FrogPrincesse

I used crème fraîche which has a nice tang, there were plenty of onions and a nice little touch of cognac, so the sauce didn't feel bland to me. It's a bit rich and mild, but still quite flavorful. Thoroughly browning the meat and cooking the onions before putting everything into the sous vide bag greatly helped develop the flavors. And I reduced the sauce at the end. At the end of the day though, taste is quite a subjective, so maybe this recipe just isn't your thing... Had you tried similar dishes before? It reminded me a bit of blanquette de veau which is one of my favorite dishes, so I knew I was going to like this one! Or the Italian classic, milk-braised pork, which it seems directly inspired by. If you feel that acid is lacking, I think you could add a bit of lemon juice to make the flavors pop. Probably the most important is to salt properly, so make sure to adjust the seasoning at the end as necessary.

That doesn't make much sense to me. The Black Russian wasn't invented until a couple of decades later.

Here is what Erik says on the subject...

You might want to source an edition that is closer to the original. There is no Black Russian cocktail in the original edition of the Savoy. Where you have that recipe (between the Bilton Dry Cocktail and the Black Velvet) is where the Bit(t)er Cocktail (an intriguing concoction with gin, lemon juice, green Chartreuse, absinthe) shows up (on page 29). And when in doubt, you can always check against Erik Ellestad's Savoy index of course...

You found a recipe for the Black Russian in the Savoy? My copy has the Russian (vodka, gin, crème de cacao) but I didn't think that the Black Russian had been invented until later.

So what's your apricot brandy of choice, and why? It's so hard to find a good one!

$11.99 for one small bag. I feel that's way too high...

A Cardinal with the recipe from A Spot at the Bar, the new cocktail book from Michael Madrusan & Zara Young. 1.5 oz Beefeater London dry gin, 0.75 oz Campari, 0.75 oz Dolin dry vermouth, lemon twist (replaced with a grapefruit twist), served up I enjoyed this a lot! It's obviously less sweet than the equal part sweet vermouth classic Negroni, but still clearly in the same bitter booze-forward family. Very glad I finally tried it! The closest thing I had tried (other than a classic Negroni) is a Lucien Gaudin, but I wasn't a big fan...

Here's a new one that I am enjoying, A Spot at the Bar by Michael Madrusan & Zara Young. He is a disciple of Sasha Petraske, and opened the first bar of the Milk & Honey family in Australia, the Everleigh.

I served it with braised cabbage, but I think mashed potatoes would be wonderful with the sauce!

Sous vide.

Another sous-vide egg bite experiment for my daughter, this time following the recipe a bit more closely (i.e., actually measuring things). This had turkey breast and Mexican cheese blend, crème fraiche instead of cream cheese, was cooked at 77.8C for 1 hour, and was browned in the oven under the broiler. This was pretty good, more tender/less "springy" than the first time.

Sous Vide Cream-Poached Pork Loin This was very, very delicious. The pork loin (~1.5 lb from Trader Joe's) was incredibly tender and this was not just the result of the sous-vide technique, but also the milk (I had tried another recipe with pork loin, same temperature and time, and it wasn't as wonderfully tender). Sear then 4 hours @ 62.8C with onions, cognac, milk, crème fraiche. Reducing the sauce before serving Sadly I made a rookie mistake when I reheated the leftovers in a pot (with the sauce), because the meat continued to cook and became tougher/dryer and grey. Next time I will reheat the meat with the sauce with the sous vide.

You are welcome. I love the UC Riverside website! I go there regularly, most recently looking at sour orange varieties...

Interesting article about The Death and Rebirth of the Duncan [white] Grapefruit in the New York Times.

I don't think that these new silicone bags are a bad idea at all. I've been using ziplock bags (as I don't want to invest in a vacuum sealer); I try to recycle them but they are not especially sturdy so I double-bag, but I would prefer a more eco-friendly option for sure. I will probably wait until they have the family-size option available because the individual bags seem quite small (and pricey).

The mysterious demise of Lucky Peach magazine and its uncertain future (article in the Washington Post) Behind Lucky Peach’s Closing, Colliding Visions (New York Times)

Beer on a Budget in San Diego - recent article in the New York Times.

I know... if I had known, I would have stocked up!

I was a magazine subscriber from issue 1 but didn't renew past issue 12 or so. Too much navel-gazing for my own taste.

The Classic Madeleines with Plantation 5 years rum (and no lemon zest). Very delicious!

You are welcome. I would include Myer's too. I think it's the same ballpark as Gosling as far as how it's regarded for its use in mixed drinks. Did you get a chance to read Josh's review of dark rums at Inuakena? (There is a link upthread but here it is again.) He gives similar ratings to both (and rates Coruba higher). His tasting notes are very detailed and helpful. He tried them neat and used a rum mule (aka Dark & Stormy when made with Gosling...) as his test drink. If you manage to get out more, Trailer Happiness in London is a well regarded rum/tiki bar. I've always wanted to go there... It's a much shorter distance for you!

With the demerara rums, I agree that a Queen's Park Swizzle is a great place to start.

Myer's should also be available to you in the UK. Why not try something super simple with your black rum like Steve Remsberg's version of the Planter's Punch, and decide which rum you prefer in that application? Or go to your favorite rum-oriented bar, see what they use, ask them questions, maybe score a few samples in the process...

I guess you could ask him directly!