FrogPrincesse

Orecchiette carbonara with English peas and pea shoots (page 80) Suzanne Goin's twist on the classic carbonara is nothing short of delicious. First she uses a mix of bacon and pancetta cooked until slightly crisped. This was great for me as I had just finished curing some fresh bacon and tesa (similar to pancetta but flat) and wanted to find a dish to showcase them. Onions, garlic and thyme are added to the bacon/pancetta and cooked for a short time, and then mixed with fresh shelled peas (which I happened to have from my CSA). The pasta cooked al dente is added to this mixture, together with salt and plenty of black pepper. The pasta is transferred to a large bowl containing a mixture of eggs, egg yolks and parmesan. Pasta water can be used as needed if the sauce is too thick (I had to use about a tablespoon). Lastly, parsley and pea shoots (I used baby spinach) are mixed in and more parmesan is grated on top. I really liked how the orecchiette acted as a receptacle for the sauce, peas, and bacon/pancetta dice. Also including greens in this dish was a nice change. The peas were particularly great in this recipe and added a little pop of flavor. Recipe here on google books.

Paul - It's an egg poached in plastic wrap, aka Arzak egg. Brush plastic wrap with oil (I used grapeseed oil because it's neutral), place inside a cup or small bowl, crack an egg into the plastic wrap, season with salt and pepper, tie into a bundle with kitchen string, cook in boiling water for ~ 4.5 minutes. Carefully unwrap.

Beautiful pictures of asparagus and egg combinations (mm84321, SobaAddict70, Paul Bacino). Here is my version: asparagus wrapped in crispy Parma ham, poached egg, and crostini with homemade whole-milk ricotta.

To celebrate the first day of spring (and because I have an abundance of mint), Audrey Saunder's Gin Gin Mule. I really like this Bunaberg ginger beer, it has a great taste. For some reason the Beefeater got lost in this drink so I would use something different next time.

Dinner a couple of nights ago. Lobster ravioli with green garlic and saffron cream sauce. The ravioli (store-bought) was pretty, but the filling disappointing with no distinguishable pieces of lobster to be found. The green garlic made the dish. The sauce was a reduction of white wine (Sancerre) with fish stock and heavy cream, finished with butter. Saffron was infused into the white wine and the green garlic (plenty if it - I used three stalks for two plates) was cooked slowly before being added to the sauce.

SobaAddict70, it's also my experience that his recipes are pretty solid. With the guanciale I made Pasta all'Amatriciana. I did not have bucatini so I used spaghetti. The guanciale is cooked over medium-low heat to render most of its fat. It's not supposed to become crispy. With the store-bought guanciale that I was able to find in the past (only rarely), generally the whole guanciale was quite thin and mostly fat, with just the tiniest streak of meat, and there used to be little left after this first step because the slices were quite small. With my home-cured guanciale this was definitely not a problem, although I sliced it very thin (by hand). The guanciale became light brown when cooked with the onions, garlic and red pepper flakes. Then it was simmered in the tomato sauce (I used the tomato sauce recipe from Babbo which is my go-to recipe). The pasta was boiled and then finished in the sauce, served with chopped parsley and a heavy dusting of pecorino. What can I say... This is the most delicious comfort food and was gone in no time. The texture of the guanciale was slightly crunchy which was great, and its taste porky and rich. It's worth curing the guanciale just for this dish, for sure.

Last night before dinner we had various little snacks with our cocktails: a slice of Wagon Wheel cheese from Cowgirl Creamery (love the name, but it tasted pretty blend/rubbery to me), salmon rillettes tartines, and goat cheese truffles. The salmon rillettes are the fresh and smoked salmon rillettes in The Cooking of Southwest France by Paula Wolfert. The goat cheese truffles were dipped in poppy seeds or pimenton (my favorite) and the recipe is from Babbo.

I was in the mood for a French Pearl tonight. It's funny because I don't really care for Pernod, but I always loved this drink. Combining the Pernod with mint and lime was a stroke of genius. I used Pernod pastis and Beefeater gin.

Two of my favorite cocktails with allspice dram are the Lion's Tail if you want something bourbon-based, and the Ancient Mariner if you are in the mood for something tiki.

He has joined TAPS Fish House & Brewery.

We had dinner last night at Bali Hai to say goodbye to chef Chris Powell, who is unfortunately leaving for Orange Country. We ordered a few of our favorites including the plank-smoked albacore with seabeans and pickled mustard seeds, the dynamite steak roll with pickled baby mushrooms, the char siu duck with lup cheong sausage, and this kobe beef carpaccio with a touch of truffle oil and layers of delicate flavors (courtesy of the chef). It was great as always. Hopefully the new chef will be able to fill his shoes!

We went to the Bali Hai restaurant last night and had a couple of classic tiki drinks: their take on the Zombie (on the left in the picture, which the menu describes as "three rums, peach brandy, guava, pineapple juice & Lemon Hart 151 for a touch of spice") and my favorite which is one of their signature drinks, the Goof Punch (Lemon Hart Demerara rum, Coruba Jamaican dark rum, light rum, passion fruit syrup, and a blend of fruit juices) - dangerously smooth.

Kay - the salmon is cooked in the oven for about 10 minutes at 425F

I made the guanciale from Babbo recently. The recipe could not have been easier, however it took me months to find the pork jowls. I almost gave up until one day I found a package in the freezer case at my butcher shop. 3 jowls, 2.5 lbs total. I added the cure (no pink salt in this recipe, just salt, sugar, peppercorns, and fresh thyme) and waited for 7 days. Then I let them dry in my spare fridge for about a month. Here is the result... I could not be happier with the outcome. It's even better than bacon and you can really taste the thyme.

SobaAddict70 - Beautiful dishes. I need to put my hands on some samphires because I love their briny taste. Your asparagus and poached egg dish is a classic dish that I want to make very soon, with duck eggs if I can find any.

Test driving this White Negroni variation for a cocktail party that I am hosting tomorrow. Usually Junipero is my gin of choice, but I decided to use the Beefeater that I just bought yesterday. White Negroni (Dutch Kills version) 1.5 oz gin 3/4 oz Suze 3/4 oz Dolin blanc vermouth Lemon twist Wow, this is good, and I love the Beefeater in this drink. Until now I thought that the White Negroni with Cocchi was my favorite but now I am really confused... More experimentation is in order.

I made a Slope tonight with the following ratios: 2 oz Rittenhouse rye 3/4 oz Punt e Mes 1/4 oz R&W apricot liqueur 1 dash Angostura bitters I was concerned that the apricot may overwhelm the drink. It was quite the opposite. At first this Manhattan variation seemed a little intense with the Punt e Mes and rye dominating the drink. The apricot gave it a nice subtle finish.

Salmon fillet wrapped in Parma ham with Puy lentils, spinach, mint, and yoghurt. The ham keeps the salmon really moist. I really like lentils and having them with fresh spinach and plenty of herbs is delicious.

I had a Blood Orange tonight (on the Campari thread) and I made him a Manhattan with Woodford bourbon, Carapano Antica, Boker's bitters, and brandied cherries. After dinner, he was in the mood for a Caucasian...

This one is very good with some grapefruit undertones. It reminds me of the Jasmine. The Blood Orange by Jeff Morgenthaler. 1.5 oz gin 1.5 oz orange juice 0.75 oz Campari 0.75 oz dry vermouth

A total guess... I am thinking that it could be Kouign Aman in San Diego. She posts regularly in the gardening thread.

A couple of things. I believe Phil's original recipe called for Beefeater. And M & R for the sweet vermouth. Served up. Was the orange peel flamed? All of these elements will make the difference from a "regular" Negroni more apparent. It feels like the seven errors game. The orange peel was flamed - at least I got that right. Regarding the gin, I thought that Junipero would be a good match as it's juniper-forward, but since I never had Beefeater I could be wrong. I don't have M & R; I realize that Carpano Antica may be more present in the drink and may offset the balance to some extent, but I noticed that Gary Regan does not specify what type of vermouth to use when he posted the recipe a while back. I am a little reluctant to get a bottle of M & R just for this drink (I already have Carpano Antica, Dolin rouge, and Vya). Regarding serving the cocktail up (vs. on the rocks), I noted that point in my post but I just couldn't bring myself to it... That part is very easy to change though.

Just found the answer here ...

Great looking lasagna, Shalmanese. Did you use ricotta or bechamel, and what type of sauce did you use? Tonight we had Jamie Oliver's "fantastic roast chicken" with butter, thyme, garlic, lemon zest and home-cured pancetta/tesa (my modification - the original recipe calls from prosciutto) under the skin. My favorite way to roast a chicken.

Sorry I was not clear. Why is this variation called a "Cornwall" Negroni? I cannot understand the connection.