FrogPrincesse

You can use Amazon's "Search Inside the Book" feature to look for specific ingredients. Or buy the PDT Barnes and Noble Nook ebook (readable on PC, Mac, IOS, Android). Oddly, Amazon doesn't have an ebook version. I've found the fast easy searching of Cocktail ebooks so useful, that I bought ebook versions of ones I already had the hardcover in and now buy new ones ebook only. Regarding an index for the book, pretty soon EatYourBooks should have finished indexing the book, so searching by ingredient will be a breeze. Tonight we had the Astoria Bianco, a Martini variation with white vermouth. 2.5 oz gin (Tanqueray was specified, I used Beefeater) 1 oz white vermouth (M&R was specified, I used Dolin) 2 dashes orange bitters (instead of PDT's house orange bitters, I used 1 dash of Regan's and 1 dash of Angostura) Orange twist Very good. I had a very similar cocktail a few weeks ago, the Astoria Vecchio, which is really the same thing except that the gin is genever.

I would check places that sell winemaking supplies like this one (first one that came up with a google search, but I am sure there are others).

I make whole-milk ricotta regularly. I use the recipe from Ricki Carroll's Home Cheese Making. Obviously this is different from traditional ricotta which is made from the whey. 1/2 gallon whole milk (I use organic milk from Trader Joe's) 1/2 teaspoon citric acid 1/2 teaspoon salt Heat to 185 - 195F in a large pot, without boiling Let stand covered for 10 minutes Drain in cheesecloth for 20 min (I use a synthetic cheesecloth that can be washed afterwards). It's probably a good idea to buy some citric acid so you can make a neutral-tasting ricotta, instead of using lemon or vinegar. Regarding local sources, where are you located? Also try making it using whole milk instead of heavy cream.

You must really like jelly beans!

What is everybody doing for Easter this year? I am starting to plan the menu for the family Easter lunch that I am hosting. As in previous years, I want to do a stuffed pasta as the first course. For the main, most likely I will do a rack of lamb as it seems to be everyone's favorite. Maybe I will try the version from Lucques this time. If I can find flageolets, Sunday Suppers at Lucques has a recipe for flageolet gratin that seems very good. And we will have some kind of decadent chocolate dessert to finish the meal...

Cocktails by the pool at the Pearl hotel. For him, their twist on the Manhattan with Buffalo Trace bourbon, sweet vermouth, Cointreau, and orange bitters. For me, the "British Juan" with Ballast Point Old Grove gin (a local gin), muddled lime, cilantro, & mango, and ginger beer. It was quite good and reminded me of a Gin Gin Mule. I think I prefer the original though.

Our drinks a couple of nights ago for the season premiere of Mad Men. For him, an Old-Fashioned with Bulleit rye and Jerry Thomas own decanter bitters. For me, a 1:1 Martini with Beefeater gin, Noilly Prat dry vermouth, Regan's and Angostura orange bitters. Both excellent.

Moules marinières for dinner, with crusty bread, and a beer.

You can order it off Penzeys or, if you can find sumac, you can make it yourself. You may want to look into Mediterranean grocery stores, otherwise Williams Sonoma also sells zaatar.

Thanks for the nice words, everyone. Tonight we started with a simple Persian cucumber salad with Bulgarian feta, zaatar, an olive oil & lemon juice dressing, and fresh mint. After seeing Franci's gorgeous orecchiette, I had a sudden craving for homemade pasta. I made cavatelli using a recipe that I learned at a pasta making class by a local chef and that incorporates homemade ricotta and orange zest. My daughter did most of the kneading and rolling (we have a little hand-cranked cavatelli maker). I served it with broccoli rabe pesto, cavalo nero (aka dinosaur kale), and Italian sausage.

My little guilty pleasure... the Blood Orange Cosmopolitan from Babbo. Charbay's blood orange vodka is really good in this drink. I think it's one of the rare vodkas flavored with actual fruit. 2 oz blood orange vodka 1/2 blood orange juice (I used moro oranges) 1/4 lime juice 1/4 Cointreau Orange twist, up.

Complete candy/confection novice here, but please add me to the list as tentative. I am excited after reading the 2012 workshop report!

For dinner tonight we had pan-roasted local corvina seabass with roasted cauliflower. The fish was basted in plenty of butter flavored with fresh thyme, and finished with fleur de sel. It was served with cauliflower that had been roasted in the oven with some olive oil.

A few ml of Fernet Branca could go nicely in this. Great idea! Ginger and Fernet, always a good combo.

This one is really simple, a twist on the Canadian club and ginger ale. It's delicious and refreshing. Ginger and Rye 2 oz rye, 3 oz ginger ale/beer (ratio from The Joy of Mixology)

I made the Warning Label tonight: Demerara rum 151, Cynar, Punt e Mes, orange bitters, grapefruit bitters (made by a friend), Campari rinse, lemon twist. It is a well balanced cocktail, quite bitter as expected but the 151 helps tone it down somewhat with some caramel notes. You can smell and taste the grapefruit at the end with the Campari/grapefruit bitters combo. I feel it is a little on the syrupy side. Its flavor is very typical of most cocktails in the book.

Beautiful handmade orecchiette, Franci. Is your daughter your pasta-making assistant? Mine loves to roll pasta with the Kitchenaid (she thinks it's a lot of fun), but we haven't tried making orecchiette yet.

That looks like an interesting book. I have seen it on amazon but there is no preview, so it's hard to get an idea of the contents. Can you please tell us a bit more about it? What recipes have you made so far that you liked?

No, for some reason it took me a while to understand the full potential of the Amer Picon. Now that found a few drinks incorporating it that I really like, this type of side-by-side comparison sounds like a fun project, as long as the substitutes in question are reasonably easy to track down. The substitute from post #108 suggested by David Wondrich was 15 ml Everclear and 1 ml Angostura orange bitters for every 100 ml Amaro Ciociaro. It sounds simple enough, however the Amaro Ciociaro is not something I remember seeing locally. I am intrigued by Bittermens Amère Nouvelle and almost picked up a bottle when I was at Hi-Time a few weeks ago. Does anybody have it and what do you think of it?

Hi Rodzilla! Good to see you here and welcome to eGullet. It was my first time making tesa, however I've been curing bacon regularly since first doing it about a year ago for Charcutepalooza. It has a tendency to disappear very quickly even though I make 5 or 6 pounds at a time - I give most of it to friends and family. For the tesa, I used Paul Bertolli's recipe from Cooking by Hand. The process wasn't very different from curing bacon but the taste is completely different due to the red wine and spices that are used in the cure.

Rico - your brisket looks fantastic, especially that closeup shot. I am enjoying your blog so far, thanks for sharing your week with us!

The Hoskins Cocktail: 2 oz gin, 3/4 amer picon, 1/2 maraschino, 1/4 cointreau, dash orange bitters, flamed orange peel. A very interesting cocktail with the picon, maraschino and cointreau creating layers of flavors. It's a little on the sweet side but very good overall, and a great use of Picon.

Very nice. All these are great products. The Cocchi is especially nice in a Corpse Reviver No. 2. The Lemon Hart 151 is an essential for tiki drinks of course. The Batavia Arrack is great for punch - the O'Doherty's Arrack Punch in David Wondrich's book is a great one. I have been using the Xocolatl bitters quite a bit as well. I am not too familiar with the falernum bitters (are these the ones from B.G. Reynolds/Cocktail Kingdom?) so I will be curious to see what you do with them.

You are welcome. Regarding Specialty Produce: they sell to a large number of restaurants in San Diego but are also open to the public from 8 to 4 (more information on their website here). You may remember that I talked about them in my eG foodblog last year (see here for a few pictures of their facility). They are very friendly and their selection is quite overwhelming. It's definitely worth a visit. After using this book for a few years now, I would say that it is really solid. I made about a quarter of the recipes in the book so far (there are a lot that I made but haven't posted about on eGullet) and there is nothing that I did not like. The instructions are always very precise. Sometimes there are a lot of steps and pots & pans to clean afterwards, but the results are always great. For people who live in Southern California it's an excellent book because the recipes incorporate a lot of seasonal produce.

Specialty Produce has them. Pea shoots or tendrils regularly make an appearance in their farmers' market bag (CSA program). I imagine that they are pretty easy to grow.