FrogPrincesse

After making a Sazarac the other night, I thought that an Improved Whiskey Cocktail was in order. I used Bulleit rye, Luxardo maraschino, Peychaud's bitters, a spritz of Pernod, orange and lemon zests. One of these days I will have to spring for a bottle of real absinthe...

Heidi, The coconut spinach is based on a traditional dish from the Caribbean, creamed callaloo (aka dasheen). It's from Ann Vanderhoof's book, the Spice Necklace, which tells of her culinary adventures aboard a sailing boat, a fun book which also happens to include recipes. To summarize the recipe, you fry some garlic, onion, green onion, a small bell pepper and a piece of hot pepper. Then you add a couple of sliced okras, followed by the dasheen or spinach. When the spinach is wilted, you add about a cup of coconut milk and you season with s+p and nutmeg. At that point you cover and cook until soft (about 10 min for spinach). Finally, you blend for a short time with a stick blender making sure to retain some texture. You can also blend it a little longer and serve it as a soup. It's very good with spinach and wonderful with dasheen, but I have no idea if the later is available in Southern California (I don't remember ever seeing it but I haven't actively looked for it).

This is great. Thanks for sharing your Halloween creations, dcarch!

I'm just a copycat (I was replicating the photo from Sam Ross' Bartender's Choice app), but essentially it gives people an option - they can choose to add it to the cocktail or not. I tried mine without the lemon peel, then with, and found out that I actually prefer it without. Next time I will just discard it after expressing the oils. But if I make a Sazerac with another rye I am sure I make this experiment again...

The color seems normal to me. Punch isn't going to be red unless there is grenadine in it or some other red ingredient. My Fish House Punch is usually dark brown. Here is a recent batch.

Meatballs, gnocchi, eggplant parmesan, osso buco, pizza... And freeze the leftovers in small portions. It seems almost impossible to have too much tomato sauce!

Help - there is some baby bok choy in my CSA (again). What's your favorite way to prepare it? For some reason this vegetable leaves me uninspired. I've tried it steamed (too bland) and stir-fried with garlic (boring), and would like to try something new. Thanks!

I enjoyed a wonderful Sazerac a couple of nights ago with Rittenhouse rye.

The pot-au-feu looks very nice indeed, although it looks like a TON of work! Here are some of my October home dinners. Braised short ribs (recipe from Les Halles) Grilled swordfish with salsa di Giovanna (Jamie Oliver), grilled vegetables from my CSA I used the leftover short ribs in a pasta dish (lemon ziti) Lamb chops with chimichurri (April Bloomfield), grilled zucchini & bell pepper Grilled swordfish steaks Sicilian Salmoriglio style (Marcella Hazan), creamed spinach with coconut Caramelized carrot soup with ginger garnish (Modernist Cuisine) Arugula, pear and goat cheese salad Pressure-cooked pulled pork, roasted squash and creamed spinach. I learned this technique for pulled pork before Modernist Cuisine, from my local cooking school! Pressure-cooked caramelized "sweet dumpling" squash soup with crème fraîche Fresh lemon-basil pasta shells, homemade ricotta and Babbo's basic tomato sauce

Thanks Dan, I will keep that in mind (although I am not really in the market for another ginger liqueur - I am already running out of space!).

I've seen that but I've been there twice since the change and have been happy. For my first visit the chef had changed already. Our friends who are quite "picky" (in a good way) were impressed.

Beautiful farm cheeses, Dave. They both look great, especiallty the second one (raw goat milk). I made whole-milk ricotta yesterday. I also had some cave-aged Swiss Gruyère from TJ's (my daughter's favorite).

While I was enjoying a Negroni Primavera, I made this drink for my generally amaro-adverse husband last night, an Old-Fashioned variation leaning in the direction of a Manhattan. It's prepared like an old-fashioned but there is also a touch (1/4 oz) of sweet vermouth and it's heavy on the bitters (4 dashes). Orange and lemon zests. The Old Hat by Benjamin Schwartz.

I made a Penicillin the other day with the ratios from the Bartender's Choice app, which are a little odd by the way (eighths of an ounce? A little difficult to measure but that's what I used). I used Canton ginger liqueur instead of the sweetened ginger syrup, with no ill effects. Also my lemon was a Meyer lemon. It was very good. 2 oz scotch 3/4 oz lemon juice 3/8 oz honey syrup 3/8 oz sweetened ginger juice 1/4 Islay scotch Shake, strain into rocks glass

Another Negroni variation by a local bartender (Jason O’Bryan), the Negroni Primavera. Equal parts gin, Aperol and Punt e Mes, with an orange zest. Plenty of bitter orange flavor thanks to the Aperol + Punt e Mes combo. It feels a little less intense than a regular Negroni, but the Punt e Mes shines through especially in the finish. There aren't enough drinks using Punt e Mes so it was nice to find this one!

That wood pigeon looks fantastic. Tell us more about the salmon roulade - is that smoked salmon? It looks like something that would be nice for a holiday meal.

I went back to Brooklyn Girl this weekend. The cocktail menu had changed and I was relieved to see that the bizarre whiskey sour from my first visit was gone. In any case, we got wine. For starters, we shared a generous pot of mussels with a cream broth, fries and crusty bread (heaven), and oyster po'boys (pretty good). For the mains, the whole roasted duck with ginger and honey was crispy and tender (the vegetables that came with it were remarkably bland, so it's a good thing we ordered the terrific roasted corn as a side) and the lamb shank was very satisfying. Someone got the chicken which seemed well prepared. Dessert was a disappointing cold (and somewhat dry) chocolate blackout cake, and a nice warm brownie that would have been perfect without the overly-sweet caramel sauce that came with it. Our friends loved the place. I agree that they do a great job.

It was announced shortly after Honkman posted his review that chef McCabe would be leaving Delicias for La Valencia in La Jolla. More details here.

I ended up with two heads of cauliflower last week, so I roasted one of them whole and drenched it in butter. It took about 90 minutes. Recipe here. I had to lower the temperature for the last 45 minutes so the cauliflower would not burn.

Lost Abbey's Lost and Found. Managed to snap a picture before it disappeared. Great example of Trappist-style beer, made in San Diego.

I would love to see those ads. It seems that Harry Craddock contributed to the popularity of the Lillet brand, at least in the UK. Interestingly, the book about Lillet indicates that the management team at Lillet was less than impressed with his creations (excerpt from page 147).

I no longer have the original packaging so I can't take them back for a refund, but the Applegate Farms hot dogs are pretty bad. Their taste is off (almost sweet) and the texture is a little odd as well. The only other thing from TJ's I can remember not liking is their coffee. I don't normally buy coffee from TJ's but last time I tried it their Italian espresso was ok while everything else was quite bland.

For reference, below is a list of the cocktails calling for Kina-Lillet in the Savoy Cocktail Book. I've tried to find documentation related to their creation or mention of these cocktails in other books but have been unsuccessful so far. The only thing I could find was related to the Charlie Lindbergh cocktail. According to this website, there is a 1927 reference in the Washington Post to the Charlie Lindbergh cocktail, three years before the Savoy Cocktail Book was published. Abbey cocktail Bich's special cocktail Campden cocktail Charlie Lindbergh cocktail Corpse reviver (No. 2) The Culross cocktail Depth charge cocktail Eddie Brown cocktail Frank Sullivan cocktail Great secret cocktail H. and H. cocktail "Hoop la !" cocktail "Hoots mon" cocktail Jimmy Blanc cocktail Kina cocktail Lily cocktail Maiden's prayer cocktail (No. 2.) Odd McIntyre cocktail Old Etonian cocktail Prohibition cocktail Richmond cocktail Roy Howard cocktail Self-starter cocktail

New addiction: the mesquite-smoked almonds. Great with cocktails!

I too got lamb for dinner last night: grilled lamb loin chops with chimichurri, sweet Italian sausage and whole roasted cauliflower.