FrogPrincesse

I am guessing texture. The ones I just made with egg whites were very fluffy and delicate. I am not sure that you could achieve the same texture without egg whites.

I tried "That Green Drink" from the summer issue of Imbibe magazine: gin, white vermouth, muddled cucumber, Chartreuse, lime juice, simple syrup. Lots of things going on in that cocktail. Intensely aromatic with the interplay of Chartreuse and white vermouth (I used Dolin). Quite strong. May be better suited to the heat topped with club soda (or decrease the amount of Chartreuse a little). I kept thinking that a tequila version could work too.

Excellent. They seem a little more plump that the ones my machine produces. I am sure they are delightful. Do you use ricotta in the dough or just a regular pasta dough recipe?

I haven't been but would love to try Sam Ross' new venture, Attaboy, and Joaquin Simo, Troy Sidle, Jason Cott & Toby Maloney's new place, Pouring Ribbons. Please do report back!

Very cool. It would be great so see the resulting cavatelli when you get a chance!

Intriguing. Do you have a picture?

Brooklyn Girl is a restaurant that opened earlier this year in Mission Hills. I had my first meal there about a month ago; I believe that their original chef had already left. This must be one of the most pleasant kitchens to work in because it has large windows that open into the street with lots of light. The dining space itself is a little reminiscent of Cuccina Urbana - large, loft-like space, noisy and animated, with the bar in the middle. We started off with some cocktails. They arrived in large glasses and were mediocre across the board for a place that claims to serve "craft cocktails". The namesake cocktail was ok; it's their take on the Brooklyn cocktail with Averna substituted for the Picon (and it came with an unfortunate layer of foam indicating that it had been shaken instead of stirred). The cantaloupe Manhattan seemed watered down, the Southern Bell was a weird spicy concoction with bell pepper, and their take on the whiskey sour (I forgot the name but it was an homage to someone's grandmother) was a monstrosity. It was so sweet and candy-like that my friends convinced me to send it back (a first for me as I am very uncomfortable complaining in restaurants). In short, don't order the cocktails. Now that this is out of the way, the food... After the complementary popcorn (which is fun with the cocktails), we had the clam pizza, short rib gnocchi, ribeye steak with bone marrow and chimichurri, and the clams "casino" - a misnomer because these are steamed clams in broth (which was clear from the description in the menu). The clams pizza was slightly undercooked and the clams a little rubbery. Everything else was great though. My dish, the clams "casino", was meant to be an appetizer but was actually an extremely generous portion of juicy clams for $12 I believe - a great deal. The steak and the short ribs were substantial and succulent. We left quite happy with the food. So I am sure that we will be back, but we will make sure to order wine next time! The ribeye steak with bone marrow and chimichurri Short rib gnocchi Clams "casino"

Thanks blue_dolphin. The fresh fig was from Trader Joe's by the way. I had fun with the garnish but if you want to make an exact replica of the version they serve at PDT, I realized after the fact that they had a video showing how to make it.

What a great way to finish the week! And it's nice to see a classic French (Parisian) dish. I've never had lobster Thermidor but this looks delicious. Do you cook the lobster in a pan first before finishing it in the oven?

That's on the list too. Is there a type of scotch that works best in that drink?

I went to the newly opened Public Market last weekend which currently functions as a farmer's market and had lunch at a food truck named Miss Sushi. We ordered a bunch of items and waited... and waited (even though there were only few people). It took a while and I was afraid that the wait would not justify the end result. However I was wrong on that point. First we got this delicious yellowtail tostada. The fried tortilla was super crisp. The yellowtail was resting on a bed of seaweed salad and it was topped with fresh avocado. Delicious. Then we had a couple of sushi rolls. Caterpillar on the left and "crunchy roll" (shrimp) on the right. You can see the attention to detail in the presentation, and the ingredients were great with high-quality seafood . This was much better than most low- to mid-range sushi restaurant that I've tried in the past. Try it if you get a chance!

Unfortunately I don't have cocktail-quality sherry (just some stuff that I use to cook with and has been opened for a while...). But it's on my list once I make some room - I am working on it!

More meals from MIHO since June. I still enjoy this place very much. I loved the eggplant wrap (smoked local eggplant, white bean hummus, fresh local cucumber, local onion sprouts, roasted local sweet pepper, home made créme fraîche, lavash) The salmon taco was not especially memorable although it is nice to see fish on the menu (olive oil poached salmon, local lamb's quarter & padron pesto, local epazote crema, pickled local peppers, crispy local chard, shaved local radish, local flour tortilla). I was not crazy about the chicken shawarma flatbread - the meat was a little dry and over-seasonned (all natural chicken, house pickled local veggies, local little gem, tahini garlic sauce, hand made flatbread). I LOVED the heirloom tomato sandwich (fresh local heirloom tomato, house smoked local avocado puree, gruyere, local arugula, local levain). The picture does not do it justice. It was very "meaty" and satisfying. The pulled pork sandwich was a little bland. The torta de Adobada was great (all natural Berkshire pork, house pickled red onion, black beans, shredded lettuce, salsa de cacauate, fresh cilantro, panella, local avocado, hand made mayo, local telera). I could have lived without the mayo but the meat was delicious and all the other elements added something interesting to the mix.

Simple stuff for a weeknight meal: Grilled sirloin burger with heirloom tomato, arugula, "Toscano" cheese, aioli garlic mustard. The "fries" (roast acorn squash with thyme and rosemary from the patio) were delicious. All the vegetables were from my CSA; mustard and cheese from Trader Joe's.

Same observation here... but in the end that's ok. Most of our friends don't enjoy cooking as much as I do. When I get annoyed is when we don't get invited back after many times at our place (which is rare fortunately). When we get invited, it does not matter if the host decides to cook for us or has some other plans. In the end if we have a good time together it's all that matters.

I recently inherited a bottle of Drambuie and decided to look it up in the Bartender's Choice app. I used it last night to make a McKinnon: white rum, Drambuie, lime juice, lemon juice. This version was served up (I've seen it served tall as well with club soda). I was pleasantly surprised; it was crisp and very good. The scotch base of the Drambuie did not clash at all with the white rum. I am glad to see lots of other suggestions on this thread because it is not a liqueur I was familiar with.

The Big Bamboo from Sippin' Safari, a "secret" recipe from the Mai-Kai. Lime, orange, grapefruit, passion fruit, dark rum (Appleton 12) and gold (Flor de Cana) rums, angostura bitters. Grapefruit-forward but well balanced, good level of spice, refreshing and very smooth.

Linda, Here it is. It clamps to the work surface. You feed your little strip of dough and turn the handle. The machine forms and cuts the cavatelli. It's quick and easy as well as fun to watch in action.

Every time I use the 1 egg + 100g of flour ratio, I wonder how big Italian eggs must be... because my pasta doughs at that ratio invariably end up way too dry... it won't even come together. Of course, I'm not using 00 flour, either, so maybe that's the problem. Regarding volume vs. weight measurements, I don't think it really matters because as nickrey wrote the amount of flour needs to be fine-tuned anyway. If it's too dry, use less flour next time or add another egg... it's easy. Regarding the type of flour, all-purpose flour works too (that's what I used in the pictures above).

Daiquiri Naturale again, this time with a newly acquired bottle of JM white rhum agricole. I could not resist - it was only $26 at my local Bristol Farms. Less grassy/green than La Favorite but still plenty of "funk" with great tropical fruit/coconut flavors.

I made this white peach old-fashioned for my husband last night. He did not like the little bits of muddled peach in the drink so I ended up straining it for him.

I was unsure about the use of figs in a cocktail, although I adore figs. But I am trying to keep an open mind so I made the Figetaboutit last night: bourbon, lemon juice, amaretto, fig, Angostura bitters. I did not have fig jam so I just muddled a fresh black fig with some sugar. The recipe only uses a bar spoon's worth. If I had not been so worried about the amaretto/fig on paper, I would have realized what was evident after the first sip. This is just a whiskey sour with a touch of amaretto and fig to balance out the lemon juice. Lovely. I recently had a horrendous version of a whisky sour at a local restaurant promoting its "craft cocktails", but this version was nothing like it. Fig and amaretto were great together and subtle enough to not transform this drink into a sweet mess. Instead, they created a memorable finish. Well done.

Left hand is to 1794 as Boulevardier is to Old Pal? Although it sounds like the KC Left hand calls for more bourbon than you said you used. I am not sure I am following you. Boulevardier is rye or bourbon/sweet vermouth/Campari. Old Pal substitutes dry vermouth for the sweet. The Left Hand is a Boulevardier with bourbon and mole bitters. [And the Right Hand is the rum version of the Boulevardier.] The 1794 that you have linked looks like a Left Hand with rye instead of bourbon. It uses sweet vermouth, not dry like in the Old Pal.

Chris, I got it at my local cookware store Great News but it's also available online at amazon. It's made by Marcato. It is collapsible and folds flat so it takes up less space for storage. It comes with a plastic wand (that my daughter calls "magic wand") that allows you to transfer the pasta from the machine to the drying rack. Very handy. I paid about $40.

Why not? Brett (Brettanomyces) is type of yeast that is found in many great Belgian beers such as lambic, gueuze and Orval trappist ale.