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Everything posted by KatieLoeb
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One of my more frequent watering holes here in Philly had featured a house-infused Pumpkin Pie flavored vodka for Halloween. I suspect they used fresh pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice and then strained after infusing. In early November it was still up on the blackboard and they were trying desperately to get rid of it. I ordered it with Ginger Ale and they thought I was a freakin' genius! It was good in ginger ale. I can't really imagine any other application for it. They said everyone else had ordered it as a shot. Mercifully, it was gone by the next time I'd stopped in.
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Thank you for fishing that up Melissa. I knew I'd written it out somewhere but for the life of me could not recall which thread... My sangria recipe is basically the same for red or white. The base liquor is inexpensive wine (I use the Vella bag-in-a-box) that's a good "blank slate" on which to layer the flavors. I then add about 1 part orange liqueur (Torres Gran Orange is the best, but even Triple sec works OK) and 1 part brandy (Spanish brandy is best but E&J California will do in a pinch) to five parts of wine. So if a 750 ml bottle of wine is 25 oz. I'd add 5 oz each of orange liqueur and brandy. I'd then add 1 part simple syrup - spiced simple syrup for red wine, plain for white wine. Taste and see if it's sweet enough for you. If not, add a bit more syrup. Mix everything up and chill. Add chopped fruits of your choice (I like pears, apples and oranges) which have also soaked a little in a similar mixture of liqueur and brandy. Just before serving add a nice shot of club soda to thin out the sangria (there's a lot of booze in there!) and give it a slight frizzante. Serve over lots of ice. I suspect that one could easily create a spiced simple syrup for white sangria that would be complimentary as well. I'm thinking something with sliced ginger and star anise would be delicious.
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I've already used the pukey icon once. Don't make me go there again.
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Star Anise, cloves, cinnamon, and red pepper flakes steeped in still hot simple syrup makes for a lovely spiced simple syrup for cocktails and sangria.
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An update - the store you suggested said they shipped out their very last bottle of Luxardo to "another part of the state" several weeks ago. In fact the request was for two bottles, but by the time they got it there was only one left. My understanding is that the Luxardo Amaretto is also top notch. Much more bitter almond and less sweet and sticky than DiSaronno. I'm hoping my purveyor has both in his bag of tricks so I can taste that too.
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Thanks Mike. I'll try call there just out of curiosity and see if the inventory has dipped below where the computer can accurately track it anymore. If there's any left there I'll give you a heads up - after I put a bottle on hold with my name on it! On a separate note I spoke to the purveyor that carries it in PA and he's going to stop by the restaurant tomorrow with a sample for me, so I'll at least have a little to play with for now.
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Thanks dude! That's a generous offer that I might take you up on, but let me see if I can find a bottle first. If you're correct and the website inventory is off (which if there's only a bottle or two is entirely possible) then let me see if Peggy or Cory can hook me up with that last dusty bottle no one else has noticed yet. And of course I can try flex some mojo with the purveyor when I find out which company reps Luxardo. I'm undoubtedly going to be in Jersey Wednesday to make a surgical strike at Moore Bros. for the StudioKitchen extravaganza Thursday. I'll poke around some of the smaller non-chain liquor stores and see if someone has a dusty bottle on their shelf whilst I'm on that side of the bridge. There's a decent liquor store (Kress Fine Wine & Spirits) that I think is a good candidate to carry something like this.
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Oh. My. This sounds so lovely.
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OK - so I've gone back and read through the thread and have just a couple of questions. Being that I live in PA and that Mike and mrbigjas snapped up the last bottles of Luxardo known to man that don't require special ordering my choices are thus. I can drive to Marlton, NJ and pay about $14 for a bottle of Stock from Canal's Discount or I can drive to Bryn Mawr and buy a bottle of Maraska Wishniak for about $15 from the PLCB. If these were my only two choices am I driving east to NJ or west to the Main Line? I'm also going to make a few phone calls and see if I can determine which vendor represents Luxardo in PA and see if I can weasel a sample out of them "for the restuarant". Heck, they can drop it off to me at lunchtime and I'll take it home and play with it. Some of my best "mad science" starts with a little farshlugginer messing around at home and then ends up on the cocktails list. My latest tea infused cachaca thingie might seriously end up as a sour or a caipirina alternative on the cocktails menu at Amada. Who knows what I could do with some Maraschino? I certainly know I'll be taking some of these recipes for a test drive.
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Right, but you're defining that and serving it as SOUP with a splash (your words) of sherry. What's being suggested here (I think) is the flip side of that - sherry with some soup to call it a savory "cocktail".
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No. It would be boozy soup in a cocktail glass. That sounds like a savory cocktail to me. With the snapper or shellfish bisque maybe a smoky Laphroaig type thing would work well too... Some sherry, some scotch, and some soup might make a damn fine boozy savory thing. ← So you're suggesting booze with the soup as the secondary volume in the mix, yes? Still seems strange to me. By this definition any soup paired with the "appropriate" liquor could be considered a savory cocktail. Sherry and Potage Saint-Germain anyone? Mmmmm...pureed pea martinis!
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Carbs definitely soothe the soul of the savage or beaten down beast. Lunar cycle issues just make it worse. I feel your pain. I've been there. Mashed potatoes or pasta are good easy and soothing foods. The Manhattans are de rigeur for a rotten day. If I'm too aggravated to even cook for myself, good Chinese takeout usually helps. Beef and Broccoli with Satay sauce is comforting. Instant pudding for dessert is easy and makes me feel like a kid again. Chocolate fudge pudding with a nice shot of Grand Marnier replacing a bit of the milk in the preparation is even better.
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One of the waitresses at work today was just asking me if I'd seen this episode. I might have to tape it on rerun 2/3/06.
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...or a little lobster bisque with the same treatment. Now that is savory! ← Last time I checked that would be soup in a cocktail glass, not a "cocktail", savory or otherwise.
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That's still there? I coulda sworn that's not there anymore. I remember that one there when I was a wee lad. ← Herb: It's just north of Federal Street on the west side of 9th. This was about four or five months ago so I don't think it was tied to Thanksgiving or anything, but the actual date is certainly fuzzy. But yeah. A live crowing rooster in the middle of the afternoon in South Philly. To say it freaked me out a little would be an understatement.
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← The former that's why he opened up in Philly first, it didn't take much to be the best. However I do believe that he's going to be more creative in NYC than he has been in Philly. ← The reason Morimoto opened up in Philly first is because he needed to get out of Nobu's shadow. And because he had a restaurateur willing to put his name on the door and pick up the cost of designing a restaurant around him. It's easy to be a big fish in a smaller pond, especially when your backer owns Sea World, or the restaurant equivalent of it in Philadelphia. The idea of being Shamu, or the featured attraction, and then going back to NY a conquering hero is undoubtedly quite appealing. Besides, you can't miss someone unless they've actually left, right? As to whether he's more creative in NY or in Philly remains to be seen, but I haven't been that blown away by any of what I've seen here. Some folks find the menu creative - I really don't. And it's outrageously expensive by anyone's standards. I have my own favorite BYO Japanese restaurant that's outside of Philly that I think is quite creative and a third of the cost. I'll keep going there happily and let others wait on line for expensive eats and overpriced drinks with moody phallic lighting.
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There's a live poultry market in South Philadelphia that's a few doors up from La Lupe, a favorite Mexican restaurant. One nice afternoon, I was eating outside at La Lupe and could have sworn I heard a rooster crow. Needless to say, crowing roosters are not a sound one hears often in downtown Philadelphia. I blew it off as having come out of the open window of a nearby apartment from a television set turned up too loud. Then it happened several more times. Then I finally looked up and across the street and saw the cages outside of the market with the live chickens and ducks. I have yet to get up the courage to go there and purchase something, but it's definitely etched in my memory now.
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There are two separate and worthy cookbook series from Time-Life: The Good Cook Foods of the World eBay, thrift shops and garage sales are the best for finding these. Great photos and clear directions. Every one is a masterpiece.
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Samuelsson was about 2 years ago... ← To answer docsconz more directly, it was after Aquavit (and Samuelsson) was firmly established and successful in NYC and soon after the Minneapolis branch of Aquavit had closed. The menu that Samuelsson designed for the opening of Washington Square was supposed to be reflective of "global street foods", whatever the hell that means. That apparently didn't translate well from menu page to diners plates. It seems Chef Samuelsson spent what little time he actually spent in Philadelphia at photo shoots for the various local glossies and not in the kitchen. The restaurant opened in June 2004. Samuelsson's tenure ended around the end of 2004 or January 2005 - a mere six months or so. The restaurant is currently on it's third or fourth executive chef I believe, and the menu has morphed quite a bit into more American brasserie type of fare. It remains very sexy and sleek inside, with minimalist decor, lots of black and a lovely enclosed courtyard.
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OK - now you're gettin' all fancy on me! Wow. That's a lot of effort for a jello shot, which I sort of think of as a low-rent diversion that's fun at parties. My brain is working on making real cocktail jello shots with Knox unflavored gelatin. Maybe unflavored gelatin made with half boiling water and the half of liquid that's left proportioned out like the cocktail recipe. Let's say 2/3 cup of gin and the last 1/3 of a cup being evenly divided between fresh lemon juice and maraschino liqueur. Voila! Aviation shots! Could this work? I'd test this theory but I can't get Maraschino here in PA. I might have to do a little road tripping to work this one out.
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Every restaurant I've ever worked in leaves the machine on all the time. In fact, the machine at work was turned off by someone on Thursday evening and I had to wait for my first-thing-in-the-day double cappuccino yesterday when I got in. It wasn't pretty. Granted these are all commercial machines but I'd be more concerned about the fluctuation in pressure and constant heating and cooling doing more damage to the machine than having it sit at the pressure and temperature it was designed for, no? I'm no engineer, but wear and tear seems to me would come from making the machine work harder to build up the pressure and heat up than from using it as intended. The timer idea is very smart from the conservation angle.
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Eric and Matt, let me just add my congratulations on this great piece of PR for Amazing Hot Dog. I thought the piece was really well done, you both look great and most importantly the hot dogs look tantalizing! Rich is right. You guys are going to get your butts kicked over the next week. Better have all hands on deck!
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I knew those shad weren't from around here. We don't get those local ones until at least April usually. I'm quite fond of shad. The roe, not so much. I find it a bit too fishy and the texture is kind of weird. But I only like caviar in small doses too, so it makes sense.
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I'm afraid that even one drop of blue food coloring will turn everything that horrid Windex hue that Blue Curacao does.
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Not sure if mangos are OK. I know I've had cakes made with mango gelatin filling. However, this page indicates the following fruits are bad for jello, "kiwi fruit, papayas, pineapple, peaches, mangos, guavas, and figs." It may be that the mango used wasn't fresh. I have read that these enzymes are very heat or cold sensitive, and can be rendered inactive with a quick trip to the freezer or on the stove. ← Didn't know about the kiwis, but I don't really like kiwi so I guess it wouldn't have hit my radar screen. They taste too strong this way though. I like to use 1/2 boiling water and 1/2 booze. You can have more of them this way. The too strong ones go down too easily and end up with too many guests vying for the floor space in front of the toilet. Please report back all experiments and results! I like the idea of maybe using some unflavored gelatin and making the flavorings more natural. Something about adulterating boxed Jello with booze that's appealing though...