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FrogPrincesse

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  1. I always do - that way they can be eaten as is with no additional salt needed.
  2. Yes - in France, scallops are typically sold live, i.e. in the shell with the roe still attached, and they are quite a treat! They are amazing carpaccio-style with a touch of olive oil & lime.
  3. After the cornucopia of ingredients in Don's Beach Planter, I was looking for something a little more streamlined that would still feature Don's characteristic flavor profile. On paper, the Donga Punch seems to fit that purpose with just four ingredients: aged rhum agricole (I used St James), lime juice, grapefruit juice (Oro Blanco) and cinnamon syrup. A funky rum with the grapefruit + cinnamon combo that is seen in so many creations by Donn Beach. It was ready in a couple of minutes. I really enjoyed it. For me it evoked a spicy Mai Tai, a huge compliment as the Mai Tai is one of my favorite tiki drinks. My husband did not think it was quite in the same league as the 1934 Zombie, Don's masterpiece, but I feel that it is close - and a lot faster to make! I am adding it to my list of favorites. Here is the recipe as posted by bmdaniel a while back on this thread (it's from Sippin' Safari): Note that with the cinnamon syrup that I used (B.G. Reynolds), the cinnamon flavor was quite pronounced, the way I expected it to be, and I did not have to adjust the recipe.
  4. The project has well exceeded its kickstarter funding goal of $ 92k, and therefore it looks like we will have a public market in San Diego in the very near future. More details about the project here, here and here (for updates). It's quite exciting. Founders Catt White and Dale Steele quote La Boqueria and Granville Island market as their inspiration, which sets the bar quite high!
  5. It looks like Cavaillon has closed, very unfortunately. Philippe Verpiand (formerly of Tapenade), who first opened the restaurant as chef/owner, had left last year.
  6. Part 3 - Julienne It looks like I kept the best for last. We had an excellent dinner at Julienne. The space was on the casual side but the cuisine was very elegant. Just looking at the menu I knew we were going to have a good time - it's always a good sign when every dish on the menu is something that you are tempted to order... My husband started with the flatbread with arugula, heirloom tomato and prosciutto. Very nice, although I have to say that the prepkitchen version is superior. The crust could have been a little thinner and crispier. I had the duck gizzard salad as my first course which was wonderfully prepared. Delicious with little pops of fresh grapes, however the amount of duck gizzard was strangely small. This was a theme that night and our only complaint about the meal. Maybe it's because I grew up in France and was raised on salade de gesiers, but I was expecting a larger portion of gizzards (which are a "cheap" ingredient anyway). For the main courses, the duck breast was cooked perfectly (aka pink) and accompanied by a hearty shell bean and cabbage ragout. Excellent and comforting but... small. The sweetbreads were juicy and well paired with ricotta ravioli, plenty of sweet corn and a touch of jalapeno. I would have been happier with 1.5 times the amount, although I am a relatively small eater. Since we were still a bit hungry, we ordered dessert which was a HUGE chocolate mousse which was rich - the way it should be. It was served with a bunch of Cracker Jacks which I did not enjoy (too hard, with a few unpopped corn kernels). We had an excellent time at Julienne and were happy to find this level of dining experience in Santa Barbara. I had to mention that the wine pairings were great and that they offer a lot of local wines. Service was very attentive. We can't wait to go back.
  7. Don's Beach Planter In typical tiki fashion, this elixir combines no fewer than 8 ingredients. The liquor mix is mostly aged rhum agricole (I used St James Hors d'Age) plus dark Jamaican (Appleton 12) and brandy (I used Remy Martin vsop cognac). For the fruit, we have pineapple juice, lime juice and passion fruit syrup. The spice is provided by the Angostura bitters and herbsaint (I used pastis). I thought that this was a robust drink which highlighted the rhum agricole. The passion fruit is in the background, not really identifiable, while the rhum and spices are more prominent. For some reason the St James tends to get lost in the Trader Vic Mai Tai, but it was very good in this drink. Looking up mentions of this drink online, I later found that Jeff Berry had described it as having a "piratical pleasing taste", which is quite an accurate description.
  8. That looks good, Kerry. Can you share the ratios? I have a bottle of Bonal that has been languishing in the fridge.... Also, what would be good substitute for Dandelion & Burdock bitters - I have no idea what they taste like? Thanks! I used 2 oz gin, 1 ounce bonal, 3/4 ounce lime, 1/4 tsp bitters - top with tonic. Not sure what would sub for the bitters - a bit licorice flavoured according to some so perhaps a bit of pernod or absinthe . Next time will add 1/2 ounce honey syrup. Thanks. If licorice is the predominant flavor, then maybe Peychaud's would work as a substitute too.
  9. Speaking of brunch, I think that Craft & Commerce does an excellent job in that area. At first glance, their brunch menu seems fairly limited but everything we have tried so far has been great: the smoked salmon - a generous portion served with soft boiled duck eggs and an herb salad, the chicken & waffle (a big stack of juicy fried chicken), and the duck leg cassoulet which was served with foie gras (!) before the ban. Prices are very reasonable too (around $10 - $12). And the best part - their cocktails are truly outstanding. If you go with a bunch of friends it's fun to share a bowl of punch. Phil Ward's touch on the cocktail program is obvious, and the two punches that I have had a chance to try, Mother's Ruin (gin, sweet vermouth, spiced tea, lemon, grapefruit, champagne) and the Guerilla Monsoon Punch (which is kind of a Mai Tai in punch form with dark Jamaican rum, white rum, lime, orgeat curacao, champagne) are a great value at $42 for the bowl. The punches are served in a vintage milk-glass punch bowl. Here are a couple of other cocktails that are also very brunch-appropriate: French 75 and the Early Riser (bourbon, lemon, honey maple syrup, bacon bitters).
  10. Another visit to Prepkitchen (Little Italy) last month. The flatbread was, again, wonderful. The toppings change based on what is available at the local farmers' market. We had to get the excellent pork belly tacos again. We also tried the chilaquiles from the brunch menu. We had tried something similar at La Jolla's prepkitchen a while back and should have known better. They were a soggy & boring mess. The cocktails were good: this time we had London's Burning (their gin/avocado/lime/cilantro cocktail which was spicier than usual - actually a little too spicy), Two Cents In (a very tasteful concoction with bourbon, St Germain and Dubonnet) and Death in the Afternoon (Hemingway's classic with champagne and absinthe). I like this place a lot but will stay away from the brunch-type items next time, because there are many more interesting options on the menu.
  11. That looks good, Kerry. Can you share the ratios? I have a bottle of Bonal that has been languishing in the fridge.... Also, what would be good substitute for Dandelion & Burdock bitters - I have no idea what they taste like? Thanks!
  12. Sounds interesting. Is there an app version in the works as well? I find drinks apps to be very user-friendly thanks to their search features (I am also trying to limit my book acquisitions due to space). Thanks!
  13. Still stuck in tiki mode, which is not a bad thing at all. We had Trader Vic's Mai Tais to celebrate tiki oasis last week - La Favorite "coeur de rhum" aged rhum agricole and Appleton Estate "extra" 12-year rum combo, with Clement Creole shrubb. Then a couple of days ago, I made Don the Beachcomber's Pearl Diver Punch (1937). It's a relatively involved recipe. First you have to prepare a batter/mix with butter (which I melted at low temperature), honey, cinnamon and vanilla syrups (both from B.G. Reynolds), and allspice dram (St Elizabeth). I found that half the mix recipe in Sippin' Safari was just enough for two drinks. The other ingredients are a blend of gold Puerto Rican-style rum (I use Flor de Cana gold for that purpose), Demerara rum (El Dorado 5) and gold Jamaican rum (Appleton 12) plus orange and lime juice, and falernum. The ingredients are blended for about 30 sec and then strained (maybe to remove unmelted chunks of butter but that was an unnecessary step for me). The verdict? This cocktail achieves a great balance between spicy (typical flavor profile for a Don the Beachcomber creation with the cinnamon and allspice), boozy (the rums play very well together), tropical (the juices are just enough to make the drink very easily sippable), rich and slightly sweet (with the touch of butter, honey and vanilla).
  14. Very interesting. Is it this paper? I did not have time to study it in detail but it includes this information on page 10:
  15. I have experienced something similar with a pre-batch cocktail that I had to prepare for an event. It was Captain Vadrna's Grog, a tiki concoction containing lime and grapefruit juices. To see the effect of aging on the drink, I also prepared it fresh and compared fresh and aged (24 hours in the fridge) versions side-by-side. I also gave it to my husband to try without telling him which glass contained the fresh version. We both agree that the aged drink tasted harsher, less balanced. My husband initially thought that I had used a different type of grapefruit juice for the two versions - he thought the aged version used normal white grapefruit because it was more intense, and that the fresh version was from an Oro Blanco grapefruit that I often use and is milder than the normal white grapefruit. When I told him that the only difference was the age and he guessed incorrectly, expecting that the cocktail would mellow over time and that the aged version would be smoother. It was actually the opposite and we both preferred the fresh version. A little bit of extra sugar syrup should improve the aged version. One of the main flavor components in lime and grapefruit juices is limonene. One possibility is that what we are experiencing the oxidation of limonene producing other volatile compounds that change the flavor profile. Another possibility is that the limonene may be more stable than other more delicate flavors in the juice, and that by aging the juice we now mostly taste limonene. I have not done too much research on the topic, but I tend to favor the second option because limonene has a very strong flavor that is associated with cleaning products (Pledge). There has not been any activity on this thread for the past 2 years or so, and I am curious to see if new information is available on this topic.
  16. After reading somewhere that Don the Beachcomber's Navy Grog was Jeff Berry's favorite tiki drink, I had to refresh my memory. The ingredients in the Navy Grog (recipe from Beachbum Berry Remixed) are: lime juice, grapefruit juice, honey syrup, light rum (Puerto Rican rum specified, I used Flor de Cana), dark Jamaican rum (Appleton 12 year), Demerara rum (El Dorado 5 year) and soda water. I did not follow the instructions which had me shake all the ingredients (including the soda water). The drink was rather large so I only added a small amount of soda water at the end. First sip impression - quite bitter/overly grapefruit-y. Adjusted with a little bit of honey syrup. The grapefruit was still very pronounced. The drink got better over time and I was able to taste more flavors than just grapefruit. It is nice but I can't say that it's my favorite tiki drink; I don't feel it is distinctive enough (not enough spice - I believe there are other versions that incorporate allspice which would be a good addition - and it felt too dilute). I much prefer Jeff Berry's own twist on the Navy Grog, the Ancient Mariner.
  17. No harshness intended. Just a gentle comment on the relevance of the name - 5oz compared to 1 1/2 oz. OK, got it - not as potent as the original. Still potent enough for me! And that gives others the perfect excuse to have another one...
  18. Both Something like, but homemade. While I don't have my copy in front of me, I'm pretty sure that I lifted the idea from the pages of 'Beachbum Berry Remixed', where he is discussing Donn Beach's 'secret ingredients in coded bottles' system. Making the cinnamon infused simple is, well, simple, and it's not a big step to notice how often the grapefruit and cinnamon are called for in various recipes, generally in close enough ratio to suggest keeping them combined. I'm pretty sure Jeff directly refers to "Don's Mix". He also draws attention to the Angostura / Anise combo as recurring in a lot of Dark Rum based D-the-B drinks, and sure enough [to my jaded palate anyway] a few drops of the combo does add extra depth to the off-the cuff tiki variants I've tried it in. The grapefruit + cinnamon combo is indeed a classic combination used in many recipes from Don the Beachcomber (idem for anise + angostura); I was just curious about the fact that this mix could be kept for a while in the fridge. It has to be because of the cinnamon, because citrus juice tends to get bad rather quickly on its own.
  19. My husband and I had a fantastic time during our first visit to Pegu Club last week. We went early (before 6 pm) and sat at the bar. We had a very nice chat with the bartender and one of the patrons. I had to get a Pegu Club, and my husband asked for a daiquiri variation with rhum agricole. They were both great. The Pegu Club is a drink that can be hard to balance but this was perfection. The daiquiri was made with La Favorite blanc. I loved the attention to detail which is seen for example in the generous garnishes - the Pegu Club had a scored lime wedge. The space was comfortable and welcoming, and we felt right at home. It's too bad that we live so far away and won't be able to go back for a while.
  20. I tried the Beachbum last night, a cocktail created by John Deragon (johnder) as an homage to Jeff Berry. It is a classic tiki cocktail with a combination of two rums (Flor de Cana white and Mount Gay Eclipse amber, for which I substituted El Dorado 12 year), together with pineapple juice, lime juice, apricot liqueur and (homemade) orgeat. I liked the fact that the pineapple and apricot were in the background enhancing the rums, rather than taking over the drink. The orgeat rounded everything up. It is reminiscent of a Mai Tai, with the pineapple juice and apricot liquor replacing the curaçao.
  21. ...but perhaps has a harder time justifying it's claim to the name, rather lacking the bludgeoning payload of the previous version? DerekW, I think that you are being a little harsh. Jeff Berry's simplified version still makes a very nice Zombie that I would be happy to have any day. Nice setup that you have. Could you please elaborate a little further regarding the premixed grapefruit juice & cinnamon syrup... Are you referring to something like "Don's Mix" from B.G. Reynolds, or is that something that you made?
  22. ScottyBoy, What an amazing experience, thanks for sharing it with us. But I need to ask, are you super human? ;-) I counted about 10 alcoholic beverages... How is that even possible (unless these are really tiny drinks)?
  23. Last night I was in the mood for a tiki drink but did not have the energy to make another 1934 Zombie Punch so I tried the simplified version created by Beachbum Berry (Beachbum Berry's Zombie). It uses only 5 ingredients instead of 10 in the original recipe. It's is shaken with ice cubes instead of blended. It manages to retain the same flavor profile, though obviously not as complex. Despite its simplicity, it is a very respectable version of the Zombie.
  24. After this discussion I had to make a 1934 Zombie Punch. I used Appleton 12 for the dark Jamaican rum and Lemon Hart 151 dememara. Lots of ingredients but well worth the effort. Impressive layers of flavors from the rums and the various spices (cinnamon, pastis, Angostura bitters and pastis).
  25. A simple quesadilla with scallions, chilies and a little bit of cilantro can be really good served with homemade guacamole. I just use the "Mexican" cheese blend from Trader Joe's which is a mix of cheddar, Monterey Jack, asadero and queso blanco. I also like to add roasted bell peppers or portobello mushrooms.
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