Hassouni

my homemade pimento dram was apparently not powerful enough for the KC lion's tail recipe, so I think 3/4 next time will do it

Havana Club 7 is not such a big deal, but the 3 años makes good drinks where white rum is needed

Due to some annoying circumstances, my Thanksgiving this year will be just myself and one of my cousins. He read my mind and asked for Sichuan turkey - I guess I'll just adapt a chicken recipe. Any other suggestions? Dry fried beans with dried cranberries perhaps?

I use it in all kinds of western dishes, as many others mentioned - soups, stews, and the like. The trick is add just enough that the umami is detectable, but not the fishy taste (unless that's what you want). It's especially good with a few other flavor boosters in water-based vegetable soups

Interesting. What causes the skin? It looks really quite icky, which is why I skimmed it off. Also, I didn't get a sheen of oil, I got big pools of it....Could that have anything to do with the roux not being that dark?

Smith & Cross. Drool. It makes every cocktail it goes into outrageously good. Try it in a room-temperature old fashioned (no ice, maybe a bit of water to tame the fire). Superb stuff. LH 151 is also pretty damn good, and can be diluted to more usable levels. Black strap...just runs roughshod over everything you introduce it to. I'm honestly wondering what the hell I've managed to do with the 2/3 of the bottle that's no longer there..... Definitely made a few corn n' oils, but that can't account for all of it...

In England (where our language was invented, after all), cider is always alcoholic. What is known as cider in America is called "cloudy apple juice" in Britain. That said, why is it so damn hard to get properly dry cider in the States? Any decent supermarket in London has really intense dry ciders in numerous varieties - here, "extra dry" Crispin is still pretty damn sweet. The best I can find is Sam Smith's but the gougers want $10 a bottle for it or something similarly outrageous. What's the deal???

Late hello gumboteers, First ever attempt here. I've only had real gumbo once, so I wasn't sure what I was aiming for, but damn did it come out to my liking: in the pot in the bowl, atop rice and filé It's andouille (not the best, I had to give it extra smoke on my WSM), shrimp, and crab. I didn't follow a single recipe, but I was heavily inspired by my favorite YouTube chef, 007bondjb (http://www.youtube.com/user/007bondjb/videos?query=gumbo), who happens to have posted in this thread (). I used about 3/4 cup AP flour to 3/4 cup olive pomace oil, it went to a a very dark toffee color or light hot chocolate color in about 15 minutes or so - faster than I expected. Added one big onion, a normal-sized green pepper, and two celery stalks, and stirred quite a bit. The trinity never really cooked down too much, even after about 10 minutes of this. At this point I added the andouille, some thyme, basil, oregano, chile powder, and a good shake of Todd's Bayou Dirt creole seasoning (where JB would use Slap Ya Mama, which is unavailable in these parts). Stirred around some more, and incrementally added cold water and one of JB's secrets, Zatarain's Crab and Shrimp Boil concentrate, as well as a can of diced tomatoes and a bunch of chopped spring onions. I simmered this for about 5 hours - the vegetables didn't totally dissolve, but got soft enough that they didn't stand out. Ten minutes before serving, I added 2 lbs of shrimp, chopped parsley, and cans of crab meat right before serving. Served over basmati rice (because it was that or Koshihikari) with filé powder sprinkled atop. Delicious! Big question - while simmering, it developed a sort of unpleasant "skin" that i repeatedly skimmed off. It would form pretty fast after stirring the pot, requiring many removals. Also, a lot of oil was extracted (not sure if from the sausage or the roux - the sausage was bought already cooked plus I smoked it some more), much of which I skimmed off too. Is this normal?

This is the best, funniest thing I've read all month. Is there more where this came from?

tadka/tarka are imprecise English transcriptions of the same word

The MoCo monopoly has Bulleit rye for some absurdly low price (around $20), so that was my go-to while Rittenhouse was out. I haven't compared them side to side though

Do you think it's still absurdly good for the price past $25?

Yep

I can't remember off the top of my head (and too tired to look it up), but some French absinthe I had in the time after it was reintroduced in Europe but still banned in the States gave me a sort of clear-headed feeling for half an hour or so, then I was just left with a gigantic alcohol wallop for the rest of the night. There's no real "high" or "tripping" sensation though. Ethanol by the way does have a psychoactive effect, that's what intoxication is!

Given the price of absinthe, I'm rather glad that a little goes a long way....

Ace Beverage in DC has a few bottles, at $22 + DC absurd 10% sales tax, so about $24. I remember buying bottles before for well under 20...

Well, Mitch, I went to Seki. Had to wait forever, and paid quite a bit, but the food was very good and eclectic - I went with a Japanese friend and she ordered her favorite weird stuff on the menu, like chopped raw octopus with wasabi.....(that was my least favorite). The sake and shochu list were really impressive, I'd go back just for that.

Restocked some Smith & Cross, and saw my bottle of Bulleit rye was getting low so picked up some Rittenhouse. Has anybody else found that Rittenhouse is very hard to find in your area? I usually buy my spirits at the Montgomery County monopoly shops (not that I live there, it's just way cheaper than anywhere else in the DC area and has a good selection), but the last few times I've tried to get Rittenhouse they said the entire county is out and it's in rare supply. (Needless to say, I got my bottle at a private shop outside the county).

I don't have RCC, what's involved in that stir fry?

Need a recipe idea. It's getting obnoxiously cold in the DC area, so keep that in mind. I have 3 Chinese eggplants, firm and soft tofu, somewhat spicy fresh long green peppers, negi (like a gigantic scallion or very skinny leek), and a large stock of largely Sichuanese stapes (dried chiles, chile bean paste, sichuan peppercorn, etc), as well as black beans, light and dark soy sauce, black vinegar, and the like. What can I make with that? Mapo doufu with the addition of eggplant, perhaps?

Actually, I bought a bottle of that as a present for some friends. Over my budget for my own drinking, sadly....

That's the first and only of them that I've opened so far - it is tame, but it is also very very nice, very smooth, subtle, and elegant, sort of like a Scotchy Barbancourt

OK, I just noticed both you and Luis at Little Branch gently place the lemon peel across the rim, as you pictured above. Why?

Heh, thanks! I've had a few drams here and there at bars, and know I like smoke and strong flavors - I'd already had Laphroaig and Lagavulin, so wanted some other Islay, and besides that wanted a range of styles.

Chakhokhbili, Georgian chicken stew, made with chicken legs, onions, garlic, coriander powder, fenugreek, chile flakes, a whole bunch of tomatoes, and fresh tarragon, parsley, coriander, and dill. Served with Iraqi sammoun bread, which is somewhat close to Georgian bread.