JAZ

I hope this isn't too late -- I couldn't find the recipe. Martini Prawns Bring to a boil: 1/2 cup dry vermouth, 1/4 cup gin, a teaspoon or so of crushed juniper berries, and salt and pepper. Stir in 1-1/2 pounds large shrimp or prawns, cover and cook for a minute or two, or until about half cooked. Remove from heat and stir the prawns. Let them cool in the liquid (they'll continue to cook as the liquid cools) and then refrigerate until chilled. The aioli recipe is just a basic mayonnaise, but add 1-1/2 tsp grated lemon zest and 1/2 tsp crushed juniper berries along with the lemon juice, egg yolks and garlic to start. After you beat in the oil, stir in a teaspoon each of gin and vermouth, about 1/4 cup each minced stuffed olives and minced cocktail onions plus a tablespoon of chopped parsley.

San Pellegrino's soft drinks are among the few I like to use in cocktails -- they're less sweet and taste more of fruit than most American soft drinks. Their Aranciata is great with Campari -- one of my favorite summer coolers.

Hey! That could be their slogan: US Bartenders -- We're Proud to Use Sour Mix ™ or how about Gimlet? That's With an Onion, Right? ™

Okay, you shamed me into trying it again, and it was much better this time. I think the problem the first time I tried it was that I used Meyer lemon juice, which is not nearly as acidic as regular lemon juice. Also, I must have overpoured the cacao, because the chocolate was more prevalent in the first attempt. However, I've been drinking something very similar but with Velvet Falernum instead of the cacao, and I like that so much better that I doubt I'll switch.

Steamed artichokes are amazing with true martinis -- the artichoke smooths out the martini and the martini lessens the weird metallic aftertaste of the artichokes. But I'm not sure how you'd incorporated them into finger foods and I'm not sure how they'd be with other cocktails. On the other hand, marinated artichoke hearts would undoubtedly work well too. I also ran across a recipe for gin-and-vermouth-marinated shrimp served with a "martini aioli" -- a mayonnaise with a touch of vermouth and gin, plus lemon zest, minced juniper berries, and chopped cocktail onions and olives mixed in. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds fabulous.

Thanks for the link. It's always nice to see our eGullet members in print (for those who don't know, Audrey is libationgoddess here on the forum).

I've found that I like much less vermouth and cherry brandy than Gary's recipe called for. I've settled on 2 oz. scotch, 1 oz. sweet vermouth, scant 1/2 oz. cherry brandy, and about 1 1/4 oz. orange juice. I've been using blood orange juice for cocktails (blood oranges being on sale at my produce store) and find I like them better -- I think they're a little more tart, so the drinks don't end up so sweet. And the drink looks better, too. But back to Sam's original post in this thread, about the Twentieth Century Cocktail: I finally tried it, and I hate to say it, but it just doesn't work for me. It's not the gin and chocolate, it's the lemon and chocolate. Everytime I try that combination, I'm disappointed. This was no exception. It wasn't awful, but it won't be in my usual rotation.

An update: I did try this with the Herradura, but I think I prefer it with Hornitas -- a little more subtle or something. Also, it's great with blood orange juice, and gorgeous as well. I've been drinking it up, but I'd guess that on the rocks (maybe with a splash of soda), it would be a great brunch drink. And I wouldn't worry too much about the name. I visualize it marquee style, with a subtitle: MISCHIEF The Other eGullet Cocktail

Welcome to the cocktail lounge (uh, I mean, forum), limewine. Thanks for posting. Your recipe reminds me that one of my favorite bartenders serves a fantastic variation on the Aviation with mint. If you replace the sugar in your recipe with a splash of Maraschino, it sounds just about like what she makes. Check out the Aviation and Maraschino thread if you're interested.

I looked in my copy of Mr. Boston and found the Allen (but not the Aviation, interestingly). None of my other cocktail books mention it at all; they all have the Aviation listed. Mr. B's recipe is 1.5 oz. gin, .75 oz of Maraschino, and .25 oz. lemon juice, which sounds like the 2 to 1 ratio you mention.

One thing that no one else has mentioned is to pat out the dough rather than roll it. It might not be quite as even, but rolling compresses the dough more, so they don't raise quite as much.

That reminded me of a drink I haven't made in a couple of years -- Dale DeGroff's Anejo Highball (which I actually first saw in Gary's New Classic Cocktails book). It calls for Anejo rum, curacao, lime juice and a dash of bitters, topped off with ginger beer (not ginger ale). Very refreshing. For some reason, for me rum drinks are the quintessential summer drinks, although fizzy gin drinks are a very close second. As to Dave's question above about the type of rum, I've been using Bacardi (white) because I had a bottle left over from a class. I have to admit I don't know a lot about white rums -- I've tried Barbancourt and liked it, and usually fall back on Bacardi because it's available everywhere. What do you recommend, Dave?

A great suggestion. Make sure you get your reservations with the Helmand soon. And if you can't get in at Helmand, you can always eat at Brewer's Art. I had a great dinner there. It was a little uneven, but included one of the best lamb chops I've ever eaten. Great foie gras, too.

It would be interesting to know which other beers, besides Brooklyn's, didn't make the cut, and why. Very few of my favorites are there, and I'm left wondering if they tasted and didn't like them, or just didn't taste them.

Often, there is more than one way to do the same thing -- in cooking and cocktails. Well, yes, of course that's true. But I can't see taking two days to do something if you can do the same thing in less than a half hour. Now, if, as Trillium suggests, the version made with raw ginger is perceptibly different from the cooked syrup, I could see taking the time to make it.

So, any new cocktail experiments, FG?

Oh, yes, yes! She is wonderful. We talk drinks for hours while she mixes me her specialties. She's the one who made the cucumber and apple infused gin to mix with Pimms, and the one who makes variations on Aviations that are, incredibly, even better than the original. And, as an aside, the Orbit Room is where I met Ms. Ramsay and her husband, completely by chance -- you gotta love eGullet for that sort of thing.

I can't imagine why the article calls for macerating the ginger in the simple syrup for two days. You can make ginger simple syrup in 20 minutes -- steep ginger slices in simmering water for 10-15 minutes, strain, add your sugar and bring to a boil. Ginger syrup.

Spinach contains a chemical that keeps its nutrients from being absorbed by humans. Cooking kills it, so cooked spinach is actually more nutritious than raw spinach.

Dave, that punch sounds divine. By the way, check out this Messermeister serrated peeler for peeling your lemons. With the serrated edge, you can get just the zest, no pith, faster than with any other peeler I've ever tried. I promise you'll never go back to the Oxo. Back on topic, I've been playing around with Velvet Falernum and have come up with a sort of Daiquiri-esque drink that's going to make frequent appearances this summer. The peach bitters and Falernum match up really well. 1.5 oz. white rum 1/2 oz. Velvet Falernum Juice of one Mexican lime (I'm guessing here, but I'd say 1/2 oz.) Two big dashes of peach bitters I've been shaking this and serving it up, but I'm thinking it would be great with a splash of soda over ice.

I too tend toward the less potent, fizzy drinks: Gin Rickeys, Americanos, rum or gin with tonic. One of my relatively new favorites is Gary Regan's Tart Gin Fizz, which is equal parts gin and graprefruit juice, with a healthy dash of Angostura bitters and topped off with tonic.

Um, it's Irma Rombauer, not Bombauer.

Not too much to add, except to say that it does seem to vary from patient to patient. My sister's currently undergoing chemo, and she's doing pretty well, considering. She can't eat much at one sitting, and as others have recounted, her appetite can be capricious. What she's most appreciated are dishes that she can freeze, to be thawed and heated when she is in the mood to eat but doesn't want to cook. Casseroles, lasagne, mac and cheese -- that sort of thing.

I tried this last night, but I used the tequila I had on hand, which is Sauza Hornitos. It was very smooth and pretty well balanced -- for my taste, a squeeze of lime might improve it. One thing I've started to do when making drinks that call for orange juice is to strain out the pulp. I find it makes for a much better texture.

Yes. You can scrape down the sides while it's grinding, as I recall.