickens varies widely depending on where you buy them. Costco has them very cheap but I don't care for the texture. I prefer leaner chickens with more taste.

Menthol from the Averna? I am asking because it's not something I have noticed before (but I have never used Averna as the primary ingredient).

I am glad that you appreciate it. I wish I remembered to post on this thread more regularly. I read it much more frequently than I post on it. Lots of fantastic ideas here! It's always a good place to look for inspiration.

ScottyBoy has one very lucky roomate! Shane's pizza looks quite spectacular. I am not usually into deep-dish pizza but could be tempted by this one. And I like anything with coconut in it, so MikeHartnett's Burmese noodles look great as well. Here is my November dinner recap. Speaking of coconut, the first dish is a coconut and saffron shrimp curry with grilled coconut kale (both recipes are from Vij's). Simple and comforting. Halibut with lime ginger beurre blanc, cauliflower "couscous" and bok choy. Grilled bourbon sausage and roasted spaghetti squash (sprinkled with parmesan for him (front) and with goat cheese for me). Pasta bolognese (recipe from Marcella Hazan). Clams with vermouth and fennel. Grilled ribeye, roasted squash. Tandoori shrimp, roasted cauliflower. More Bolognese - this time using fresh lemon-thyme pasta shells. The sauce gets better over time.

In the colder months, I really like salade de chèvre chaud. The crottin de Chavignol (smuggled from France) is put under the broiler for a couple of minutes with a piece of bread until it starts to melt, and used to top the salad. I sprinkled a little bit of herbes de Provence on top. I like a dressing with plenty of red wine vinegar and chives with this.

Sam's Fitzroy is a Rob Roy with a Islay rinse -- the Gibson of the Manhattan family, I'd say. You are right, but the Islay rinse makes quite an impact. I've never been a fan of the Rob Roy and liked this variation much better.

I just found out that there was a free cocktail app by Food and Wine that includes their guide to America's best bars, together with a few original recipes from these bars. It seems similar to the little guidebook that they published earlier this year.

Your cocktail, Katie, looks really good, but note that is another cocktail named the Fitzroy, created by Sam Ross (and mentioned by Toby Maloney here, together with other Manhattan variations that use a Laphroaig rinse). (Fitzroy happens to be the name of the neighborhood in Melbourne where Sam Ross' first bar the Ginger was located). I had it a week or two ago. It's (blended) scotch (I use the low-end Glenfiddich which does not have much personnality), sweet vermouth, angostura, and Laphroiag rinse. A smoky Manhattan variation. Here it is.

I was in the mood for eggnog the other day and decided to try Jeff Morgenthaler's recipe that a few people already recommended in this thread. I used Courvoisier V.S. for the brandy and Kraken for the spiced rum. I thought that the flavor was right on, but the sugar content was too high (as Keith Orr had noted upthread). I will decrease it by half next time. The eggnog tasted great right after mixing, and was even better the next day. I had made a large-ish batch hoping to see how the flavor would develop over the next few days/weeks, but when I was invited to a party at the last minute I decided to take my extra bottle with me, which was very well appreciated. I thought using spiced rum was a good way to introduce a lot of flavor and will be making another batch soon.

I made a Juniperotivo the other night when I realized that I had a bottle of pomegranate molasses that I had bought a few weeks ago and never used. I liked the astringent character of the drink, which reminds me of Campari-based cocktails. It's a very approachable aperitif cocktail. It's interesting how the pomegranate seemed to temper the Junipero quite a bit. I imagine that I milder gin would get completely lost in this cocktail.

This has made the show so much more watchable! ... She was insane! She liked drama and attention, for sure.

Last night I made the Linguine with Clams from Holiday Food. After frying sliced garlic in olive oil until golden brown, the clams were added and cooked (lid on) with white wine and chopped canned tomatoes, together with the juice of the tomatoes and some red pepper flakes. I used fresh squid ink linguine which I boiled for a couple of minutes, and then cooked for an additional minute with the clams over high heat. I added chives at the end because I did not have any parsley on hand. It was delicious and ready in 10 minutes or so. If I remember correctly, the recipe called for only 1 pound of clams for 4 to 8 people. We love clams and had this as our main course, so I increased the amount to 2 pounds for the two of us. We were happy with the portion size.