FrogPrincesse

You are right; it looks like it is less than $40 a bottle which is reasonable. Much better than the 25-year Armagnac that I have at home and reserve for "special occasions". How does it taste neat? Fish House Punch with Armagnac sounds amazing!

I forgot to mention another "trick". In France, it's pretty common to eat pungent blue cheeses on a buttered piece of bread. It softens the flavor somewhat.

OK, I was a little harsh in my assessment of the chocolate stout cheddar. I am having another piece right now and can taste subtle flavors (hops, chocolate), even though it's still not really my cup of tea. It might have been a bad idea to pair it with a gin flight as I did last night (not by design). The gin pretty much neutralized all these subtle aromas. Obviously beer would be a much better pairing!

I tried a new cheese last night - a chocolate stout cheddar by Rogue Creamery (at the far end of the plate). The other items on the plate are some Ossau-Iraty cheese (that Trader Joe's calls "Basque Shepherd's Cheese"), an AOC sheep milk cheese that is an old standby of mine; homemade saucisson sec; rustic bread. The chocolate stout cheddar was a disappointment. It was not offensive or anything but did not have much flavor at all. In contrast, the Ossau-Iraty is packed with flavor. It's nutty and a little sweet.

I love reading this thread. Everything always looks wonderful and your creativity is amazing. I am not a breakfast person and rarely have a chance to contribute, but for father's day my daughter and I prepared a very enjoyable breakfast - buttermilk pancakes (Alton Brown's recipe) with blueberries, maple syrup, and TWO kinds of bacons: applewood-smoked and wild boar. The wild boar had a nice flavor but was a little chewy, so it might work better diced in a quiche for example.

Resurrecting another ancient thread... Last weekend I tried the Adderley cocktail (Sam Ross): rye, lemon juice, maraschino, orange bitters. It's quite heavy on the maraschino (3/4 oz!). As a result it is a little overwhelming at first, and syrupy. After a few tastes, the rye comes through though. I liked it in the end. I would like to try it again with a rye that is a little more rough around the edges to balance the sweetness of the maraschino.

Elizabeth - thank you for the recipes with detailed instructions! I know what drinks I will be making this winter! AAQuesada - the Canchanchara looks like the Cuban version of the Honeysuckle shown upthread, with a little more dilution from the crushed ice. According to Difford's, the Canchanchara is "the Cuban forerunner of the Daiquiri, as drunk by Cuban revolutionaries fighting off the Spanish at the end of the nineteenth century". Some recipes seem to call for lemon instead of lime, but this may be a translation error. If only I could get my hands on some Cuban rum...

Chris, I get my honey from local farms, never from the grocery store, especially given all the recent press about adulterated honey. There is a great variety available in San Diego (including avocado, eucalyptus, sage, orange blossom, etc). Wildflower honey is also great. I like to collect honeys during my trips and currently have an amazing coastal honey from Australia that has a briny flavor that is very distinctive. I am looking for a good way to use it. Maybe with the right single-malt scotch...

In addition to Port, Roquefort pairs well with Sauternes. So that may be another option for you to try. Saint Agur is milder than Roquefort and quite creamy. One of my favorite salads is the roasted pear salad with endive, hazelnut and Saint Agur from Sunday Suppers at Lucques. There is something about the combination of bitter endives, sweet roasted pears, hazelnuts, and blue cheese that just works. Point Reyes from California is another good one to try. It's quite tame and without any hint of the "mustiness" that you dislike In general, I don't find blue cheese to be particularly "musty" (sometimes it can be quite salty though), so maybe it depends on how the cheese was aged. In the end all you can do is expose your taste buds to various types of blue cheeses, and hope that you will find one that you like.

Elizabeth, I would include all of the above... My list was in no way meant to be exhaustive; it's a reflection of what I am familiar with, with the hope that I can learn from the other eGulleters and try new things. I had never heard about the posset until you mentioned it, and had to look it up. It sounds delicious. Would you mind posting your recipe?

Honey is an ingredient that can be used as the sweetening agent in cocktails. It's been showing up in a few drinks that I have tried recently, and I thought that I would create a thread to gather some examples. Honey is fun to experiment with since the flavor profile can be different for various types of honey, from floral and light (orange blossom) to dark and spicy (chestnut honey). It's an easy way to introduce another dimension of flavor to classic cocktails. Imbibe magazine had an article on honey in cocktails a while back. Elements: Honey (Imbibe) Honey can be paired with pretty much every base liquor: gin, bourbon, scotch, rum, and even Calvados... Honey syrup is usually prepared as a 2:1 solution (2 parts honey for 1 part hot water). The Bee's Knees (gin, lemon juice, honey syrup) may be one of the most famous examples. It's a simple gin sour with honey syrup. . The Gold Rush: bourbon, lemon juice, honey syrup. The honey syrup, that could be expected to be overly sweet paired with the bourbon, is actually subtle and highlights the spice in the bourbon. The Brown Derby is similar to the Gold Rush above, but with grapefruit instead of lemon juice. It's even more complex flavor-wise. Sam Ross' Penicillin uses a honey-ginger syrup as one of its ingredients together with blended scotch, Laphroaig, and lemon juice. There is also a Calvados drink called the Orchard Keeper (Calvados, white vermouth, honey syrup). Apples and honey is a very nice combo. The Honeysuckle is basically a daiquiri with honey. Continuing with rum drinks, honey is a commonly used ingredient in tiki cocktails. Three Dots and a Dash is the first example that comes to mind - it's a really delicious drink with demerara and agricole r(h)ums, allspice dram, falernum, and angostura bitters that is worth checking out. The Hart of Darkness from Beachbum Berry Remixed pairs honey with passion fruit. And last but not least, I just remembered that in Saint Lucia the Ti Punch was frequently made with a touch of local honey and some grated nutmeg, which is such a great idea. The local honey is particulary dark and flavorful.

Thanks for the kind words. My husband is responsible for most of the pictures (the nicer ones, obviously). I have a lot more things to post to this thread once I am able to clear a giant backlog :-)

A charcuterie platter, pork or salmon rillettes, tapenade, smoked salmon or gravlax, gougeres (cheese puffs), soup shooters... Lots of options!

+ 3 Sierra Mar cookbook by Craig Von Foester- lovely birthday gift from my brother and sister in law Hunt, Gather, Cook by Hank Shaw A Girl and her Pig by April Bloomfield

As promised, I made the Cotriade Bretonne last Friday (fish stew with sorrel and leek). The recipe was very straightforward. Sorrel and/or arugula - I used a mix as I did not have a lot of sorrel - are cooked down in butter and set aside. I used a Le Creuset pot to soften some onions, leeks and garlic in butter. Then fish stock, diced potatoes, are added together with a bouquet garni and salt + pepper. I used "ratte" fingerling potatoes, which have the advantage of being firm with a nutty flavor, very nice in a stew. Then the fish is added and cooked for about ~ 5 minutes, and the shellfish is added last (if using). I used white bass fillets but in 2 inches pieces. Having a variety of fish, oily & white, and shellfish, as recommended in the recipe, sounds like a great idea, but the stew was also delicious with just one kind of fish. The sorrel, lemon juice, and a good amount of creme fraiche are added and the stew is cooked a few minutes more. The soup is served with croutes (crusty bread fried in butter and rubbed with garlic). Recipe here on Anne Willan's website. I really loved the flavor of this fish stew and the simplicity. A great option for week-nights which would also work for dinner parties.

This is gorgeous, Baron, and would make a great lunch with some crusty bread and coarse-grain mustard...

Just a note that BarSmarts Wired is currently free. I've enrolled and started studying... It's fun. I've only completed the first module so far.

You are very welcome, Anna!

That's some real nice stuff right there. Real nice. It does seem nice. It must be the French snob in me, but I would have a really hard time using Armagnac in cocktails. It's so nice on its own and it is somewhat difficicult to find (at least here in San Diego).

I tried the Estrella Damm Inedit at a Tapas restaurant last night, and really liked it. It's light and on the subtle side, with a lot of spice. We also had an Alhambra Negra, a dark lager from Spain that was creamy and rich, almost like a stout.

Margaret, Thank you so much for reminding me about the cotriade. I LOVE sorrel and have a small plant growing on my patio. I also just bought a couple of white bass fillets that I was going to cook tonight, so I think that I am going to give the recipe a try!

I forgot to add that the staff at Relae had recommended Geist and Mêlée, although we did not get a chance to try them.

I went to Copenhagen in June last year with my husband. We had an unforgettable meal at Relæ - we sat at the counter and had a fantastic evening. Being able to observe everything, chat with the staff, and learn more about the dishes was a great opportunity. The ambiance was on the casual side, but the food and wine were top rate. I was really moved by the food and the sensibility of chef Christian Puglisi. The wine pairings by sommelier (and partner) Kim Rossen were unexpected and fun. The other, more casual and affordable outpost of Relae, Manfred, which is just across the street, is also worth a visit. The menu was limited but everything was very tasty (creamy onion soup, hanger steak). The menu changes daily I believe. There were no tourists, just locals. We sat at one of the communal tables and had a good chat with our neighbors. The restaurant has since been renovated/expanded. They did not take credit cards at the time but this may have changed since our visit. Jægersborggade, the street where Manfred and Relae are located, is a fantastic neighborhood with lots of little shops and a great atmosphere. We wish we could have spent more time exploring it. We had dinner at Cofoco one night. Prices were reasonable and the food was well executed, although less memorable than Relae. We went to Kodbyens Fiskebar and it was ok. I thought that it was quite expensive for what it was, and the portions were minuscule. It seemed like a very trendy place. We tried the cocktails too, but they took forever to arrive and were nothing special in the end (other than the ridiculous price). For smørrebrød, we really liked Aamans. A nice place for lunch. They had a good selection. We had the smoked mackerel, smoked halibut, roast beef, and pork belly. We went to Copenhagen's micro-brewery, the Brew Pub, for a casual lunch on the day we arrived. The beer was excellent. The food is simple - we had the tapas plate with sausage and pork cheek, and the steak sandwich. They have a large courtyard that is pleasant for lunch. Did you check this thread? It's a little dated but you may find more suggestions there.

Recent lunches from MIHO. Bloody mary burger (grass-fed beef, pickled veggies, Point Reyes blue cheese, bloody Mary catsup) Squash blossom quesadilla (local squash blossom, anaheim chile & citrus salsa, caramelized onion, local arugula, Spring Hill cheddar, cotija, local flour tortilla). These squash blossoms were very tasty. And today's lunch, carnitas (Berkshire pork, hand made guacamole, fire roasted salsa, house pickled red onion, cotija, local corn tortilla). The pickled onion was a nice touch.

Beaituful homemade sausage, Shane. What recipe do you use? Here are a few recent simple/weeknight meals. White seabass with basil and cherry tomatoes, cooked in an aluminum foil pouch. Very flavorful and moist. Served with roasted cauliflower. Grilled Delmonico steak with English peas and caramelized onion foccaccia from Sadie Rose, a local bakery that is associated with my CSA. Duck sausage from Homegrown Meats; salad with roasted torpedo onions, cherry tomatoes and cotija cheese. The sausage was really delicious.