FrogPrincesse

Attempt #2 was from another cocktail-related source. No other than Jeff Morgenthaler, the 2016 American bartender of the year at TOTC. But I digress... I liked that he had a few guiding principles when developing his recipe: As a result, he doesn't use milk and therefore the horchata is not so prone to spoilage. I think that's great because that's one less thing to worry about if you take your horchata to a picnic. (As a side note, at the farmers markets where I often buy a cup of horchata, it's kept in a giant container - large plastic barrels also used for aguas frescas, at ambient temperature, and served on ice. It doesn't contain milk. Adding milk might be good for texture but creates storage issues and also defeats the purpose of a drink that is more or less a milk substitute. Typically, horchata doesn't contain almonds either. Just rice, water, cinnamon, (lots of) sugar as one of the vendors told me; it is quite simple.) Horchata and a tamale at the farmers' market

Where are the horchata experts? Here was my first attempt a couple of years ago. I made it to use it in a cocktail (of course) and the recipe was from PDT. Highlights of the recipe: The rice ("uncooked white long-grain) is ground with the water in a blender The mixture is left to stand for 12 hours at room temperature The mixture is strained (it doesn't say how, but I used a metal strainer lined with a nylon cheesecloth) Milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and sugar are added and the mixture is blended again Ratios 4:1 water to milk ratio (40 ounces water and 10 oz whole milk) 6:1 liquid to rice ratio (by weight) (8 oz rice) 25 g/L sugar (3 tablespoons of sugar for 50 ounces of liquid) I remember not being too crazy about the texture which was on the chalky side, and overall it was a bit lacking in flavor. It tasted a bit thin and wasn't very sweet.

You could make it on crushed ice, with a super energetic shake to emulsify the egg white! I bet that would work too.

Josh from Inu A Kena posted his findings about a tasting of the 12 white rhum agricoles that are currently available in the US. This is a great read for us agricole lovers! https://inuakena.com/spirit-reviews/agricole-challenge/

All these gorgeous pasta pictures by @ProfessionalHobbit made me crave fresh cavatelli! So I made a batch (using fresh homemade ricotta and grated tangerine zest) and froze them for future use.

Inspired by AOC (Suzanne Goin): Grilled peach salad with burrata, cumin, and toasted almonds (+ mint and plenty of sliced shallots). This normally called for arugula which would have been an ideal choice (bitterness to counteract the sweetness of the peaches & burrata), but I had forgotten to buy some and used a lettuce & radicchio mix instead. The dressing was a bit heavy on the cumin. Otherwise this is a super tasty salad when peaches are in season. Interestingly, the mix of cumin with mint strongly evoked shiso to me, which I actually realized is a type of mint. I wonder if that was intentional. I had leftover so I had the salad again with some prosciutto (on buttered toasted baguette). A perfect lunch!

Nobody commented and I am still troubled by this. The other change I've noticed is that the price seems to have increased significantly - I paid more than $30 for a new bottle (which is only 375 mL)! Anyway, I had no choice as I was out and didn't feel like trying to make my own. I should have kept some from the old bottle but I didn't, so this is purely from memory. The new product seems less viscous, a bit more citrus-forward, less intensely allspice flavored (to the point where the old product was borderline bitter/tannic). I think it will be actually a bit more mixable (I loved the old one but tended to reduce the amount as it was extremely concentrated!).

You have to make it happen some day so you can try my drinks!!! As for the False Idol drinks, I tried a few but more studying seems required... Here is an everything but the kitchen sink drink. These are fun when you happen to have all the ingredients! Voodoo Grog (Trader Vic via Total Tiki) with Clement VSOP rhum agricole, Plantation 5 Stars Barbados rum, lime & white grapefruit, honey, St Elizabeth allspice dram (+cinnamon syrup as I ran short), BG Reynolds passion fruit syrup, egg white, grated nutmeg. This all goes in a blender with crushed ice. This is very pleasant but the aged agricole is somewhat buried in there, which is a bit of a shame. The Clement VSOP, which is one of the more reasonably-priced aged agricoles out there, is on the mellow side, which is probably part of the "problem".

I've been making a lot of Mexican-style horchata lately. It's such a nice cooling drink when it's hot outside. I've made it with the rice I normally have in my pantry, which is Trader Joe's white basmati rice. But I was wondering if there was a type of rice that was favored in horchata? Most recipes specify "long grain white rice" and that's about it. Someone mentioned brown rice which seems like an interesting twist but I am mostly interested in white rice varieties.

Personally, I like cavatelli with roasted bell peppers and Italian sausages (and I make them with a little hand-cranked machine). It's not a pasta shape you see too often but they are delicious!

It's not exactly like the recipe is a ton of work...

From Diffords Sound boring to me...

You know, sometimes it's awfully nice to enjoy things directly and not through the lens of an iPhone! About the technical issues, in summary, large tropical waterfalls + tiki torches = ... extra rain showers from the fire sprinklers. But this was fairly minor, nobody got hurt or even wet (just the floor), and everything was resolved shortly after, in time for the next group! I will be back soon of course. I could tell you about the secret entrance, but then I'd have to kill you... So it's probably best if you figure that one out on your own!

Martin Cate's place... very jealous! http://whitechapelsf.com/

That stuff is stinky but cats seem to love it!

When you brush oil on foods before grilling them, you need something with a high boiling point, and olive oil would be a poor choice...

And I forgot to mention it, but Craft & Commerce has reopened a few days ago. It's been extensively remodeled and expanded with a very large patio area.

The long awaited tiki bar False Idol had technical issues 15 minute into their pre-opening tonight, so I wasn't able to sample any drinks (although I stared at the décor which is absolutely AMAZING). I consoled myself with a homemade Mai Tai. Mai Tai (Trader Vic) with Appleton 12 Jamaican rum, La Favorite coeur de rhum, lime juice, Clement Creole shrubb, homemade orgeat, simple syrup.

You are right, but at least they haven't forgotten the juniper!

So excited!!! FIRST LOOK: False Idol - San Diego is now home to a world-class tiki bar

My local Trader Joe's no longer stocks Sipsmith (it was a steal at $29.99), but they had this Sonoma gin that smells pretty good. Uncle Val's botanical gin ($31.99).

Casseroles et Eprouvettes (pots and graduated cylinders). You were close! I don't think I have this one.

@JoNorvelleWalkerWhat is the original French title of the book? I have a bunch of his books, and was wondering which one that might be. Thanks!

Fallback (Sasha Petraske) with Rittenhouse 100 rye, Daron XO calvados, Cocchi vermouth di Torino, amaro Montenegro, Peychaud's bitters. I got some caramel notes, chocolate from the vermouth, apple of course, and a lot of orange and spice from the Montenegro.