FrogPrincesse

Chimay Bleue is also one of my favorites. I tried this one the other day. It's the Brett Beer from the Lips of Faith series, a collaboration between The Lost Abbey, a local brewery from San Marcos, and New Belgium. Very nice summery beer with tropical fruit undertones, a little acidic.

Your bresaola looks beautiful, FoodMan. In the end, which recipe do you recommend for a first timer - the one from Charcuterie or Modernist Cuisine? I have both books but have yet to make bresaola.

Since I am on the topic of fresh pasta, I don't think I ever posted about making fresh cavatelli. It may be one of the easiest fresh pasta to make. First you start with ricotta, preferably homemade. You mix the ricotta with flour, eggs, and orange zest in this version. The dough is fairly light-weight so it can be kneaded in the stand mixer without risking burning out the motor. After a resting period, it can be rolled and cut into little strips. With the help of my little assistant and a cavatelli cutter, the process is fun and quite fast. They are dusted in semolina flour and can be cooked immediately or frozen for a later use. Here is a picture of the first batch I made during a cooking class with Chef Ryan Johnston from whisknladle. The cavatelli was served with roasted bell peppers, Italian sausage and arugula (summer lasagne on the left). Here is another version I made this spring with cavolo nero, broccoli rabe pesto, and Italian sausage (from the Dinner thread).

Thanks. I had not made fresh pasta in a few months and wanted to make sure I could still do it!

A couple of days ago I made angel hair pasta using the "basic pasta dough" recipe from Babbo (recipe at the bottom of the linked page), and served it with the "basic tomato sauce" (recipe at the end of this other linked page). This has been my go-to pasta recipe for a few years now. I mix the dough in a stand mixer for a few minutes at low speed, and then do all the kneading by hand once everything is well mixed. I roll it with the Kitchenaid attachment. The pasta cooks for about a minute and is finished in the sauce. I made a double batch and cut the other half as tagliatelle, and dried them for a later use. I have to keep an eye on my daughter because she likes to eat the dry pasta as a little snack!

Here are a few salads we enjoyed this summer (I can't believe summer is almost over!). Fattoush-inspired salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, chives, butter lettuce, parsley, mint, zahtar (from the Dinner thread). Les Halles tomato salad with basil and balsamic vinegar (from the Les Halles cookbook thread). A chopped cucumber and tomato salad with mint (also from the Dinner thread). Heirloom tomatoes from my CSA with buffalo mozzarella and basil. Arugula, black figs, fresh goat cheese, Parma ham, balsamic, olive oil. Based on a recipe from Lucques, a summer fruit salad (peach, fig) with arugula and Marcona almonds. Another tomato salad - when tomatoes are in season, I don't get tired of this! Arugula and the sweetest yellow peaches from the farmers market with fresh goat cheese (from the Labor Day thread). Lobster chopped salad with cherry tomatoes, avocado, corn and home-cured bacon (from the Labor Day thread, based on a recipe from Lucques).

Franci you are killing me. Between the gorgeous tajine, the rabbit, duck & foie gras, lamb shoulder, fish soup, I don't know where to start! Great to see you back on this thread.

Intriguing cocktail; I can see the potential. Unfortunately I can't try it unless there is an acceptable substitute for the Sibilla. Regarding "intensely bitter, herbal, or otherwise extreme" drinks, most of the ones from the beta cocktail book seemed to fit into that category. I enjoy them every once in a while but have had a hard time convincing other people. Not everyone's cup of tea. And there is such a thing as overly bitter. One time I tried a drink that took me practically an hour to finish because of its intense bitter quality. It would have been fine as a sipping drink (the flavor was good), but it was not the best choice for a first drink.

[Moderator note: This is part of an extended topic that became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it into shorter segments; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Homemade Marshmallows: Recipes & Tips (Part 2)] How fun. Thirty-five pages of marshmallow discussion; I had no idea until recently when I made a batch of French vanilla ice cream and ended up with leftover egg whites. I decided to make marshmallows and found this thread. I used this recipe from David Lebovitz. It went quite well but the marshmallows were a little sticky at the end of the process and it got worse with the heat and humidity we've experienced this weekend in San Diego. It's possible that I did not whip the mixture long enough at step number 6. In any case, they were delicious little clouds! The recipe yielded exactly a 1/4 sheet pan.

A couple of rum-based drinks this weekend, which seems appropriate with the heat wave in San Diego. A Trader Vic's Mai Tai with homemade orgeat. Ti Punch with rhum agricole Damoiseau from Guadeloupe. The Damoiseau is nice but I still prefer La Favorite Blanc for its stronger sugarcane flavor (and its grassy, pear and tropical notes).

Thanks!

Beautiful pâté en croûte. I am intrigued by the world championship but your link does not work for me. Terrines and pâtés are the ultimate potluck dishes (which is why French potlucks are so great)!

Try Maldon salt. It seems fairly similar and should be available.

I got a gorgeous piece of California King salmon from Catalina Offshore yesterday and happened to have most of the ingredients for the King Salmon with Cucumbers and Balsamic Vinegar. The salmon is cooked on a plank in the original recipe after being brushed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. I cooked it on a cast-iron skillet, skin first. The cucumber salad accompaniment has sliced shallots, scallions (I substituted chives), mustard seeds, pink peppercorns (which I omitted), red wine vinegar and olive oil. The salmon is served on the cucumber salad with a drizzle of aged balsamic. It's a great week-night recipe with minimal cleanup needed. With fish as good as this King salmon, you don't need to do much to it other than making sure that it is cooked properly.

Nice experimentation. Out of curiosity, what didn't you like about the Suze version? Also, while I have not had a chance to try the Tempus Fugit products, isn't Grand Classico bitter a Campari substitute (while l'Avion d'Or is based on Kina-Lillet), making the third version closer to a classic Negroni?

Dry County Cocktail. A summer Manhattan with Tennessee whisky (book calls for Dickel, I used Gentleman Jack), dry vermouth, ginger liqueur, and lemon bitters (I used grapefruit). Crisp and citrusy.

What type of passionfruit did you use? Maracuyá (the big, yellow- or purple-cased ones with very intense yellow-orange arils) are very acid and don't play very well with other flavours, but I've had great success combining them with another fruit before introducing them to the spices. Blackberry/Maracuyá is an excellent combo if you want to hit the heat with it, as is Maracuyá/Mango (which makes a fantastic base for medium to hot curry type sauces). If you can source it, Granadilla (smaller, orange-yellow cases with spots, pale white arils) is a much better passionfruit to base sauces around, as it's not nearly as acid as other types. Elizabeth, This was a concentrate, not the fresh fruit. If I get fresh ones (I saw the yellow ones at the farmers' market last week), maybe I will give it another chance. Thank you for the details on the different types of passion fruit, this is great info!

We had fish last night with this black gill rockcod with passion-fruit ginger sauce and roasted cauliflower. The fish was grilled, and the cauliflower was roasted in the oven. The sauce was somewhat unfortunate despite my best efforts. The passion fruit did not work well with the other flavors.

I am a sucker for Chartreuse, although cocktails with Chartreuse as one of the main ingredients can be overwhelmingly sweet and herbal which can result in rapid taste-bud fatigue. However this one, the Vauvert Slim, does not fall into that category. It combines grapefruit juice, lime juice, green Chartreuse, mint, and egg white, and a Laphroaig rinse. It is crisp and refreshing with the amazingly long smoky finish from the Laphroaig. Plus it is very attractive in the glass.

Chris, Sorry to hear about the change; hopefully we will continue to see you frequently on eGullet. I've always enjoyed your posts tremendously. Thanks for sharing your passion for food (and cocktails) with us. Good luck with this new phase in your life.

But that is not Champagne! :-) At least get your mom a real Champagne from France. Why? Not necessarily the best for the money... Obviously taste is a very subjective matter. At that price point, I feel that you have more options with the French champagnes. Also I think that it would have more impact as a gift.

That's also available with Eat Your Books (and no, I don't work for them!). You can have access to ingredients in your recipes on your mobile device (as long as the book is indexed), which is handy when you are on the go.

If only I had a brain...

It's probably Eat Your Books that was already mentioned upthread. I use it and it changed my life. More details on this thread.

Yep. The other option is to sop up the juices with a crusty French baguette, but I prefer drinking them neat!