Hassouni

Back to this, Jimbo, or others - how does Lemon Hart compare to El Dorado in defining Demerara?

Both?

No, I just have too many bottles...

Haha, I know, nothing I have is that close to empty, sadly!

Hey how convenient, I do have Laird's BIB!

My results, omitting the orgeat: Never having tried falernum before, I don't know what to judge it against, but it's quite deliciously funky (I made mine with W&N Overproof). Two questions: 1. Where the hell do you get 700ish ml size bottles? All I found in shops were 500 (shown) and 1 L, which was too much. I made about 600 ML of the stuff, and didn't manage to bottle all of it. 2. How is Taylor's Velvet Falernum clear? Are they using extracts?

Oh, by the way, totally agree about the FdC Extra Dry, and I do use it all the time

So I'm a big rum guy, I have around a dozen bottle of high quality sipping rums, stuff like Mount Gay XO, Appleton Extra, and Scarlet Ibis. I regularly also make a lot of rum drinks, but given my lack of cheaper rums (I've got some FdC white, some Kraken, and some Cruzan Blackstrap, but that's it on the under $15 front), and the dominating character of Kraken and the Cruzan, I typically use the more expensive stuff for mixing. Is this all a waste? Could I easily make do with MG Eclipse instead of XO, or El Dorado 5 instead of the 12? I would think that after a certain point, viz. after the sugar, lime juice, cointreau, etc, are added, the subtleties of the higher end stuff would be lost. If I'm on to something here, what rums would you recommend for making cocktails? Off the top of my head, I know I can get the following pretty cheaply: Appleton V/X and Reserve, MG Eclipse and Eclipse Black, FdC 4 and 7, Brugal Añejo, Barbancourt 4 star, El Dorado 5.

Yeah, the Indian version seems a lot more complex and multi-dimensional

Be warned that it takes a lot of experience and repetition to get good results. Rice is so finicky! Oh, and you can't set out to just make tadig, you have to make a lot of rice too, as I think the weight of the rice on top has a lot to do with it.

When I said it was tadig time, I meant it. Behold: timman w murgat shijar, or, rice and zucchini stew, in Iraqi Arabic. (Of course in Iraq the Persian "tadig" is known as "hakkaaka") (Note to self, use a thicker-bottomed pot next time to prevent localized scorching!) The stew was made according to a recipe from Nawal Nasrallah's masterful treatise on Iraqi cuisine, Delights from the Garden of Eden. Boneless, relatively lean lamb cubes browned, and removed from the pot, onions added to soften and deglaze the fond, a sprinkle of curry powder, add the meat back in and add water and braise till mostly done. At that point, add pre-cooked chana dal, zucchini, tomato paste, bayleaf, and allspice, and cook till lovely. Delicious!

Has anyone used the Indo-Pak syrup Rooh Afza as a cocktail ingredient? I just picked some up, a bottle each of Indian and Pakistani varieties, and it seems like it could work very well - it's plenty sweet, and very intensely flavored, I was thinking like an exotic grenadine, perhaps? Anyone tried this?

That's how you separate the Iranians and Iraqis from everyone else. To us, it's the best part!

patrickamory, your tadig is killing me. I haven't had chelo-style rice in ages...I know what I'm making tomorrow...

Gahhh I wish I had pictures of this, but it was too delicious to waste time photographing. Got some single-serving sized branzini today...prepared a seasoning oil of sea salt, black pepper, garlic, rosemary, and lime zest, all smashed up in the mortar and pestle with olive oil then added... STRAIGHT ONTO THE CHARCOAL GRILL THEY WENT - MMMM!!! ...alongside some asparagus and leeks ...plus a basic salad and corn (not grilled) Flippin' beautiful and delicious. Must cook more branzino. Must use this seasoning more often! I love whole grilled fish, and this was some of the best I've done.

My favorite is actually a tie between imam bayıldı and tepsi beitinjan (my post on it here http://egullet.org/p1874599, and more info here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tepsi_Baytinijan). That being said a good, smoky mtabbal (baba ghannouj) is always great, too.

Hey, that pineapple looks not dissimilar to what I made tonight! As for the swords - hehehe yea, that's the classic Iraqi-Iranian (and elsewhere in the region) set up - those fairly narrow ones for chunks, and 1" wide ones for ground meat. I can't say I never fenced with them in college with friends....

It's warm weather, finally, so that means it's kabab time. Here's Iraqi style, sort of: Chicken breast marinated with yogurt, onion, garlic, za'tar, coriander, saffron, lime juice, and olive oil, impaled along with some peppers and tomatoes: Plated on top of toasted Barbari bread: Technically, this is "tikkat dijaaj," not "kabaab" in the Iraqi dialect, but this is all Kabab in the Iranian/Western sense, so there you have it. Served with a vaguely Iraqi salad (lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, beets, olives, with pomegranate dressing): https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/522543_774079067551_37003198_35955150_2081596892_n.jpg Not pictured: sliced onion, sumac and parsley salad/garnish, and grilled pineapple sprinkled with maple syrup (nothing Iraqi about that, but damn delicious!)

After reading all about Bermuda rum swizzles here, had my first ever at my favorite bar in DC, the Passenger: Made with Blackwell rum, something I've never seen before. True to form -or as I've read- it got icy condensation on the outside of the glass, and was properly delicious. I must learn how to make these...

unless from Spain, in which case "dulthe"

http://translate.google.com/#en|es|dulce%20de%20leche%20 click on the speaker icon in the bottom right

hehe, to those that asked, these bowls have been sitting around forever, it's only a happy coincidence!

Grapefruit is a great flavor for frozen yogurt. So is, oddly enough, taro.

Stupidly cold for late April yesterday here, so spent all day boiling up chicken carcasses: The resultant soup had carrots, celery, fennel, onions, barley, napa cabbage, and a surprising amount of chicken meat picked off the bones. Probably the clearest stock I've ever achieved. Tonight, an Iraqi favorite, tepsi beitinjan, an eggplant casserole. Ground lamb, browned: Topped with broiled (traditionally, fried) eggplant slices Which are then topped with a mixture of softened onions and garlic, green pepper, cumin, curry powder, and Arabic spices (7 baharat), and then topped with sliced fresh tomatoes, and finally with a sauce made of tomato paste, pomegranate syrup, and basil, and popped into the oven: Always served with yogurt: And, since it's the season and I found some lovely looking local stuff at TJ's: Steamed with a drizzle of olive oil and salt

Restocking and new stuff run to the Montgomery County liquor monopoly (cheapest prices in the DC area, oddly, and a damn good selection) 2 bottles of Appleton Extra (restocking), on sale for $25 FdC 4 year white (restocking) Bulleit rye (restocking) Ron Barcelo imperial - brand new to me Landy VS (I needed a cheap Cognac for mixing - did I do good for $16?) Cynar (new to me, but I like what I've had in bars) For anyone in the area, MoCo has been blowing out Mount Gay and Pusser's since last summer (former XO at $35, the latter at a fat $17), I think it's a steal.