FrogPrincesse

This cocktail looks good. If you are still looking for the exact recipe, it was posted a while back in another thread (see below).

Here is the Tuxedo No. 2, a very nice martini variation. 2 oz gin, 3/4 oz dry vermouth, 1/4 oz maraschino liqueur, 2 dashes orange bitters, absinthe rinse (I used pastis), lemon twist. Lots of pleasant herbal notes from the dry vermouth and the absinthe. There is just enough absinthe/pastis to add a little something intriguing without overpowering the cocktail (I use a little spray bottle). I think the new (original) formula Noilly Prat works great in that drink.

Thanks for the information, pastrygirl. It's a mystery at this point because if it's a measuring error, it looks like I managed to make the same error twice! The Anne Willan recipe that I am using has 1 cup liquid for 125 g flour and 110 g (1 stick) of butter. You are using 3.75 cups liquid for 540 g (19 oz) flour, or 1 cup liquid for 144 g flour, so slightly more flour. But that should not make that much of a difference. I will double check my measurements next time.

Thanks. I haven't had a chance to try the New Amsterdam #485, but based on what I could find, it seems light on the juniper (mostly citrus/floral).

I have proof now. Purple potato soup changes color with temperature. Cold it's blue (sorry, it's not particularly appetizing). As you warm it up it mutates to lavender/purple grey, even yellow (that's a hot spot, not butter). Cold soup in the tupperware on the right, for reference. The heated soup, with cold soup in the middle. The (reversible) effect of temperature on anthocyanins. Very cool!

I've been making gougères and chouquettes (their sweet counterpart) for a few years now. I use the recipe from Anne Willan in the Country Cooking of France which has been foolproof. However, a few days ago I decided to double the recipe for a holiday party I was invited to. I boiled my water + butter mixture and added the flour. Instead of instantly forming a ball, it made a very thick soup. Then I remembered a similar failure I had last year with chouquette, also a double batch. At the time I had tried adding flour and had proceeded with the rest of the recipe, but had ended up with little lead balloons. This time I tried adding cornstarch but was not able to rescue the batch. I still had some butter and plenty of flour (good thing because the party was only 45 min away...) so I just made a regular-sized batch which worked great. I am not sure what was going on with the double-batch though; that still puzzles me. I mixed the dough for a longer time with the pot on the burner, but it never formed a ball, even after the addition of corn starch and extended/energetic mixing. Here is the recipe that I use (standard size): 250 mL water 1/4 teaspoon salt (reduced from 3/4 which I find too salty) pinch espelette (my addition) 110 g butter 125 g flour 4 eggs 110 g cheese (this time I used a blend of gruyere, toscano and pecorino) 1 egg for glaze (I skipped that time due to lack of time in the photos below) 400F/200C oven, 25 minutes The failed batch had the consistency of a very thick soup. Here is the successful one. After adding the flour and mixing (before adding the eggs and cheese)

I started writing here but ended up responding in the Vesper thread.

(from the Martini thread) I've always found the Vesper to be a difficult cocktail to get right/balanced. What gin & vodka combo did you use? I was served a version that was surprisingly pleasant a few months ago at a seminar by Richard Boccato at Tiki Oasis - 1.5 Hendrick's gin, 0.75 Lillet, 0.5 Stolichnaya vodka, lemon twist. The Vesper seems like an anomaly. I am not aware of other cocktails that dilute gin with vodka (ok, maybe one, but it's an abomination - the Long Island Iced Tea). Also the use of Lillet instead of dry vermouth may seem odd at first glance; however there are examples of Martinis with Lillet predating Flemming. The Savoy Cocktail Book has the Richmond Cocktail (2/3 Plymouth gin, 1/3 Kina Lillet, lemon twist) and Bich's Special, aka the Great Secret (2/3 dry gin, 1/3 Kina Lillet, dash Angostura bitters, orange twist).

Nice collection (I like how you call it your "cocktail ingredient library"). I can see that you made every effort to ensure that you would not run out of LH151 or Rittenhouse rye! 250 bottles or so?

Continuing with an Ivy League theme, here is the Yale cocktail, a dry Martini with a touch of Maraschino liqueur (an "improved" martini?). Same ingredients as the Martinez from the Savoy Cocktail Book which uses dry vermouth, although the more commonly accepted version uses sweet. Add an absinthe rinse and you get a Tuxedo No. 2 or Turf Cocktail.

Here is a dry Manhattan variation (bourbon, dry vermouth and orange bitters), the Brown Cocktail, named after the University. I've been doing so many sweet Manahattan variations lately, sometimes it's good to change things a bit! For the orange bitters I like to do one dash each of Regan's and Angostura.

I gave up on Coronado Brewing long ago - their beers are not especially interesting. I tried a bunch of them a while back at their brewery.

The whole point of this thread is to be able to see a large variety of foods, from the everyday items to the special occasion dishes. It would not be good for people to censor themselves because they feel that what they made is not special enough. Actually this thread started years ago with a discussion of everyday meals. As long as it's something you cooked for dinner, it is fair game for this thread! From post #1 in 2002:

I pretty much like everything (including offal and the common items that have been cited so far). But I’ve always found rice pudding to be off-putting for some reason. To be honest, I did not grow up eating it and I am not even sure I ever had it. It’s just that the idea of rice combined with sweetened milk as a dessert sounds revolting to me. Something about the texture (although I love risotto) and having rice in a dessert (although I enjoy coconut sticky rice). So yes, it is on the irrational side. I used to hate brussels sprouts, the result of being forced to eat them overcooked and full of sulfurous vapors. I remember eating them as a kid with my nose pinched to avoid the stench and washing them down with plenty of water afterwards. Now I love them when they are properly cooked. I love most cheeses including some that people can consider very pungent (blue cheeses and aged goat cheeses are a delicacy). However I don’t think I could convince myself to put French munster cheese in my mouth. As opposed to the American muenster, munster has an extremely strong odor and when I grew up, since this was a favorite of my parents, I had to brace myself every time they were going to enjoy a piece. Also there is something about this orange sticky rind… I am not interested in trying this cheese. Camembert and brie used to have the same effect on me (the smell of a ripe and runny camembert… yuck!), but since I’ve learned that the taste is milder than what I could guess based on the smell alone, I can eat appreciate them better now. Lastly I have horrible memories of milk skin floating on my bowl of hot chocolate as a kid - even when you fish it out, the taste still stays in the chocolate. So the milk skin dessert at noma does not sounds like something I would want to try (fortunately this dessert has not created a trend unlike the dirt/soil items that are popping up everywhere!). However it's a good example of a chef taking something generally regarded as unpleasant, and turning it into something interesting...

The dates were great. Very sweet. They were good with the cheese and especially good with the drink. As you may know, French and Swiss gruyères are two different types of cheeses. I feel bad for saying this but the French gruyère (which has holes) is quite rubbery and without much character. I never buy it. On the contrary, Swiss gruyère (no holes) has plenty of character and reminds me of the French cheese comté (which, just to add more confusion, is also called "gruyère de comté") - they are both aged for a long time, which develops flavors (nutty/fruity). Both the Swiss and the French gruyères used to have AOC appellation but recently the French finally dropped theirs after years of debate and confusion (amusing article here)...

And now, for our moment of cheese... Swiss gruyère, Tumalo Farms' Rimrocker (a semi-hard cheese which is a blend of cow & goat milks), and some dates. On the side, Cocchi Americano on the rocks. Not convinced about the Rimrocker. Some nice flavors but it's way too subtle to be a repeat purchase. The aged gruyère is more interesting in comparison.

Charcuterer's pork steak dish reminds me of the things that I cook in an aluminum pouch - salmon with cherry tomatoes, basil and olive oil; chicken breasts with mushrooms and white wine, etc. These are great for busy weeknights.

What do you mean it's not trendy - pretty much anything on Adams avenue IS the epitome of trendiness! Full of 20 to 30-somethings with beards and suspenders. It's Hipster Central as my husband calls it. Maybe you don't realize it because you happen to be one of the cool people. That sounds lovely.

Some of the things I do when I don't feel like cooking something elaborate: a big salad (with some nuts or cheese, or prosciutto to make it more substantial), a large bowl of soup with country bread, pasta (I keep a few frozen homemade sauces in the freezer - Bolognese, pesto, marinara), pressure-cooker risotto (you can easily customize it based on what you have at hand). Steamed clams or mussels are delicious and just take a few minutes. Anything that can be done quickly on the grill (sausage, steak, shrimp, or a nice piece of fish) requires little effort and minimizes cleanup. If I am really exhausted, I will just grab a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods and eat it with white rice and a green salad. Eggs in any form are also a life-saver - omelette (good way to use leftovers), soft-boiled (with mouillettes aka soldiers, topped with butter and ham), hard-boiled, poached (with a salad), fried with bacon and toast, scrambled, cocotte, etc...

+ 2 for me The Art of Cooking with Vegetables by Alain Passard The Great Book of Chocolate by David Lebovitz

It appears that this purple potato soup may the mood ring of soups - I will come back to that if I can get proper photographic evidence. Also the taste was pretty good the second day (which may be related to my mood as well!). I went with a much more conventional soup color last night with Gordon Ramsay's broccoli soup. The soup was recommended a while back by rarerollingobject in the Recipes that Rock: 2011 thread. I don't really like broccoli usually but this soup is fresh and clean, slightly peppery, and completely delicious! Plus any excuse to use goat cheese is fine with me. I used a fresh goat cheese but his original version with Sainte-Maure looks completely decadent and would be the way to go if you have it available.

I am not familiar with Cantina Mayahuel, but it sounds like they have quite a selection (200 tequilas and 55 mezcals!). You are referring to Jay Porter from El Take it Easy? In the list, the places I've been to and like (more or less in order of preference) are Noble Experiment, Craft & Commerce, The Lion's Share, Saltbox, Starlite, El Dorado. I've also been Cowboy Star a few times for dinner but was less than impressed with the cocktails. All the other places are solid to outstanding.

The third Annual Bartender Challenge took place at El Dorado last night. Anthony Schmidt from Noble Experiment, who won the first two years, lost his title to Christian Siglin from Craft & Commerce. Here is an interview of Christian that was published last year if you are not already familiar with him.

A lot of good discussions about Sam Ross' Penicillin (which, strangely, has not been mentioned in this thread) in the Scotch cocktail thread. Last week, I tried the Son of a Beesting (you have to love a Ron Burgundy reference!), Michael Madrusan's lighter take on the Penicillin: gin, lemon juice, ginger, honey syrup, rosewater. I liked how it highlighted the spices in the gin (I used Beefeater). It's a little bit like a summer version of the Penicillin. I am using Canton again although ginger syrup is specified. I find that it works fine in mixed drinks; it has less bite than fresh ginger for sure, but it works for my husband who is somewhat ginger-timid. I don't think that I will feel the need to buy a new bottle once this one is finished though. In addition to this thread, there is a nice collection of ginger cocktails in the MxMo XL: Ginger discussion.

Very well said, ScoopKW. I agree with everything you just wrote. As a customer, if you have a great attitude, good things will happen and you will almost always have a good time. Restaurants love people with a great attitude, and they will make sure that you come back and tell your friends about your experience!