FrogPrincesse

A recent order from Hi-Time. The Sipsmith London dry gin, Briottet crème de peche de vigne, yellow Chartreuse, El Dorado 8 and Plantation pineapple rum are restocks.

Irish cocktail (Harry Johnson via Frederic Yarm) with Green Spot irish whisky plus a touch of Luxardo maraschino, Pierre Ferrand dry curacao, St. George absinthe, Dr. Elemegirab's Boker's bitters. I would go slightly easier on the maraschino next time, otherwise it's a nice one with a touch of sweetness and nice complex flavors.

@ninagluckI am so jealous of your Seville oranges! They may be available here in SD but I haven't had a chance to go to the farmers market to find out. Stores don't carry them. Meanwhile I have a batch of kumquat marmalade in progress. I bought them a couple of weeks ago and almost forgot about them! I am following this recipe from David Lebovitz.

The recipe looks tasty and simple! http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/zaatar-lemon-grilled-chicken

I love capers too. I buy the pickled ones from Trader Joe's. I use them in tapenade, with fish for browned butter sauce, in salsa verde, as an accompaniment to smoked salmon or roasted bone marrow... I've only recently found the salt-preserved variety, but haven't tried them yet.

That is the one. Good stuff! But I've never seen it outside of England.

Well I understand that. I go to London regularly and am familiar with a lot of the restaurants that are featured in the book. I like the trend where they feature interesting local ingredients, maybe forgotten ones, and give them their own modern twist. I like dishes that have a sense of place, either through ingredients or techniques. For example I was especially impressed when I went to a restaurant that served an English sparkling wine that was as good as Champagne and that I had never heard of... And I love St. John and have been there many times. Never had the calvados cake though. More typical British things like their lemon posset... I think that this book looks very interesting actually, because the British food scene is booming right now. I am tempted to get it or at least to look at it. It is strange that Nuno Mendes (Viajante, Chiltern Firehouse) doesn't seem represented though. I would have thought that he would have gotten at least a couple of recipes in there.

Dolores Park Swizzle (Thad Vogler) with Batiste Ecoiste while rhum agricole, lime juice, J.M cane syrup, Maraschino liqueur, Peychaud's bitters, St George absinthe. Wonderful stuff and it was really harmonious with this rhum (which is more gentle than La Favorite).

Does anybody have experience with sous vide pickles? Are they as nice & crunchy as the video suggests? I was going to make a batch of pickled celery the traditional way, but I am thinking sous vide now... https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/make-crisp-flavor-packed-pickles-on-the-quick

I thought it was curious that a calvados cake was picked as a sample recipe from a London cookbook...! Don't get me wrong, I love Calvados, but why not use English cider brandy? The cake looks good though, like most things from St. John/ Fergus Henderson.

@mkayaharaI got it at Hi-Time, but there are other stores that carry it in Southern California. There is more info about it here, here, here, and here. Apparently it's not available in Japan! This was made as a trial run to test the American market

A gin-heavy negroni with 2 oz pineapple-infused Beefeater gin, 1.5 oz Maragerum amaro, 1 oz Campari. Campari + pineapple is always a winning combo.

Vintage sheep gouda. I liked the flavor, especially in the center of the piece. Closer to the rind, I found the taste to not be so clean (some mustiness), which makes me wonder how the cheese was stored.

It's killer, you should absolutely get it. It is incredibly flavorful and complex. I had tried it first last year at a rum tasting event at Tiki Oasis presented by Martin Cate, and had been patiently waiting since then for bottles to show up in San Diego. They never did, at least not in the places I frequent routinely, and I ended up ordering from Hi-Time.

Here comes the egg. I wanted a poached egg texture and went with 15 min @ 75C. The result was a fabulous egg yolk, very custardy, a bit runny still, pretty much perfect in my book. However a good part of the white hadn't had a chance to set at that temperature, and what was set wasn't very set. I will probably play a bit with sous vide eggs but I've never been a fan of the texture of the white with that technique. I have an extra egg that I cooked at the same time, so I will be curious to see if I like the texture better after it's reheated.

Good to know! Thank you.

More sous-vide confit chicken. 8 hours @ 74C. I've become a big fan! The second example was with sous vide braised green cabbage, 4 hours @ 83C. That one was ok but not nearly as succulent as a traditional braise (I love Molly Steven's braised cabbage recipe); it was a bit crunchy still, and less flavorful (it would a bunch of aromatics to become interesting). So this won't be a repeat, unlike the confit chicken.

This one is interesting - Fukano single cask rice whisky. Beautiful nose, a bit sweet and quite bourbon-like, nougatine notes, little cinnamon bite, hint of smoke, vanilla, long finish.

Alaska (Harry Craddock with the Bartender's Choice ratios) with 2.25 oz Sipsmith London dry gin, yellow Chartreuse, 2 dashes orange bitters. It's like a slightly sweet Martini, still very crisp. I really like this classic cocktail (and this gin!).

Capovilla PMG is about $90 in the US, and that is the most expensive white rhum agricole I've ever seen.

Planter's Punch a la Stephen Remsberg with Plantation OFTD dark rum, lime juice, simple syrup, Angostura bitters. I adjusted the recipe a bit - 2.5 ounces of rum instead of 3 ounces to account for the rum's higher alcohol content (the OFTD is overproof at 69%), 1 oz lime juice, 0.75 simple syrup, and 4 dashes Angostura bitters. It was very flavorful and delicious, but also incredibly punchy!

These look great! I will look for them during my next visit.

Host's note: this delicious topic is continued from What Are You Cooking Sous Vide Today? (Part 2) Duck breast, 57C for 90 min, pre and post sous-vide sear. So the texture was not significantly different from what I get with my usual technique, which is grilling over charcoal. But it's more uniformly pink, and there are no slightly overdone spots. I am pleased with the results even though searing in the house means a ton of smoke and duck fat everywhere! (I did it on the stove in a cast iron skillet, next time I will place the skillet in the oven)

Osmosome?

Because of the environment, you know... I am trying to avoid using disposable things whenever I can. Lining the glass jar would be, I fear, more trouble than cleaning it. I think that a bit of oil, as @blue_dolphinsuggested, might solve the issue.