FrogPrincesse

Rye and cynar are great together - see the Little Italy. The Teenage Riot sounds like a good cocktail but I don't have the sherry so I am not able to try it for the time being. Last night, Audrey Saunders' French Pearl. Plymouth gin, lime juice, simple syrup, pastis, mint. So much more than the sum of its parts - I dislike pastis on its own, but with mint and lime it's delicious.

Graisserons - never heard of this but this looks delicious, like a cross between rillettes and pate. What a wonderful idea. How do you store them, in the fridge? I imagine you could freeze them too?

I had this little appetizer with a Martini the other day: Local fresh goat cheese (Nicolau), Easter egg radish, baby tomatoes and cucumbers from Suzie's Farm.

I am not a fan of Curtis Stone either, and I did not think this was a very strong first episode. I enjoyed watching Chris Cosentino in action though; his dishes seemed really good.

More classics for me this week as I am introducing a visitor to a variety of cocktails. 3:1 Martini with Plymouth gin and Noilly Prat dry vermouth, Angostura and Regan's orange bitters Red Hook (rye, maraschino liqueur, punt e mes, brandied cherry) Also, some Cocchi Americano on the rocks. Very refreshing and much less sweet than Lillet.

Beautiful salade niçoise, Dave. With a slice of rustic bread, that could be a complete (and delicious) meal. I made a grilled kale salad with fresh goat cheese and white peaches last night, adapted from this recipe. The smokiness and slight bitterness of the grilled kale worked great with the peaches and the goat cheese.

A Manhattan with Bulleit rye, Vya sweet vermouth, Boker's bitters, and a brandied cherry. The Vya sweet vermouth has a lot of fruit that works well with the spice of the Bulleit rye.

Yes, the Suze sold on the Whisky Exchange is listed as 15% ABV and has a slightly different label as compared to what i got which is 20% ABV. How much difference it makes, whether in cocktails or on its own I wouldn't be able to say having never had the European version. I suppose there is some reasoning behind changing it for the US market but that is not always necessarily a good thing. I volunteer to do a side-by-side comparison once I find the "savoir d'autrefois". I can't wait for more White Negroni experimentation!

It's good to see Suze finally available in the US. The label is different from regular Suze. Somewhere I read that "Suze saveur d'autrefois" had a higher alcohol content that worked better in cocktails. Hopefully it will make its way to the West coast in the near future.

A few of you have mentioned on various threads that you were cooking from April Bloomfield's A Girl and Her Pig. I just got the book a few weeks ago at my favorite used bookstore and just started using it. I thought it would be good to capture our creations from the book in one spot. The first thing that caught my eye was the Asparagus with Parmesan Pudding and Prosciutto. This little Parmesan pudding is the bomb! The pudding is mostly heavy cream with some milk, plenty of Parmesan, garlic (I used fragrant green garlic from my CSA) and eggs. It's easy to make and has fantastic flavor. It can be made in advance and reheated. I made it in individual ramekins so I could make a few extra ones for another meal. It's excellent with asparagus as suggested in the book. The asparagus and prosciutto are placed on top of a nice big grilled piece of bread rubbed with olive oil. We ended up spooning the pudding over the asparagus as I was nervous about trying to unmold it in one piece. It is also wonderful as a side dish with steak. What other recipes have your tried?

The tequila tasting sounds like a fun event, tanstaafl2. My knowledge of tequila is very limited, but I like the Don Julio "basic" blanco tequila a lot. Thanks for sharing your notes regarding the rest of the line. Last night, I made a Talent Scout: bourbon, curaçao, Angostura bitters. This may or may not be considered an old-fashioned variation with its use of curaçao (1/2 oz if my memory is correct). Given the amount of the debate regarding the use of curaçao on the old-fashioned thread, I reserve judgment on this issue and defer to the experts. I also made a Negroni with Beefeater gin, Vya sweet vermouth (and Campari of course). I used a flamed orange twist - after watching Dale DeGroff demonstrating this technique masterfully in the videos provided as part of the training program for BarSmarts, I just had to try it!

Very pretty cocktail - and you are using Su-Mei Yu's book as a coaster ! ;-) How did it taste with the genever?

I went to Saffron last week to see if I wasn't a little harsh with my comments. The sate chicken was incredibly tough and dry. Avoid (and don't be tempted by the low price). The drunken noodles were ok but not exactly subtle. Quite spicy. The Vietnamese noodles - superbland. The noodles were under the soy sprouts. Everything was fresh but it was just too basic. On the plus side, it is quite cheap. But the place itself is in bad need of a makeover and a major cleaning.

A traditional Caprese last night with heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and very fragrant basil (all from Trader Joe's). Seasoning was Arbequina olive oil, balsamic vinegar (both from TJ as well), black pepper, and fleur de sel. For a less traditional take on the Caprese, see the Mozza thread here.

I don't own the book but I am a fan of Pizzeria Mozza, the restaurant. I have made her take on the Caprese a while back ("Mozza Caprese") and it is quite spectacular. The tomatoes are slow-roasted in the oven, which develops a ton of flavor (making this a good recipe even if tomatoes aren't absolutely at their peak). They are served on top of burrata.

I haven't made the bread from Tartine yet, but I made a couple of recipes so far. The white gazpacho is wonderful. It is made from bread and almonds, flavored with garlic, and topped with a red gazpacho garnish (red grapes, cucumber, cherry tomatoes). It is very elegant and absolutely delicious. Last night I was looking for a way to use a bunch of vegetables from my CSA which included collard greens, carrots and onions. I made the Tourin, a rustic soup with torn pieces of stale bread, served with an egg, fried or poached (I opted for a poached egg Arzack-style). It was very comforting and the egg was a nice touch as it thickened the soup. I used homemade chicken broth and I blanched the collard greens before adding them to the rest of the vegetables.

I made a simple Daiquiri Naturale last night using rhum agricole. 2 oz rum, 1 oz lime juice, 3/4 oz simple syrup. It is my favorite way to enjoy a good unaged rhum agricole. La Favorite has a very distinctive grassy/funky flavor that is wonderful in this drink. I never get tired of it.

This looks incredible. Thanks for sharing!

These buns are so beautiful, Kerry. I am going to make the roasted pork belly this weekend for our friends and family. This is such a delicious dish.

Interesting title. Not sure the Vesper is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of tropical cocktails, gin based or otherwise. I was also confused by the title initially; however you have to keep in mind that the theme of Tiki Oasis this year is described as "exotic espionage and Polynesian pulp", hence the Vesper reference.

Beautiful. I love fraises des bois; they have such a wonderful flavor.

Good - slices are hard to photograph but my husband did a good job with that one. For these desperate cases that require bacon, I am sure you could come up with a hybrid version - onions AND bacon. And if you decide to go crazy, you could even add Gruyère cheese... lot of possibilities!

For those of you who are into tiki cocktails, Tiki Oasis has published its program for this year and there is a great line-up on the cocktail symposium front, with Martin Cate (Smuggler's Cove) giving a couple of talks on rum and continuing with his investigations into tiki drinks with CSI: Cocktail II - Wrath of The Tiki Drink Killer, and Richard Boccato (PKNY, Dutch Kills, Little Branch) exploring the topic of Gin Tropical Cocktails (Beyond The Vesper).

Zewelwai is another quiche worth mentioning. It's a bacon-less version of quiche lorraine, which can sound pretty sad... However the bacon is replaced with plenty of slowly-cooked onions and so it's full of flavor. Here is the pastry dough (pâte brisée); the recipe is also from the book and I make it by mixing the ingredients first for a short time in my stand mixer, and then finishing by hand with a gentle touch (to preserve the flaky texture). It is baked blind before the filling is added. It's baked in the oven for about 30 minutes. This quiche does not puff much. Slice

Frappé... hmmm.... what a confusing term. If by frappé you mean a slushy consistency, I would say no. However crushed ice may well be the historically-appropriate version. In any case, I can assure you that it is fantastic served up too!