FrogPrincesse

The red wine reduction (red wine, unsalted butter, carrots, sea salt, black pepper) is underneath the poached egg. I see. You have a very light touch with the red wine; usually the oeufs en meurette are literally swimming in the sauce (just google "oeufs en meurette" if you want to see what I mean)! That must be your "less in more" school of thought in action again...

Beautiful poached egg, SobaAddict, but where did you hide the red wine? Traditionally, oeufs en meurette, a specialty from Burgundy, are poached in red wine (signed - the French Culinary Police ).

Lots of good suggestions from kalypso. Also if you take a chance to review this thread there are quite a few places that fit your description. This other thread has more recommendations.

I haven't but that sounds... strong!

Thanks. I have never used zucchini in a salad so you are giving me new ideas.

The Mother-in-Law cocktail is another close relative of the Brooklyn. In the ingredient list, the dry vermouth is replaced with curaçao together with Angostura, Peychaud's and orange bitters. Therefore it is also similar to the Hoskins but with bourbon as the base instead of gin. We really need a spreadsheet to keep track of all of these. I used the recipe from the Bartender's Choice app, so no simple syrup and slightly increased amounts of Picon, curaçao and maraschino compared to the version in Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. It began smoothly and then felt quite boozy with a lot of spice in the finish. In a blind tasting I would probably have guessed it was rye-based. Again, quite similar to the Brooklyn with some additional spice layers contributed by the curaçao (I used Paul Ferrand dry curaçao) and the four different kinds of bitters that I used. A very nice sipping drink.

You have some beautiful salads there, SobaAddict70. I agree that you don't need a lot of ingredients to make a tasty and interesting salad. In the zucchini and tomato salad, is the zucchini blanched?

For Thanksgiving this year, as usual, my mother-in-law will be taking care of the turkey and some of the side dishes (I am French and don't know/don't want to know anything about turkey!!! ). This allows me to focus on some other things. First I will bring a batch of Fish House Punch which has become a favorite in our family. I am not sure what we will have with that, maybe salmon rillettes (if I remember to thaw them! - I have a batch in the freezer). I want to make a soup - so far I am considering the caramelized carrot soup from Modernist Cuisine, this root vegetable soup with green apple and duck prosciutto garnish that was a big hit last year, or this pumpkin soup with basil that mm84321 suggested (but that may be too much squash for one meal and I don't have the book yet). A salad would be nice as a little palate-cleanser before dessert. Maybe this persimmon and pomegranate salad since I already have all the ingredients. For dessert, it has to be a traditional pumpkin/squash pie. I like David Lebovitz's recipe from Ready for Dessert. I got a sugar pumpkin and a butternut squash in my CSA recently so I am ready to go. If time permits, I would like to make something with chocolate as well. We have a bunch of chocalcoholics in the family! Truffles would be great or a little bite of something to conclude the meal.

It looks like there are a lot of cocktails in the Brooklyn family. I have not experienced a bad one yet but they can be hard to distinguish. The Blue Collar Cocktail was created by Michael Madrusan when he mixed the recipes for the Liberal (rye, Picon, sweet vermouth, orange bitters) and the Brooklyn (bourbon, Picon, dry vermouth, maraschino liqueur). The resulting cocktail has rye, Picon, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, angostura and orange bitters. Note that the Bartender's Choice app where I found the recipe specifies Amaro CioCiaro whereas I used picon bière. Using sweet vermouth in this drink makes it a little rounder compared to the Brooklyn - but I am writing this from memory as I haven't done a side-by-side - and tempers the rye to some extent. The differences are subtle though. Edited to add that the ingredient list is the same as the Bushwick discussed upthread, with the addition of bitters (angostura + orange), I will have to compare the ratios as I haven't memorized all these recipes yet! As far as I remember the Bushwick was heavier on the sweet vermouth.

For a Picon + champagne + gin combo see the Donizetti in the Cocktails with Champagne thread here (on the right in the photo).

I had a rum old-fashioned variation the other night with my new bottle of Havana Club 7. The Chet Baker by Sam Ross uses honey as the sweetener, a touch of sweet vermouth, and angostura bitters. It's a nice way to enjoy an aged rum. The Havana club 7 has a lot of caramel and a hint of spice and smoke. It's deep but not as heavy/assertive as Smith & Cross or a black strap rum. At least it does not resemble any of the dark rums I currently have.

Thanks Keith. You know what to get me for Christmas then!

Persimmon and pomegranate salad last night. This is based on a recipe from Lucques (details here) but I skipped the toasted hazelnuts and used a mesclun with arugula instead of just arugula. The persimmon bought at the farmer's market was very nice.

I tried the Havana Club 7 last night and although it was not mind-blowing (and I did not expect it to be), it was pretty good for the price. I can't wait to try the añejo 3 años in a Daiquiri.

More cocktails with champagne. I found the Moon Walk (on the left) in Gary Regan's Joy of Mixology. It was created in 1969 by Joe Gilmore from the Savoy and contains champagne, grapefruit juice, Grand Marnier and rose water. Light and delicate but still a solid cocktail. The Donizetti is from the PDT cocktail book and was created by David Slape. It has champagne, gin, Amaro CioCiaro (I used Picon) and apricot liqueur. I feared that it would be on the sweet side with the apricot liqueur, but it had enough bitterness from the Picon to balance it out. It is more or less an orange version of the French 75.

Going through the duty free shop in Heathrow the other day I picked up a couple of bottles of Havana Club which I've never had a chance to try. I saw that they had a bar inside the store and quite a few samples (cognac, scotch, etc) but I was short for time and was not able to take advantage of this. Maybe another time. And yesterday I was doing my grocery shopping at TJ's and saw Wild Turkey 101 for $17 so I had to get it.

Sorry for the typo upthread- it should have read "I miss YOUR posts". Anyway, it's good to see you both again on this thread and I will be following your adventures with sloe gin as it's not something I have had a chance to try yet.

I have both. Bulleit is a little spicier while Rittenhouse is smoother and deeper/ more complex. I prefer Rittenhouse but it's good to have both for different purposes.

I miss you posts! How do you like the sloe gin (and the applejack)?

It's funny but after all this talk about Rittenhouse it's finally back in stock at my local Bristol Farms (they were out for at least 6 months). I grabbed a bottle last night ($27.99).

Yes! It is a great recipe. That is simply whole milk, simmered and frothed with a Bamix. Thanks! I need to get that book. It looks like it has recipes that have great flavor combinations while not being overly complicated.

That's a shame: I've made the home-cured Sauerkraut and really enjoyed it. The texture was much better than canned or jarred products, and you have a lot more control over the level of sourness. Did you keep it properly submerged in the brine? What temperature were you fermenting at? Submerged in brine, room temperature, protected from light (in a cupboard).

Lovely. Is that from the Art of Cooking with Vegetables? And can you describe the foam on top? Thanks!

Here is the Roasted Celery Soup from food52. This is the unstrained version which was a little stringy. Much better texture after passing it through a sieve.

Champagne versions of two classic cocktails the other night as we were working on finishing a half-empty bottle of Cremant brut rosé. For me, the Famiglia Regale (Sam Ross), which is a Negroni with champagne. It's equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, Campari and champagne; grapefruit twist. For my husband, a Chicago Cocktail which is a Manhattan with an extra ounce of Champagne plus a dash of orange bitters (I used one dash each of Fee and Regan's). Also (not pictured), I got a delicious Bee's Knees with Aviation gin topped with champagne last week at the Noble Experiment.