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KatieLoeb

eGullet Society staff emeritus
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Everything posted by KatieLoeb

  1. I still keep swearing that I'm going to come up with a Galliano cocktail that will sweep the nation like the Cosmopolitan did in the 1980's and become a hero to bars everywhere by getting rid of that dusty bottle that's been taking up valuable real estate on their shelf for decades. I'm lately contemplating a savory variation of a mimosa as a brunch drink. Starting point will be carrot juice-Galliano-champagne, dialed back or not with a splash of lemon juice. It will riff from there, but I think it has potential. The carrot juice and Galliano are sweet, but the acidity of the champagne ought to counter that. Will report back when the actual variations get test driven...
  2. Working on an Irish Whisky cocktail for St. Patrick's Day. I think I'll call it the Irish Exit. Those who know what that means should be amused...
  3. I had an interesting chat on this subject a couple of months ago with Fred Noe, head distiller at Jim Beam brands regarding their Red Stag line of products. My feeling is that yeah, it's disgusting TO ME who loves her whisky, however if it can get a girl who doesn't drink whisky at all to have a cherry flavored Manhattan she might like, it's baby steps toward turning her into a real drinker. Sometimes folks need to take their training wheels off one wing nut at a time. In the end, I will get them to enjoy a proper cocktail. I'll even get them to the point where they'll trust me to make them something they've never had before. And they'll love it. And my work will be done. :shrug: Fred thought I had it just right. You think he drinks that stuff? Pfft. Please! He likes his whisky neat or with one cube, or carefully crafted into a classic. But hey. If the kids are buying it and the company is making money, how is that not a win-win? And sooner or later the unwashed masses will mature and so will their palates. And they will know they already like that company's brand portfolio. I'd rather see someone drink Red Stag than vodka soda or Appletinis. At least they're not trying to pretend they aren't drinking...
  4. Antica tins have functioned as my tip jar for the last several years. I like the way they look next to the cash register. Way more elegant than a pint glass and they hold more.
  5. HERE is an interesting twist on the usual complaints. I enjoyed the idea that the restaurant gave a discretionary discount to the family, but doesn't seem to make it a regular policy. Definitely made the family feel more special. I remain in the camp of those who believe that badly behaved children need to be parentally ejected immediately. I have also seen small children crawling around on the floor of restaurants making Vroom-Vroom with their toy trucks with both they and their parents utterly oblivious to the fact that a waiter with a tray filled with hot soup bowls could easily not see and trip over that child and hurt someone. It's not a playground, it's a restaurant. If the kid can't sit still then he isn't old enough to be there and appreciate it. I love the idea of the next generation of diners getting a good start on developing a fine palate. Starting them off at home with delicious exotic home cooking and/or take out is the best place to see if the wee ones are appreciative. If they aren't, then you shouldn't subject them or the other diners to their antics because they're bored and there's nothing but escargot or calamari when they want chicken nuggets. It's a fairly easy thing to gauge.
  6. What?? No Peychaud's in that Vieux Carre?? I thought the other items were up for calling brands but that the combination of both the Angostura and the Peychaud's was de rigeur for that cocktail...
  7. KatieLoeb

    Orgeat

    I've not had any problems with re-fermentation of my homemade orgeat if kept refrigerated. I think the overproof vodka at the start and the dose of cognac it gets toward the end preserves it pretty well. The homemade stuff is way better than commercial. The recipe in my book is a one soak, one strain overnight process I developed specifically for the book. All the other homemade recipes I'd read took too long and were too much work/too many steps. Set about trying to figure out how to make it less trouble with no loss in flavor. This one is made in the blender, left overnight and squeezed through cheesecloth just once. Then gently heated only enough to melt the sugar in. Orange and roseflower waters, a tiny bit of organic almond extract to get that bitter almond flavor in, cognac, and a bit of xanthan gum to help keep it from separating too quickly. It's pretty good, if I do say so myself. It still needs to be shaken before use, but the gum keeps it from separating while you're finishing your cocktail, at least.
  8. Horseradish (and actually almost anything) stays fresher longer if you store it upside down in the fridge. Less air exchange and oxidation when the "bubble" is at the end of the jar where no more air can get in.
  9. Made up a drink on the fly at a photo shoot recently. Just retested the proportions. Not bad and fairly simple. Paramour 1.5 oz. Penn 1681 vodka (photo shoot was for my friends at Philadelphia Distilling) 1 oz. Lillet Blanc .5 oz. Aperol Stir, strain into a coupe. Garnish with an expressed orange zest and brandied cherries. The photo shoot was for an upcoming ad campaign with the PA Liquor Control Board. Hoping the photos and pretty glassware I brought along as well as styling help makes them look good. Will post a picture if I can scan one in after the ads start to get press...
  10. Been really grooving on the Eclipse lately, with a rinse of Ilegal Joven Mescal on the glass and a flamed orange garnish. I want to hate these guys, because they're geniuses. But I love these guys, because they're geniuses. This drink has just the perfect play of tension and balance. Damn them!!
  11. The Root isn't bad in a Hot Buttered Sailor, a drink a made for the winter menu at Oyster House a couple of years ago. 1.75 oz. Sailor Jerry Rum .75 oz. Root .50 oz. Grand Marnier .5 oz. (heaping spoonful) Brown Sugar 5 Spice Butter* Add all to a mug. Top with simmering water. Stir. *Brown Sugar 5 Spice butter Whip two softened sticks of butter with 3/4 cup light brown sugar and 1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate to re-solidify. Use by the heaping teaspoon. Perfect thing for a night like tonight...
  12. Anthony Bourdain recently enjoyed a dinner at Zahav that was quite similar to ours on his Philadelphia episode of The Layover. He also stopped at Han Dynasty for Dan Dan noodles and Paesano's for sandwiches. Seems we were ahead of the curve...
  13. Speaking of Rock and Rye, has anyone else tried the Hochstadter's Slow and Low Rock and Rye?? We have a bottle and I've been playing around with it lately. I made a batch of Calamansi-Cardamom cordial and have been making the following: Rockn' Calamansi 1.5 oz. Slow and Low 1 oz. Calamansi-Cardamom cordial .5 oz. Cardamaro 2 dashes orange bitters Shaken, strained. Served up in a chilled coupe with a lemon peel expressed and dropped in. Looks and tastes like sunshine with a dark side...
  14. It is. A thoroughly delicious flavor combination. The really good ginger-pear tea is crucial. I'm sure one could fake this up with either regular ginger tea and Belle de Brillet pear flavored cognac, or with a pear schnapps like Berentzen's and cognac instead if one couldn't source the Tea Forte. But the tea is SO good. It comes in gorgeous silk pyramid shaped bags. They make a lovely presentation even just on their own.
  15. Thanks Chris. I'd been keeping that one in my back pocket for a while. Since it's a different base spirit (different mother) and a little bitter (as any bastard child might be) the named seemed particularly apt. Sometimes the name comes and then you reverse engineer the drink later... I tried to look up FitzRoy cocktail to see if anyone had used the name before and didn't find the Sam Ross drink. I did find the neighborhood in Melbourne, but figured few would know that connection. I doubt anyone will confuse me with Sam Ross!
  16. I just did a cocktail called the FitzRoy for Eater Philly's Cocktail Week. FitzRoy is the surname that's been given to illegitimate children of the king since the 12th century and Henry I. He apparently had quite a few. Since it's a bastard child of a Manhattan, the name seemed fitting. FitzRoy 1.5 oz. El Dorado 5 Rum .75 oz. Elijah Craig 12 yr. bourbon .75 oz. Punt e Mes 2-3 dashes orange bitters Garnish: Orange twist (flamed or not as you prefer) Stirred, strained into a chilled coupe. Garnished.
  17. The Grandma Cold Cure Toddy is a favorite of mine, although I usually include some sort of tea with mine to stretch it and make it more flavorful. I've done it with Irish Whiskey, demerara simple and English Breakfast tea (a Belfast Cease Fire) and also with Cognac, spiced simple syrup and Tea Forte White Pear Ginger tea with lemon and orange zests.
  18. Here is my interpretation of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, as featured in the Philadelphia City Paper a couple of years ago.
  19. I have a hot toddy in my back pocket for folks feeling under the weather I call a Belfast Cease Fire. 1,5-2 oz. Irish whisky, 6-8 oz. English Breakfast Tea, demerara simple syrup and a thin lemon wheel with a star anise poked into the center floated on top. Looks pretty, tastes delicious, Irish and English in the same mug playing nice with each other. Easy Peasy.
  20. Congrats Steve!! Well deserved recognition for someone who works hard and does good. Cheers to you!
  21. KatieLoeb

    Adios Twinkie

    And to bring this back around to food and cooking. Here is a recipe for home made Twinkies, for those of you that can't live without them. These might actually resemble something organic, unlike the original product on which they were based. Apparently, core samples of landfills have revealed perfectly intact Twinkies. I guess you can't biodegrade if you were never made with organic ingredients or were so filled with transfats, stabilizers and junk that you are essentially plastic.
  22. Sounds pretty good to me. Let me know how it works out. Seems like a no brainer...
  23. I am fortunate to be in charge of cranberry sauce and cocktails at my gracious host's home. After making the same Cranberry-Orange Grand Marnier sauce for years, I'm trying something new this time. Cranberry-Asian Pear sauce with Bourbon and Pecans. I'll report back on how it turns out. Making it probably Tuesday or Wednesday.
  24. Variations of a Stone Fence - bourbon, Angostura and cider? You could easily add a ginger simple syrup or muddle some ginger to make a spicier version...
  25. I like the dropping into plastic wrap and tying up into a little bag method. First and most crucial element is to spray the plastic wrap with cooking spray. I set the timer for exactly three minutes and forty five seconds. Make all the little bags first. Drop into vigorously boiling water and start the timer. Fish them out the moment timer goes off. Eat right away or refrigerate in the little bags. Dip back into boiling water for about a minute to reheat. They keep in the fridge for at least a couple of days...
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