FrogPrincesse

After trying Underberg for the first time on Sunday (it was less bitter than I expected and has a very strong licorice flavor), I tried Charles Joly's Red Light (genever, Grand Marnier, Underberg). It was created with Bols genever; I substituted St. George dry rye gin. It was surprisingly drinkable and worked great with the dry rye gin, the crisp flavors of which seemed to resonate with the other ingredients.

I don't trim the fat and no longer bother weighing. When I did the weight loss was 20-30%. It find it easier to judge when it's done by touch. If it's squishy, cure it for another day or two until it feels pretty firm.

I make duck prosciutto regularly and, like Chris, cure it in the fridge for about a week (testing regularly for firmness). The outside layer gets a bit dry but it's not an issue, it's not dry to the point of being hard and doesn't need to be trimmed.

A little bit of sugar and a drizzle of kirsch. A squeeze of lemon juice as needed.

I am so pleased because there is finally a great place for Tiki drinks in San Diego (and I am no talking about my house!). Ironside Fish & Oyster opened in April and it checks all the boxes for me. Their food menu, as the names implies, is focused on fresh seafood with anything from shellfish platters to spot prawns and lobster rolls (since it's the drinks forum I won't go into details here). The cocktail menu is extremely ambitious so I had my doubts. It's a large booklet with what looks like about 50 cocktails: sparkling and non-sparkling apéritifs, sherry cobblers, plays on classics, digestifs, and a good tiki selection. Here are a few pages to give you an idea. And I am very happy to report that the Tiki drinks are awesome. They recipes are spot-on and you can tell that they use excellent ingredients. I imagine that they must pre-batch to some extent because, even though the restaurant was quite busy, the drinks arrived very quickly. They had 5 or 6 bartenders behind the bar so that must have helped too. I just pray that they manage to maintain that level of quality. Here is their signature Mai Tai on the left (Clement VSOP + Hamilton back rum), and Three Dots and a Dash on the right. Crosswind on the left (not really tiki per se - more like a Last Word with Smith & Cross and falernum), and Fog Cutter on the right. Cool tiki mugs, fancy garnishes - it's all there. I have a feeling I am going to be there quite a bit!

Packed crushed ice, that's the key.

So I also made one with the Double Rye and the Orinoco bitters a few days later and it was great of course. Last night I decided to use the mint that has been flourishing on my patio for another Julep. I went with Natasha David's Torino Julep. No whiskey in this one, but a mix of sweet vermouth (I used Punt e Mes), Smith & Cross, and Fernet-Branca, with a pinch of salt to temper the bitterness. I reduced the Demerara syrup to 1/4 oz, which was plenty already (I think it could be skipped altogether). Very good. The only critic is that it is very lightweight for a julep, so it's no longer a sipper. Doing some reading afterwards I found this article from Time Magazine that has a lot of good Julep ideas, including one with Fernet snow that has potential.

Rhubarb is more of a spring thing here, and it looks like the season is already over. I love its acidic taste (due to the oxalic acid which is also in one of my other favorite vegetables, sorrel). I prefer the thinner pink stalks, they seem less stringy and more flavorful than the green ones, and they are just prettier. Here are a couple of things I've made with rhubarb in the past. A classic rhubarb pie -this was 100% rhubarb. I personally don't care for mixing rhubarb with berries, I think it just dilutes its flavor. Last year for Easter, I made compote that I served on top of a vanilla semi-freddo. The semi-freddo cut nicely the acidity of the rhubarb. This is a nice dessert for spring. This was the rhubarb I used for the compote.

Dan - For a detailed review of this rhum, you can check out Josh Miller's blog here (keep in mind that he is not usually a fan of agricole...).

It's good stuff. It's made in California from sugar cane grown in the Imperial Valley, east of San Diego. They use traditional techniques and the taste is comparable to a Martinique agricole. It's a bit more expensive though.

Exactly...

I had to try this. I made a few substitutions - Perry's Tot navy strength for the gin, Boker's for the bitters (not really knowing what Dutch's Colonial bitters are like), St. George for the absinthe. Hopefully I wasn't too far off. Anyway, this worked for me. Very aromatic with a kind of savory quality, and everything meshed together really well. Subtle and intense.

I prepare them like regular beets - I trim them (leaving about 1/2 inch of the stem), scrub and clean them really well, place them on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil, wrap the foil around them, and roast them in the oven at 400F until tender (45 min to 1 hour depending on the size. I test them with a knife if needed.). Then I just peel them when they are cool enough to handle.

Thanks FauxPas. The tomatoes are from a local farm, Be Wise Ranch, and were obtained through my CSA/Farmers' market box. They are also available at our local Whole Foods and a few other stores. They taste great. I am eating one as I type. The Valencia oranges were also obtained through my CSA a few weeks ago from another local farm, Sundance. They are in season now in California. For the dressing, I used olive oil, lemon juice, the juice from cutting the oranges, and a little bit of red wine vinegar. The salad was inspired by a beet and tangerine salad in Sunday Suppers at Lucques (see here and here). Since I was using fennel, I did not use mint but used the fennel fronds instead, in addition to the thinly sliced fennel bulb (also from my CSA). We are completely spoiled in San Diego with the local produce, and I do my best to fully take advantage of it! I think it may be some of the best in the country (not to brag, but...). Here is the assortment I got last week to give you an idea. This was $20.

The book (Absinthe Cocktails, which I recommend if you like absinthe) calls for 1.5 oz absinthe verte, 0.5 oz water (which I would increase to 1 oz), 1/2 oz violet liqueur or creme Yvette (you may have to adjust based on what you are using), and a "garnish" of Peychaud's bitters (1 dash) and flowers.

I see that you've named it the Bona Drag. Nice.

Earlier last week, Brian's Miller's take on the Zombie, Gantt's Tomb. Rye (Bulleit, although high proof like Rittenhouse would be best) and black rum (Coruba) for the base, plus the mandatory 151 Demerara rum (Lemon Hart). Pineapple, orange, and lemon for the juice; pimento liqueur for the spice. It's one of the rare tiki drinks with whiskey, with the Eastern Sour. It works, although nothing will ever surpass the original 1934 Zombie in terms of complexity.

Annoying indeed. Also impatiently waiting for the Tanqueray Old Tom to finally show up!

I like the name. Is it a London dry or a New World-style gin?

Sickbird gin?

A Donga Punch with La Favorite Coeur de Rhum, grapefruit and lime juice, cinnamon syrup. I went with the recipe from Total Tiki (also here) but it seemed a little sweet. I will reduce the cinnamon syrup a bit next time.

Thank you. Mr. Bali Hai and his companion, The Goof, are my two favorite tiki mugs.

It's alright, there is no need to justify yourself. Some things just aren't meant to be!

Kerry - Was that whole grain mustard on the piece of toast on the left? In any case, it looks really delicious. Here is the imitation version I just made with Benton's for the bacon and Comté for the cheese. Very tasty, although it was just store-bought white bread. Pimm's Cup to wash it down (unadorned, no garnish).

It does not look like this is available in the US. UK and France only, at least for the time being.