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Everything posted by KatieLoeb
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Congrats and thanks for letting us know how that went. Glad to see the SLO (which I occasionally refer to in frustration as the Shit.Outta.Luck. ) ordering system is working efficiently. There's a whole world of cocktails you can make with the Maraschino, as I've been discovering at home lately. My latest two faves are the following: Bourbon Crusta 2 ounces bourbon whiskey 1/2 ounce triple sec 1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur 1/2 ounce lemon juice 2 dashes orange bitters Shake with cracked ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass Red Feather Boa 2.0 oz. Rye 0.5 oz. fresh lemon juice 0.5 oz. maraschino 0.25 oz. (or one barspoon) Fee Brothers American Beauty Grenadine 2 dashes bitters Shake with cracked ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass The former is an oldie but goodie. And a very fine and well balanced cocktail it is. The latter is something I created a couple of nights ago playing with the maraschino and my new cordial syrup from Fee Brothers. I'm certain regular grenadine (like Rose's) would work, but the Fee's is really good. The liquid from the cherry jar would be too sweet and too thin. And full of Red Dye #5 to boot. <retch> Next time you feel the urge to get something Orang-ey flavored try the Luxardo Triplum. I think you'll really like it. I picked up a bottle of the Martini & Rossi Bianco today out at the shop in the Clemens Market in Center Square at the junction of Routes 202 & 73. (Sidenote - we city dwellers are insanely jealous that you ex-burbanites have a Wine & Spirits shop inside of a really good grocery store!) There's still a few bottles heading to South Philly for me sometime soon, but since it was there and so inexpensive I figured I couldn't have too much of it around the house. Especially if it's as hard for the Specialty shops to reorder as it seems to be. The thought of an ice cold French martini a little later this evening while I watch the snow falling outside seemed like such a good way to pass the time.
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Howza 'bout having it in ice cold shots with some caviar and freshly shucked oysters on the half shell to accompany? Just toss the bottle in the freezer when your guests arrive and serve something sparkling as an aperitif while the vodka gets cold. Then break out the high class hors d'oeuvres and the chilled vodka. I'd certainly be flattered if my host did this for me.
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Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)
KatieLoeb replied to a topic in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking
Hi Kevin! Welcome to eGullet and the PA forum! As mrbigjas stated, please let us know your thoughts on the wines you've tried as well as your favorite places to eat. -
it's also $10.87 on amazon, and if i get my order up over $25 i get free shipping (cue host with eG-friendly link). so, imagine i love me some fun oldschool recipes like a pegu club and an aviation and a fancy free and whatnot. and imagine i only have one bartender book. what else should i buy to get my order up over $25? anyone? ← Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails Killer Cocktails is very good, as is Dale DeGroff's The Craft of the Cocktail Those three books oughta keep you busy for a while. And yes - those are eGullet friendly links. And read the fine print on that "Free" shipping. I've gotten myself screwed more than once trying to get my order over the magical threshold only to discover that my purchases weren't eligible for the free shipping offer until after I'd spent more money than I needed to.
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And how is that not qualifying for my previous definitions of silliness and/or conspicuous consumption?? That much sweet stuff to drink would give you a hangover that would have you begging for a Centurion to behead you to make it stop hurting. Even the vomitorium and the feather couldn't save you at that point.
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Tonight's effort: Red Feather Boa
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If you can find the Starbucks Coffee Liqueur use that instead of Kahlua. It's a lot less sweet and tastes more like dark roast espresso than oversweetened coffee, which I understand the Patron XO is more similar to in flavor profile.
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There are very few occasions that I could see that size format of d'Yquem being appropriate and not utterly wasteful or an exercise in conspicuous consumption. Perhaps at a large formal party to celebrate a wedding or milestone birthday that had enough guests to make certain the bottle would disappear. Otherwise it's just silliness.
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OK - a bit of playing around with my Luxardo Maraschino has yielded the following drink: Red Feather Boa 2.0 oz. Old Overholt Rye 0.5 oz. fresh lemon juice 0.5 oz. Luxardo maraschino 0.25 oz. (or one barspoon) Fee Brothers American Beauty Grenadine 2 dashes bitters Shake with cracked ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Tastes a bit like a Manhattan but less alcoholic and hot. The grenadine really softens the bite and the lemon juice gives it a nice tang.
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I was at Pegu the other day and the bartender made me a Royal Bermuda Yacht Club cocktail. It was absolutely delicious. He showed me the recipe in the book and that's when I decided it was absurd that this wasn't in my library. I found This Seller on eBay that seems to have a pretty good supply of the book for a reasonable price in case anyone else was looking for it.
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after the wine tasting at shacke's, i was talking to peg from the 19th st store about this very product. i really like it, and she said they kept discontinuing it and then bringing it back, and whenever they brought it back she'd sell out of it right away, and then they'd not carry it again for a while, and she'd have people asking for it.... anyway yeah, i agree, it's good stuff. sometimes i include it in a drink similar to what we used to get as a 'french martini'. use a mild gin like beefeater, a little each of m&r bianco and lillet. i haven't had one of these in a while, and now i'm wondering if a dash of orange bitters wouldn't hurt... ← I'm completely certain that the dash of orange bitters wouldn't hurt, especially if that's a flavor you like. I thought the M & R Bianco was the equivalent of a "perfect" vermouth (i.e. equal parts dry and sweet) all in one bottle. I've requested my local store to transfer in a couple of bottles for me so I'll report back on my experiments once it arrives. In a very strange personal twist of circumstances, the very first cocktail I ever learned to mix up right was my mom's favorite Happy Hour Manhattan, which was always 2 parts whiskey (usually Seagrams V.O.) and 1 part each of sweet and dry vermouth. I started doing this at about 8 years of age. Little did she realize that she'd set me on a path from which I'd have a hard time deviating for the rest of my life...I think if I'd had the Bianco, mom would've been quite happy.
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The Luxardo Amaretto is very good and a little goes a long way since the flavor is so almond-y. A small snifter after dinner or a bar spoonful in a cocktail oughta do 'ya for those applications. A little spill in your after dinner coffee would probably be quite nice too. SLO prices for restaurants usually carry a shipping charge per bottle of between $1-$2. Let us know if that applies to consumer purchases as well, or not. Something I tried yesterday for the first time at Pegu Club is the Martini & Rossi Bianco vermouth. It's listed as being available at certain specialty stores and I'm going to go pick myself up a bottle very soon. It's dry and sweet at the same time and very aromatic. It's a clear light vermouth like a dry vermouth would be, but with a more fragrant edge like a Lillet Blonde. I'm looking forward to messing with it in a few cocktails because I think this has a lot of potential as a cocktail ingredient. It's pretty inexpensive at $8 and change a bottle too.
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The orange and rose flower water you bought at Whole Foods is probably the full strength Middle Eastern variety. Quite strong and a very little bit goes an awfully long way. The Fee Brothers Orange Flower Cordial syrup is exactly that - a syrup that seems as if it's been sweetened up a bit and comes with a shaker top like on a bottle of bitters, so you can add a "dash". Definitely less like drinking cologne and more like tasting a perfumey orange. A little tiny hint orange flower water in a gin martini might be quite tasty. Many folks are swearing by a bit of orange bitters in their martinis, so why not? The rose flower I'd have to think about what I'd do with it, although I'm thinking something with vanilla vodka, a tiny splash of limoncello and a whisper of rose might be nice.
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If you know anyone travelling to/through the Vienna airport there's oceans of it for sale at the duty-free shop. Booze Brothers has it but you might need a second mortgage to buy a bottle.
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All good ideas so far - thanks! Keep 'em coming. I think I'm going to try the orange flower in some of my herbal tea infused cachaca and see how that works. The tea has some orange peel in it so I'm hoping it'll pick up that note and carry it through the drink a bit more.
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Cooking with 'The Cooking of Southwest France'
KatieLoeb replied to a topic in France: Cooking & Baking
Hi Katie, We are planning to be in the area during that week in March - I tried to find information on the Book and the Cook website but it doesn't appear to be updated. Do you know where I can get more info on the restaurant/chef series that week? Thanks! ← The website isn't updated yet but I've sent an e-mail to the Book & the Cook organizer to inquire when to expect the schedule to be posted. I'm just waiting to hear back from her. As soon as I do I'll post here and in the PA forum as well. Let me know if you need any more suggestions for places to go while you're here. -
Tasted this today at the Moet-Hennessey portfolio tasting. I think it's delicious and more like a "rummy" cachaca or agricole than standard issue rum. I think it has a lot of potential in cocktails because of the subtle flavors and smoothness. It's a lot less "hot" than most rum products I've tried.
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Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)
KatieLoeb replied to a topic in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking
Oy! Closer to the last bottle of the night, eh boys? Is that any way to treat our hard working, tractor driving French friends? -
Chris: I have to thank you for dragging the rest of us over-fortunate types back to reality. At one point during the meal the other day you leaned across the table and looked me dead in the eye and said, "Do you realize how lucky all of you are to have this here at your disposal so frequently?? I might not have grasped the enormity of what you were saying then, but having read your eloquent and utterly objective posts since our wonderful dinner, I certainly do now. Those of us that are fortunate enough to be frequent dining companions at Shola's table are utterly spoiled by being able to do so regularly. It is, and always shall be, a treat and a priviledge, even if we sometimes forget.
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Christopher's point about the rest of us not being clairvoyant and realizing this was a one time event is also appreciated from this end. However, I stand by my comments regarding the overentitled and less than considerate individuals my rancor is aimed directly at. jgm's points about the nanosecond it takes for the wailing to start or most folks waiting until all hell has broken loose before the situation is dealt with are also my experience. Those wouldn't be the polite parents like Christopher.
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Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)
KatieLoeb replied to a topic in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking
Of the current Chairman's Selections I'd go find: Louis Latour Montagny la Grande Roche 2002 - $12.99 Byron Io Syrah Ryan Road Vyd 2002 - $19.99 Byron Io Syrah Upper Bench 2002 - $19.99 Henschke Henry's Seven 2003 - $25.89 Henschke Keyneton Estate 2002 - $35.89 These are all solid producers that have never disappointed me. Some of these are a pretty screamin' bargain too. -
This problem was well addressed by the coffee-shop owner that put up the sign asking for "no children" because his staff and he inevitably ended up babysitting for the stroller jockeys that had invaded his coffee shop and scared off all of his childless customers. Not to mention that his liability insurance didn't cover a waitress with a hot plate tripping over a toddler that had no business playing on the floor with his Tonka truck. The moms in question got all uppity and insulted that the business owner might wish to set his own rules in his own place of business and merely asked politely and non-confrontationally through the use of signage that their children be left at home. That pretty much sums up the whole problem with the entitled set. It's ALL ABOUT THEM!!! It didn't even hit the radar screen that the business owner might have a god-given right to operate his business however he saw fit, provided he wasn't being illegally discriminatory. Heaven forfend he might not want to scare off the majority of his customers that might come to his shop for a quiet read of a newspaper or book or a little work on their laptop.
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Too easy. Give us a more difficult one.
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Yeah - I really hate it when that happens. Sorry - carry on....
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Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)
KatieLoeb replied to a topic in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking
Hi Neil! I hope you have more valuable wine insights for us in the future!