FrogPrincesse

Things that keep well and are easy to reheat. I did a ton of them that I froze before I had my daughter, suspecting correctly that I wouldn't have much time to cook or even less grocery shop in the first few weeks after she was born. I also did that for a friend who was recovering from surgery a few years ago. Soups, stews, risottos. A nice quiche. I also love @blue_dolphin's idea of salad kits. Maybe some homemade cookies too, it's the season!

Thank you! It is fresh yuzu, grown in Jamul, 30 min East of San Diego. It's not super easy to find but I had identified a source last year so it was much easier this year! The season is short, only a few weeks, so you have to buy them as soon as you see them. The flavors seem fancy but it's all local fruit grown in the San Diego area, except for the pears.

The Sherpa from Sasha Petraske's Regarding Cocktails with High West American Prairie bourbon whiskey, St. Elizabeth allspice dram, Pierre Ferrand dry curaçao, orange bitters. It's build in the glass and it's very direct. First it's mostly about the bourbon, then the allspice becomes more prominent as the ice melts.

Pear & vanilla jam (recipe by Christine Ferber). This is one of my favorite jams, so delicious when made with perfectly ripe pears. I used Barletts that I let ripen on the counter in a brown paper bag for close to a week. I had forgotten that this was a recipe that was two recipes in one. First you have to make green apple jelly that you use in the pear jam. So this is a bit time consuming, but well worth the effort. A couple of Tahitian vanilla beans. I ended up with some extra green apple jelly, so I made a very small batch of green apple & earl grey tea jelly (the pots on the right that don't have the vanilla beans).

I went to the fabric store yesterday and bought a couple of yards of fabric and some elastic band to do little fabric covers for the jam pots. I ended up spending close to $30 for the supplies (not counting a pair of pinking shears bought for $13 on amazon), so that's about 50 cents per jar. But I think it's worth it; the end product looks nicer and this is important because a lot of people are going to buy these jams as presents since it's holiday season.

I put the result in the Preserving thread. Here is another marmalade I made today with (12) Yuzu limes, (3) Meyer lemons and (2) Valencia oranges. Last year I had done an all Yuzu marmalade and thought that the taste was not as interesting or deep as I would have hoped. The mixed of citrus seems to have worked. My kitchen smelled wonderful this afternoon! Here are the yuzus (Meyer lemons and oranges in the colander). They look and feel like yellow mandarins, but inside they have a ton of pith and little juice. The skin however smells amazing, it bursts with flavor as soon as you gently touch it. These yuzus are local (Jamul which is ~ 30 min from where I live) and have a very short season, just a few weeks in December. My little assistant, nesting on the recipe. I boiled the peels in water for 20 minutes. Then I cooked them with the sugar and the juice (I also added the juice of one lemon), and the bag of seeds & pith. The jam cooked fairly quickly, about 45 minutes. That copper pot is amazing by the way. Before that pot, it used to take me hours to cook marmalade! The yield was 9 jars, plus one "sample" jar.

Here are the other jams. Pear and vanilla jam (left); Green apple and Earl Grey tea jelly (both recipes from Christine Ferber) Yuzu lime, Meyer lemon and Valencia orange marmalade (my creation) There is also a red onion, balsamic and sherry wine marmalade that I forgot to take a picture of.

I've been in full production mode here, and am officially done with the preserves (cookies are next...). After the quince marmalade, I made... Passion fruit and Valencia orange jam (recipe from Christine Ferber, more details here) Calamondin & Buddha's Hand marmalade (my own recipe, more details here) Green apple, Julian apple cider and vanilla jelly (recipe from Christine Ferber) Christmas jelly with quince, lemon & orange peel, and cardamom (recipe from Christine Ferber) (to be continued - I need to upload the remainder of the jam pictures) I got pre-orders! I already sold 9 out of the approximately 50 jars of jam that I've made. I've calculated that I needed to sell about 20 to recover my expenses (good fruit is expensive!) The market is on Friday.

Sorry to (continue to) side-track the discussion, but I bought that beer last year and it's one of the very rare beers I couldn't finish. Down the drain it went. I really didn't care for the flavor which reminded me of cherry-flavored cough syrup. I bought a six-pack and have five left... Too bad you don't live closer. I agree with @blue_dolphin's suggestion. Find a local brewery and try different styles to figure out what you like; flights are great for that purpose. Some places even give you a free taste if you are not sure.

Here is a link to the article. I agree with Michter's and Bulleit being better than Rittenhouse for sipping. However Rittenhouse is great in cocktails (I prefer it to Bulleit, for sure), plus it's reasonably priced, so it definitely has a spot in my home bar. I tried Few for the first time a few weeks ago and felt that it had an unusual flavor profile, but was very good too. I had Knob Creek once or twice but never on its own, so I can't really rate it in relationship to the others, but it makes a great Manhattan. What I note is that all their selections vary between 2 and 3 stars, so it's not much of a spread. Nothing got the maximum of 4 stars, maybe because the tasting focused on "young ryes". They mention Redemption and Dickel; it'd be interesting to know what else they tried in the tasting that didn't make the top 10...

I think you are on the right track; Kevin does a fabulous job with his rum reviews. I would consider taking a course. A few years ago, I took the BarSmarts series of online courses (and exam). There was a large portion of the course on learning to taste spirits that I found extremely useful. It's also very helpful to read about the production methods of the different spirits, and all the information about what can influence their taste. Also try attending spirits tastings in your area, often bars have them and it's a good way to educate yourself about a certain product, especially when the people who conceived them, distilled them, etc, are the ones doing the presentation. I think it's also important to keep in mind that different criteria apply to spirits that you intend to enjoy neat, or the ones you intend to mix with. I've tasted spectacular rums that completely got lost in cocktails. About Appleton VX vs 12, they are both very good. You've tried both of them neat, maybe try mixing the same drink side by side with both, and see if you have a different perception. Have fun with it! And maybe revisit in a few months/years to see if your taste has changed.

I took a pig butchery class a few weeks ago at heart and trotter and it was great! I highly recommend it. https://www.theheartandtrotter.com/classes/

More book suggestions in this previous thread.

Me neither, hence my shock. I had a similar issue, although not as extreme, with the roasted chicken. Then I stopped trusting the recipes... but I still kept the book because I thought the general information it provided was very valuable.

Both. At some point I was testing various lamb shanks recipes from different cookbooks, and following his cooking time/temperature, the shanks ended up being tough and not cooked enough. I was a little shocked of the result, because I know how delicious they can be when I follow my tried & true recipes... Then regarding flavors, a lot of them don't particularly appeal to me, even on paper. Let's just say that it's not the type of cuisine I naturally gravitate towards (I was born in France, and live in Southern California). This is very personal obviously, so your mileage may vary.

I really love that aspect of the book too, and that is why I bought it in the first place - the whole Part One about understanding meat with detailed advice about how to buy meat, what types of cuts work for certain dishes, diagrams for each animal, etc. Two caveats. First, it's a British book, so some of the information is not directly relevant to the US (this is discussed in the notes to the US edition at the end of the book). Second, I wasn't particularly impressed with the few recipes I tried. It wasn't the reason why I had bought the book, but since recipes constitute more than half of the book, I thought I should mention it. However I like how the recipes are arranged by cooking technique (roasting, braising, grilling, etc). I think that made a lot of sense.

It's not difficult and it's quite good. It's actually a great drink when the weather is colder - think hot chocolate. For more bitters-heavy drinks, check out this thread too.

That reminds me that with cucumbers, I like to do a yoghurt & lemon juice dressing, with a ton of black pepper, and some fresh mint. It's another dressing I enjoy in the summer.

My dashes were generous. My bottle of Angostura pours very fast. That drink is really all about the gin, adorned with a bit of bitters. I think it's a good way to taste new gins. It's a bit easier than sipping on neat gin.

I do not have an official recipe from them. I went with 2 oz rye, 0.5 oz Montenegro, barspoon demerara, absinthe rinse (5-6 spritzes from my little spray bottle), orange & lemon twists.

Probably the dishwasher. I wash mine by hand and don't have this problem.

I've also seen it called "Enough Said"... If you like rhum agricole blanc with Chartreuse, make sure to try the Green Mile in Death & Co and the Baie du Galion in Smuggler's Cove, if you haven't already done so!

What I like is very simple. It's typically olive oil + red wine vinegar or olive oil + sherry vinegar. Sometimes I add a bit of sliced shallots, chives, or basil in summer. Always salt & pepper of course. For bitter greens like endive, I like to add some Dijon mustard and emulsify the dressing. In summer, I really like olive oil + lemon juice. For salads with nuts, I like to use an oil that corresponds to the nut, almond or hazelnut, etc. I usually don't go 100%, I will do maybe 1/2 or 2/3 olive oil and the rest with the nut oil (depending on its richness).

I have both the metal and the plastic, and I actually prefer the metal. It's a bit harder to see, but then it doesn't tip over so easily like the plastic one does...

How odd. I did a search using Eat Your Books and the Larousse Gastronomique was the only recipe (out of 122 recipes for sauce vierge) that includes butter. https://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes?q="sauce vierge" butter&sort=date_recipe_published desc&sortsmall=on https://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/5?q="sauce+vierge"&sort=date_recipe_published+desc&sortsmall=on