FrogPrincesse

Chris- You may want to try your Amaro Montenegro in a Cobble Hill (2 oz rye, 1/2 dry vermouth, 1/2 Montenegro, 3 slices cucumber, stir, strain), a Manhattan variation created by Sam Ross. I tried that cocktail last weekend at the Varnish and it's fantastic.

Ventreche is rolled, cured but not smoked. It's similar to pancetta.

Beautiful weather yesterday (it finally feels like summer), so we were in the mood for a tiki drink. I made a Test Pilot (Don The Beachcomber, via Beachbum Berry Remixed) which is one of the tiki drinks I make regularly. The recipe was posted on the falernum thread for those who would like to try it and don't have Jeff Berry's books. It's spicy, it's deep and complex, and it keeps getting better with each sip. I imagine it would be even more fantastic with homemade falernum. The pastis + Angostura bitters combination is quite a wonderful base for the cocktail. We started singing Don Ho songs at some point, not sure how that happened.

Or being in California and craving horse meat... In the US you cannot get: tonka beans or real bison grass vodka as they both contain coumarin which is banned by the FDA raw (unpasteurized) milk cheeses aged for less than 60 days (FDA again) scallops in the shell with the roe is illegal as well, as far as I understand fromage blanc, petits suisses (not illegal but very hard to find) amer picon and suze are not distributed here for some reason

Odd. In San Diego, I see fresh passionfruit at Bristol Farms or Whole Foods regularly (and also at some of the local farmers' markets). It's not cheap, but it's available.

I made a Mint Daiquiri last night. Identical to a normal daiquiri, with the addition of fresh mint. I used rhum agricole and its distinctive flavor married well with the mint. 2 oz rhum agricole 1 oz lime juice 3/4 oz simple syrup fresh mint shake, double strain

SobaAddict70: Your panzanella salad looks so delicious. What a great use of bread!

I am glad I found this thread. I made a Country Life No. 2 (Sam Ross, via Bartender's Choice) a couple of weeks ago and could not figure out what category to include it under. The original Country Life calls for bourbon, Jamaican rum, port, Angostura bitters. Sam Ross' version subs sweet vermouth for the port (bourbon, Jamaican rum, sweet vermouth, Angostura bitters). The proportions are too different to categorize it as a Manhattan variation. Each component can be tasted (my husband was able to guess easily what all the components were), but the cocktail still is harmonious as a whole.

Last night I tried the Three Seasons (Toby Maloney, via Bartender's Choice). Gin, Pimm's No. 1, lemon, lime, and orange wedges, cucumber, mint, strawberry, soda, borage (my addition). LOTS of fruit in the glass, which was fun. Light and refreshing.

I could not agree with you more regarding the Collins. I just started a thread on the Collins and the Fizz. These are great summer drinks that deserve more attention.

I searched through the various threads and did not find one devoted to the Collins or its close relative, the Fizz. My understanding is that they both variations on the Sour with the addition of soda water. The Fizz is served up, while the Collins is served tall, on ice. There are many variations and I thought that it would be good to have one place to record them. Here are some of the recent ones that I have tried. The Derby Fizz (via Bartender's choice): rye, lemon juice, curaçao, egg white, soda water. I had a hard time getting this one to foam properly. It was not the nice creamy foam that I usually get with other egg white drinks. I wonder if my eggs were to blame (too fresh?). Taste-wise, it was a little bland. The Ross Collins (via Bartender's choice): rye, lemon juice, simple syrup, orange slices, angostura bitters, soda water. To prepare this drink, the orange slices are shaken with the rest of the ingredients (except the soda water of course), a technique similar to what is used for another one of Sam Ross' creations, Too Soon?. That has the advantage of extracting some juice together with aromatics from the zest. On paper, it did not seem like this would be too interesting. However the first sip revealed that it was a delicious and balanced drink, with each component bringing something to the overall flavor. This weekend my husband and I went to Comme Ça, a restaurant in LA that has a bar program overseen by Sam Ross, and my husband ordered this drink again. Here is their version (with the orange wedge). They have the good ice and use a single long ice cube. The other drink with the lime wedge may be considered a loose variation on the Collins. It was called an Old Sombrero and contained tequila, cynar, lime juice, honey, egg white, soda water, and a mezcal rinse. It was smoky and a little bitter.

Glad you liked it. It's really a fantastic cocktail. I try a lot of cocktails (if that was not already obvious...) and every once in a while I find a "gem". The Rattlesnake is without a doubt in that category.

Death in the Gulf Stream (via Bartender's Choice). It's a swizzle with genever, lime juice, simple syrup and Angostura bitters. It is said to have been a favorite of Hemingway. It is intensely sour at first as expected with only 1/2 part simple syrup for 1 part lime juice. It grew on me as the ice melted. It is really refreshing.

I made a Manhattan variation tonight called the Waldorf Cocktail (via Bartender's Choice). The only difference with the Manhattan is the absinthe rinse (I used Pernod pastis) which was a very nice addition. The Pernod was a good match with the very fruit-forward Vya sweet vermouth.

The "original" I was referring to is the version from Beachbum Berry Remixed. 3/4 oz campari, 1/2 oz lime juice, 1/2 oz simple syrup, 4 oz unsweetened pineapple juice, 1 1/2 dark Jamaican rum. Try at your own risk!

How well did the piloncillo dissolve? Maybe there were some impurities floating at the surface that ended up growing mold?

Last week, I tried a cocktail called the Amsterdam Sunshine (found via Bartender's Choice). It's basically a sweet martini or what is described as a "gin Manhattan" with gin, sweet vermouth, and Angostura bitters, in the Manhattan ratios. I used Junipero gin which has a lot of character, with Vya sweet vermouth which has a ton of flavor as well including intense fruit aromas. It was fun to see how these two titans were playing with each other. The pairing worked pretty well.

A Corpse Reviver No. 2. This was technically a variation as I used Cocchi Americano instead of Lillet, although I kept the ratios the same. 3/4 each gin, lemon juice, Cointreau, Cocchi Americano; rinse absinthe/Pernod. I think I may like it better than the Lillet version. Such a beautiful cocktail. The flavors just keep going.

Suzanne Goin's A.O.C. cookbook.

Grilled duck breast with crème fraîche; salad with grilled corn and cotija cheese. Very satisfying. The grilled duck breasts had a great smoky flavor (I use a charcoal grill).

I made three different absinthe/pastis drinks recently. The recipes called for absinthe but given that it was only a rinse or a mist, I used what I had available which was Pernod pastis. The Rattlesnake (Harry Craddock, via Bartender's Choice). Rye, lemon juice, simple syrup, egg white, absinthe rinse. The minute I took my first sip, I remembered I had tried this drink at Noble Experiment a while back. This is a beautiful cocktail; all the elements highlight the rye. It has a great creamy texture. Next up was PDT's Swiss Mist. Plymouth gin, grapefruit syrup, lemon juice, egg white, absinthe spritz. I thought that it was too sour, but then realized I had used grapefruit juice, not syrup... Oh well, I added a little bit of simple syrup but the cocktail felt watered down. Not bad, but not exceptional. I will need to make it again the proper way. The absinthe mist was a fun idea because it sat on the foam and gave little bursts of flavor. Last but not least, the Mad Hatter (via Bartender's Choice): rye, lime juice, lemon juice, simple syrup, absinthe rinse. On paper it looked like something that could be either pretty basic or a nice surprise with the absinthe rinse and the lime/lemon juice combo. It proved to be the later - wonderfully complex with the absinthe/Pernod extracting a ton of flavor from the rye, including spicy undertones.

I made the Soft American-Style White Bread last night with good success. The recipe makes 3 loaves (my loaf pan is approximately 9 x 4 x 3 so the loaf of bread fits perfectly), and I reduced it by 2/3 for a yield of two loaves. I took pictures of the process. First rise (I proof the dough in the oven). It almost escaped from the container. I then put it in the fridge for a short time to make the dough more manageable, and used half the dough. Second rise. I sprinkled some flour and slashed the top, and put it in the pre-heated oven. I did not hear the timer go off so it spent a few extra minutes in the oven, meaning that the top developed a small crust. Other than that it looked pretty good. I was nervous that it would be hard to get out of the pan in one piece, but that was not an issue. I cut a few slices to try it. There is only a small amount of butter in it but you can really taste it. I was out of regular butter and used goat butter, and I can definitely recognize it (it's great).

Dinner a few nights ago: grilled local black gill rockcod with a mustard glaze; roasted cauliflower. The fish was covered on the flesh side with the mustard glaze (moutarde a l'ancienne + creme fraiche and plenty of chives - very loosely based on a recipe from Steven Raichlen that originally called for mayonnaise and dill). It was cooked skin-side down for about 10 -15 minutes on the grill. The cauliflower was sliced, tossed with olive oil, and roasted in the oven.

Here are more mint cocktails pulled from other threads. Audrey Saunder's excellent Pearl has been mentioned in this thread several times already, but not her Gin Gin Mule: 1.5 oz gin, 1 oz ginger beer, 1 oz simple syrup, 3/4 oz lime juice, mint. The Kentucky Maid from Sam Ross has its own (short) thread. It's a tasty bourbon-mint combo that also includes cucumber. 2 oz bourbon, 1 oz lime, 3/4 oz simple syrup, cucumber slices, mint. Note that there are many more "Maid" variations with a different base liquor. From the PDT cocktail book, I've tried a couple of mint cocktails. My favorite was the Talbott Leaf which pairs the mint with strawberry, Chartreuse, and Cynar; a beautiful combination. The Leapfrog from PDT is essentially a Southside variation with apricot liqueur and orange bitters.

My mint is doing great so I've been doing a lot of mint cocktails lately. The most recent one I've tried was the Ex-Pat from Little Branch (via Bartender's Choice app): bourbon, lime juice, simple syrup, angostura bitters, mint. I have a soft spot for bourbon-mint combos and really liked this cocktail, which was refreshing and complex at the same time.