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haresfur

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    Morning Tea

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted · Edited by haresfur (log)

    What about stuffed bannocks? They can also be made ahead and then ovened if you wish them hot, and it doesn't get more Canadian. Also, they're both a sweet and a savoury, depending on what you stuff them with. I'm very fond of lightly seasoned ground pork with blueberries or strawberries.

    Stuffed bannock?? Never had that. Just the basic fried dough. What do you stuff it with?

    Drinks! (2012, part 2)

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    An Old Fashioned with Thomas Handy rye. If you can find it here, the stuff is 300AUD. Which is basically 300USD. Good but not $300 worth of good. I hate being pillaged due to geography.

    The pricing here is really odd and not really related to US prices. I think it must have to do with the distributors. Russell's Reserve, my current favourite bourbon in the house is much more expensive than it should be as is Rittenhouse rye. If it isn't a Jim Beam or Wild Turkey product you are going to pay a lot. Personally, I think they should reduce the tax on high-end booze so that the young binge-drinkers will at least develop good taste. :unsure:

    Absinthe: The Topic

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    Welcome to eGullet absinthefiend! Thanks for the review. Pacifique never made it to the dry side of the state when I was in Washington. How is the conversion to private sales going? I assume you mean water:absinthe ratio, not the other way around.

    Absinthe choices here are pretty limited. I think you can get Mansinthe and maybe some others that look a bit dodgy. But my bottle of Obsello should last about forever at the rate I make Sazeracs.

    Drinks! (2012, part 2)

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    I was given some home made nocello and Zubrowka vodka by some Polish friends. Decided the white Russian treatment was in order.

    1 nocello

    1 Zubrowka

    splash heavy cream

    Cuts the sweetness but keeps the walnut richness. It wasn't bad before adding the cream either. There has to be a clever name in there somewhere but I'm not sure where.

    The Food Processor Topic

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    Anyone have any information on brands available in Europe or Australia like Kenwood or others? Any thoughts on food processors that have blender attachments? My blender met a premature end because I plugged it into the 240 V outlet on the voltage regulator/transformer (I had taped over the 240 V outlets on the regulator but then it got swapped with a second one that wasn't idiot-proofed :shock:.) I saw there is also a 'Jamie Oliver' brand made by Tefal.

    I expect that I won't be a heavy user - pesto, pie crust, chopping nuts, some slicing when I'm in a hurry.

    "The PDT Cocktail Book"

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    I think there is less demand for Grade B because an A is a better grade in most people's minds. Not a lot of choice here so I buy Costco Grade A medium amber.

    Dan, what a great memory. I have heard of them throwing some fresh syrup onto the snow to make instant candy. We always felt cheated where I grew up because it was too cold for sugar maple trees.

    MxMo: Tiki

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    Counting on the International Date Line working for me.

    Tiki trouble is actually having an approximation of everything needed. But Tiki opportunity is finally getting off my tail and making some orgeat. Piece of cake, really. That is if you start with blanched South Australian almonds bought from the grower. I found that the immersion blender worked well for grinding the almonds in some of the water. And a cut up pillow case worked well for straining. Nice and milky, oily. How does it taste? Tastes nice, not strongly almond, but I have no real basis for comparison to what it should be.

    So last night I discovered that there wasn't a single piece of citrus in the house. But I acquired orange lemon and lime at the end of a long work day. With ebbing energy I decided on a Fog Cutter:

    2 oz Cuban white rum

    1 oz cheap French brandy

    1/2 oz Plymouth gin

    2 oz lemon juice - a bit much for my taste

    1 oz fresh Valencia orange juice

    1 oz plus some orgeat

    float cream Sherry

    After balancing the lemon it turned out quite nice. Oh, and we split it 2 ways.

    Bonus drink: Orgeat in a bourbon cocktail with Fee's orange bitters is a nice use of orgeat even though (or perhaps because) I used cheap bourbon.

    Don't Call it a Classic If It's Not

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    I don't disagree with your fundamental point, just like I abhor the practice of calling something a "Bourbon Sidecar."

    Of course there are a number of classics that can be made with different base spirits. In some ways it is clearer than coming up with an fancy name for something that is basically a variation on a theme.

    But I agree with the original point that mucking with the whole ingredient list and then calling it a classic is confusing and annoying.

    The Old Fashioned Cocktail: The Topic

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    I've now got a small collection of bitters beyond Angostura's standard. I have Fee's orange, Fee's Aztec chocolate and, too, Peychaud's. Which of these are worth using to replace the Angostura in an Old Fashioned (made, otherwise, the standard way with rye or maybe bourbon rather than rum/cognac/et al).

    You may find the Fee's orange are not bitter enough to take the drink where you want it to be, but hey, mix a small one and see what your think. I would guess the chocolate may go better with rum but once again, go with your palate. I like to smell a whisky then smell the bitters. Doesn't totally tell you what will go together but gives an idea (except for my woefully pitiful sense of smell).

    Next time you are at Nick's you might want to pick up the Angustrua orange bitters and try them (or try 50:50 with Fee's). And according to their web site they have Fee's whisky barrel aged bitters. I use them or their aromatic bitters where Angustrua is called for.

    For the Peychaud's, find some absinthe for a sazarac or let me know next time we link up and I'll give you some Obsello - got lots since I generally use it only in dashes.

    Sous vide spirit infusions

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    There's not even much need to do this in a heavily controlled way. There are bars I know that do their infusions by putting the herbs/spices/citrus/whatever into bottles with the booze and putting them all into a sink of hot water. Taste a sample bottle periodically until the desired flavor is reached, then chill and strain.

    I was wondering about this. It's not like cooking slowly at low temperature, it's heating to speed things up. It seems that the only issue is not heating so far that flavours change. Seems you could heat the infusion up to the right temperature and put it in a Thermos bottle until it's done.

    Drinks! (2012, part 2)

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    I feel like I'm the only person on earth who loves campari but doesn't drink negronis.

    It's all about campari highballs in my book.

    I tend to agree - an americano is equally satisfying and more refreshing for me. And I'm happy to drink Campari and soda. Although I haven't had a negroni in a long time so I suppose I should revisit them.

    Salinity meter

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    I know a bit about salinity measurements but haven't used them for food. Salinity meters measure the electrical conductivity of the solution and conductivity is just 1/resistivity. The units are typically microSiemens/cm which used to be called micro-mhos/cm: mho = backwards ohm, ha ha. Most meters will then use a general calculation to convert to salinity.

    The difference between resistivity and resistance is the distance component. The resistance between 2 probes 1/2 cm apart will be less than 2 probes 1 cm apart. The size of the probes will also make a difference when measuring solutions.

    Temperature affects the conductivity of solutions so all but the really cheap instruments will be compensated for temperature.

    So in theory you could use an ohm meter if it measures the right range of resistance. But you need to keep a consistent geometry on the probe and preferably platinum plated electrodes. Then you would need to calibrate at the temperature you would be using unless relative numbers are ok. With cheap electrical devices these days, I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.

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