FrogPrincesse

By itself Cocchi Americano is quite delicious. Just one large ice cube and a blood orange zest. That was my drink tonight.

Prepkitchen (Little Italy) Although I am a big fan of Whisknladle (same team), I tried Prepkitchen in La Jolla a few times in the past and did not care for its limited menu. The food is usually well prepared, but not particularly memorable. The setting is quite basic too. A new Prepkitchen opened fairly recently in Little Italy and resembles more Whisknladle with a comfortable room and a more ambitious menu. The large windows overlook Date Street where the farmers market takes place every Saturday. We had brunch there this Saturday and had a great time. The cocktail menu has a few classics and some new creations. I have a weakness for the London Burning that I discovered at Whisknladle but decided to order the Stick and Rudder which, while not completely balanced, had an unexpected caramelized rosemary flavor. My husband opted for an Ommegang beer. We started with a flatbread. Very thin crispy crust, and a topping of heirloom tomatoes and zucchini. A great start to the meal. We continued our meal with a couple of pork items: the porchetta sandwich and the pork belly tacos. The porchetta sandwich had plenty of meat and was very savory. Not as refined as the porchetta sandwich we had at Ariccia last week maybe, but still delicious. The pork belly tacos don't look like much on the picture but they were terrific. The meat was perfectly caramelized, and the sliced radishes were a great touch.

Emily, That sounds really nice, although I would probably substitute gin or tequila for the vodka for a little more flavor. I have a friend who makes a killer Serrano cocktail "spice", so I would not even need to infuse the alcohol. How do you make your mint limeade?

I had a head of cauliflower in my CSA a couple of weeks ago so I decided to make a gratin (usually I just roast it in the oven with some herbes de Provence and olive oil). Since the weather is warm, instead of a heavy cream-based gratin, the Gratinéed Cauliflower with Butter and Parmesan Cheese from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cuisine caught my eye. The cauliflower was boiled until tender, then roasted in the oven with salt, butter, and plenty of grated parmesan. The next day, I made a cauliflower soup with the leftovers. On eatyourbooks.com I spotted Rockpool's recipe for a Cream of Cauliflower Soup with Parmesan. Since my cauliflower was already cooked, all I had to do was sauté some onion and garlic. Then I added the cauliflower and some water (I didn't have any stock). I simmered it for a while and blended using a stick blender. Then I added the cream and Dijon mustard. It would probably be best to mix the mustard with a small amount of soup before adding it in, because it did not incorporate fully. I did not add any parmesan as there was already plenty from the gratin. It was a delicious soup.

You have quite an impressive list already. The Rattlesnake is a little involved to prepare but it's really an amazing drink (maybe more wintery though?). In your list I also really like the Manhattan (who doesn't), the Brooklyn, the Final Ward, the Red Hook, and Remember the Maine. To go with your American theme I would offer an American trilogy. It's a wonderful twist on the old-fashioned. You may want to add a few lighter/fizzy options into the mix, which would be welcome with the warm weather. Rye and ginger (with a good quality or homemade ginger beer) Ross Collins (rye, lemon, orange, angostura bitters) A punch would be also a good option. The Chatham Artillery Punch comes to mind but you said you were trying to avoid using champagne. In David Wondrich's Punch book there are a few other rye-based punch recipes that look good. Otherwise there are a ton of excellent Manhattan and Brooklyn variations. Here are a few that I really like and were not in your list. Bensonhurst: rye, dry vermouth, maraschino, cynar Bushwick: rye, sweet vermouth, amer picon, maraschino Cobble Hill: rye, dry vermouth, amaro montenegro, slices cucumber Little Italy: rye, sweet vermouth, cynar The Slope: rye, punt e mes, apricot liqueur, angostura bitters Sunset Park cocktail: rye, dry vermouth, apricot liqueur, angostura bitters

I have some catching up to do. Here are a few recent week-night meals, much less fancy than mm84321's version of non-fancy I am afraid (that pigeon looks amazing by the way). Fattoush-inspired salad, Polish and Bourbon sausages. Green goddess salad with lettuce, cucumber, avocado, and roasted torpedo onions. Black gill rockcod with Moroccan spice marinade (chermoula), cucumber feta salad. Delmonico steak, zucchini fritters. Lemon roasted black pepper linguine with Babbo's basic tomato sauce and homemade whole milk ricotta.

I finished the bottle of Champagne with an Old Cuban (Audrey Saunders). Instead of muddling the mint I just shook the cocktail vigorously. What an elegant drink. I guess it's considered a Mojito variant, but I feel it's much more interesting with the use of bitters and the mint playing a more subtle role.

A couple of drinks with Cocchi Americano last night. Zephyr (Benjamin Schwartz, via Bartender's Choice app): gin, cocchi americano, and green chartreuse. Intensely aromatic, in the same vein as the Ice Pick I tried a few days ago (different ingredients though). For him I made an old-fashioned variation created by Candelaria, a Parisian bar, with bourbon, bonal, cocchi americano, and orange bitters. They wonder in the article why it's called a Mountain Man. I suspect that it has to do with the use of Bonal gentiane-quina. Gentian is considered a mountain plant, at least in France.

blue_dolphin - that looks amazing! I need to smoke some trout again soon. Smoked trout rillettes are great too. A local restaurant serves them with roasted golden beets and it's one of my favorite appetizers.

Fig, ricotta, saba Heaven.

The Ice Pick (Daniel Eun, The Vanish): 2 oz genever, 1/4 oz maraschino, 1/4 oz violette, 2 dashes orange bitters, lemon twist. Reminiscent of the Aviation because of the ingredient list (no lemon juice though). Intense flavor, almost minty. Very crisp and aromatic.

Beautiful rye bread, Chris. I made these little brioches à tête (aka brioches parisiennes) for my daughter. They remind me of Paris - I used to live near a briocherie that had the most amazing deep-brown brioches in all sizes. They are a little more time-consuming to make than a brioche loaf, and cleaning the fluted-edge pans is somewhat of a hassle, so I don't make then very often. They are really pretty though and have a more interesting texture than the loaf. The best part of course is biting off the little head.

Continuing with Daiquiri variations, there is also the Bumble Bee with aged rum, lime juice, honey syrup, and egg white. Very smooth and pleasant. It would be fun to try it again with a different rum; I am thinking Smith & Cross for example. As a side note, it looks like I may be missing an orange peel and Angostura garnish there. I am not sure if it is intentional or not, but the version in the Bartender's Choice app that I was using did not have it.

I've been experimenting with Champagne in cocktails lately. I discovered a delicious honey daiquiri variation called the Airmail (see here for more details). Then last night I had my first Seelbach. I used the recipe from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. It is a little like a Manhattan with bubbles - what's not to like? It's smooth and spicy with 7 drops each of Angostura and Peychaud's bitters.

I just found a of Jim Meehan making an Airmail. He uses Banks rum and a 1:1 honey syrup.Lately I've been using a 3:1 honey: hot water ratio for the syrup, which is the recipe from the Bartender's Choice app.

The low tech approach consists of adding a small amount of absinthe/pastis to the glass, rolling it around to coat the inside of the glass, and discarding the remainder.

That sounds good. What rye do you use for your infusion? I have a half-full bottle of [French, reasonably-priced, purchased at Trader Joe's] Champagne that I decided to use for my cocktail experiments. In the process I found a new favorite. The Airmail is a honey daiquiri (see the Honeysuckle upthread) topped with Champagne. The ingredients are white rum, lime juice, honey syrup, Champagne. The recipes in both the Bartender's Choice app and the PDT cocktail book called for white rum; however there are also a lot of variants using aged rum. I love daiquiris so I wanted to try this. I used Flor de Caña white. The cocktail fizzed a lot when I added the Champagne but the layer of foam disappeared almost immediately and that's what you see at the top of the glass (not the most aesthetically pleasing). Regarding the taste, it is wonderful. It has a ton of flavor and some peach undertones, without being sweet. So much more interesting than the typical "Champagne cocktail". I can't wait to make it again.

I keep hearing that Suze is now available in the US. Are there more details available somewhere? I have not been able to find it so far. Regarding the Corpse Reviver No. 2, the absinthe is a key component. Pastis works too since it's only a rinse. The Corpse Reviver No. 2 is indeed a fantastic drink, so I think it's worth tracking down all the components. Plus you will get to make the cocktails from the Pernod, Herbsaint, Pastis thread.

Don't think that's a negroni - maybe a reverse martini? I noticed that there was a "White Negroni" recipe that seemed to be floating around (including on Serious Eats) with gin, Cocchi Americano, and dry vermouth. It has little to do with Wayne Collins' original version (gin, Suze, Lillet) though.

Last week I tried the Coda: aged rum, rhum agricole blanc, lime juice, allspice dram, demerara syrup, whole organic egg, grated nutmeg. For the aged rum, the book specified Ron Pampero Aniversario from Venezuela (which I have never tried). I substituted El Dorado 12. The El Dorado 12 is good but has a tendency to get lost in mixed drinks as it is very smooth and understated. I think that's why I don't use it more. But it's quite reasonable at about $30 a bottle and has a good flavor. For the rhum agricole blanc, I had the Neisson that the book calls for and that I've been using mostly in Ti Punches or daiquiris. I decreased the amount of St Elizabeth allspice slightly (from 1/2 oz to ~ 1/3 oz) based on the comments from mukki and EvergreenDan. The blend of rums was harmonious. The allspice was also very good. I actually think I could have used the entire amount of allspice instead of the ~ 1/3 oz that I used, especially once I realized this was essentially a tiki drink. The cocktail could easily have been a Donn Beach creation with the assertive allspice/cinnamon flavor, and the clever mix of rums. Next time I will serve it in tiki-appropriate glassware.

A twist on the Bee's Knees with lemon and orange juice from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, the Bebbo Cocktail. I used a blood orange because that's all I had. I used honey syrup instead of neat honey and adjusted the amount accordingly. Very pretty and refreshing cocktail. As explained in the book, this cocktail has a silly name but it may be even better than the Bee's Knees. I usually don't care much for orange juice in cocktails, but this one is a keeper.

Soba - Thanks! I love your pasta dishes (including the recent ones you posted to the dinner thread). They are a great source of inspiration for me. Next I think I just want to try some sliced bottarga on a piece of buttered baguette...

I was finally able to put my hands on some bottarga (mullet) so I made the dish that Sam recommended upthread. Linguini with oven-roasted tomatoes, caramelized fennel, and bottarga (original recipe here) Instead of spaghetti, I used fresh lemon/pepper linguine which gave an extra boost of flavor to the dish. Since the linguini had some heat already, I did not add the chilies to the sauce. The sauce contains slow-roasted tomatoes together with caramelized red onion and fennel. The pasta is garnished with toasted breadcrumbs and the bottarga is grated on top (I used a microplane zester). I did not have any parsley left so I used the fennel fronds instead. It was fantastic. The bottarga added a layer of flavor that reminded me of good sea urchin (uni) - briny, with an ocean/iodine flavor.

Isn't Booker's a bourbon?

A Martini for Martini Day yesterday. Plymouth and Noilly Prat (3:1 ratio), lemon twist. I loves olives (these are jalapeno-stuffed olives from Santa Barbara), but on the side preferably, not in my drink. The Noilly Prat is the US formula that I have been hoarding. But since it's going to be brought back to the American market (see the story here), I might as well use up my bottle now!