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Everything posted by KatieLoeb
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Ok - here is the process and photos of the Rosy Fizz. First attempt (and the drink pictured) was made with Mae de Ouro Cachaca instead of gin to see if the "blank slate" allowed the flavor of the Rose Geranium syrup to shine through. I did a dry shake with a Hawthorne spring in the shaker - first with just the egg white and then with all the ingredients before adding ice. Fizz mixed in the shaker. Pouring into the glass. Completed Fizz. Serious creamy head. While I enjoyed the Rosy Fizz alternative to a standard Ramos Gin Fizz, sometimes it's best not to mess with a classic. The cachaca version was tasty enough, but boring. Tasted like a fizzy rose scented glass of milk. Second drink I made was a standard Ramos Gin Fizz recipe, using the rose geranium syrup and a small spoonful of agave nectar powder instead of sugar. This was delicious. It leads me to believe that a few drops of rose water could easily be substituted for the orange flower water in the Ramos Gin Fizz recipe to no ill effect. So I suppose I've proven my original supposition that one floral aspect easily swaps out for another, but in a roundabout way. It would have been easier to just substitute rose water for orange flower water in the first place! Rose geranium syrup is delicious with gin. But we already knew that too, from drinking Hendrick's.
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Let me know how trying to "negotiate" a rate for services rendered works out for you. Or even better, how bringing your own butler works out. I'm frankly surprised you're ever served a second time in any restaurant you've ever patronized.
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Chris: It tastes exactly the way the leaves smell when you run your hands through them. Very much like roses (although less cloyingly "soap-scented", if that makes sense), with a bit of a vegetal aftertaste - a little like the subtle green pepper hints in Cabernet Franc. Vegetal, but in a good way... It's hard to describe the flavor precisely. But defintely more like straight rosewater, than anything like orange flower-y. But I suppose one could substitute one floral aspect for the other, no?? Perhaps some sort of Ramos Gin Fizz variant would be interesting. I'll see how I'm feeling later tonight. If I need a cocktail (it doesn't take much to get me there) I'll mess with this idea and see what I get. edited to add: Meh. I have no heavy cream or club soda in the house. I'll bring some home from work tomorrow night and make up a drink then...
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My dear friend (and constant cocktail guinea pig) gave me a bottle of rose geranium syrup he'd made. We topped it with champagne as an aperitif before dinner. Delicious and elegant and incredibly easy. His geraniums are sprouting like weeds, so I have to think of something delicious to do with it so he can give me a few cuttings and I can get someone else to keep them alive for me! Gin definitely comes to mind, but I wonder if more of a "blank slate" like cachaca might be a good base spirit to play with. How about Pisco? Perhaps a rose scented Pisco Sour? That might be really good.... What say all of ye?
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Thanks Chris! Glad it worked out for you. You used the Kaffir lime leaves too, right? I think in addition to the rosewater, that is the key ingredient in "my" version of the lime cordial. Gives it a depth of flavor the Rose's can't match. Try it with some Hendrick's. The rosewater in the the cordial really focuses that aspect of the gin. Quite delicious and probably my favorite thing to do with it. I also use it as an ingredient in other cocktails and for non-alcoholic limeade for teetotaling guests.
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Holy mother. That sounds amazing. Next time less mustard, more pickles! All that porky goodness needs some salt...
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Chris: I'm sure it'll be fine, solids pressed or not. Try a gin gimlet with half an ounce of cordial to 2.5 or 3 oz. of gin and a small splash of fresh lime juice. Shake it like it's someone you hate and strain. Let me know how it came out.
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The vigorous simmer should have done the trick. It needs to sit overnight to cool and then get strained and pressed down on with a ladle or spoon to get all the good stuff out of the solids. Add the rose water and let it sit for another day or so to balance out and thicken up a little bit. In the end it should be not too sweet and not too tart, with just a hint of floral aspect. A lot like Rose's, but less "Lime Pledge" and fresher tasting, if that makes sense.
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So everyone's been holding out on the secret Cafe Diem specialties info then?? I'm sorely disappointed...
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Chris: The recipe I based my twists on had both acid powders. The citric acid definitely impacts the tartness of the recipe. I suspect the tartaric acid is more preservative in nature and less for flavoring, but I honestly am not certain. Both are fairly readily available to me (there are two homebrew/winemaking shops closeby) so following the recipe as written wasn't a problem for me. Haven't tried it with just one and not the other so I don't know. I suspect there's a reason it's in there. I just don't know exactly what that is... What I can state with no hesitation is the end result is pretty tasty. I've got lots of loyal clients for gimlets, if that's any incentive for locating or online ordering of the elusive ingredient.
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Is it even possible that none of us have been to Cafe Diem in almost 1 year?? After leaving an early afternoon cocktail photo shoot at James (courtesy of our friends at Philadelphia Distilling), I had just enough time to kill to grab some lunch before I had to be at work a few blocks north. I remembered Cafe Diem was just down the street and was dying to try the Bun Bo Hue after you'd all raved about it. Last time I'd had this soup was west on Washington Avenue at Pho Viet Huong. It was OK there, but had cubes of blood in it that pretty much tainted everything else in the bowl. I just can't groove on that "sucking-on-a-papercut" flavor of blood anything. Not a big fan of blood sausage either. :shudder: Back to Cafe Diem - I first inquired if the blood cubes were in their version of Bun Bo Hue and they told me it was just flank, brisket, tendon and pig's foot. Now there's some protein choices I can get behind. It was delicious! Spicy but not too much so, lots of meat, tons of noodles (I'm an equal opportunity noodle lover - the round noodles were fine) and a big honking plate of sprouts and basil. I was delighted. A delicious and quick lunch that was filling and a bargain to boot. I'll probably always have Cafe Diem as my default for Bun Bo Hue in the future. Their version is the best I've tried thusfar.
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Not sure I agree with this statement entirely. I think the greatest emphasis is placed on hiring an attractive, young and hip service staff. Quality of service only comes into play at the higher end places like Morimoto, and the two steakhouses. If the entree prices are above $26 then there's a modicum of service. Have you ever had drinks practically thrown at you at the Continental? I have. The service at Jones is nothing to write home about either. I haven't been to Parc yet, but reports from people I trust lead me to believe your experience wasn't atypical.
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Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)
KatieLoeb replied to a topic in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking
Pfft! Business as usual, I guess. It amuses me that the highly overpaid chief executive thinks that an expensive course in basic customer service will somehow make the PLCB stores less like a DMV with bottles instead of documents. Shouldn't any store employee that doesn't have a cheery salutation and valediction for each customer be fired?? Oh wait. I forgot. They're union employees. They have to axe murder a customer in the aisle at the height of business to even get a note placed in their personnel file... The interests of the consumers would be better served by hiring hospitality employees that really have an interest in wine and spirits. Perhaps the money could be better spent on copying fees to provide a binder of wine notes at each store location. Or maybe they need to hire a Sommelier-at-large or Potables Laureate to help train the staff statewide? My friends Melissa Monosoff and Marnie Old have both had dealings with the PLCB in different capacities. Surely they are both qualified to help raise the level of customer service and employee knowledge in the stores. Why hasn't any of this money spent seem to have trickled down to the consumer level in some recognizably better customer service? Nothing is more irritating than getting the same deer-in-the-headlights look from an adult PLCB salesperson when inquiring about a wine that one gets from the little twenty-something twinkie waitresses around town when you ask a simple question about a menu item. At least the little waitronettes are cute and serve some function as eye candy. -
Ah, yes, a smaller bottle, Katie. I forgot about that. However, I'm perplexed about your statement. Storing the bottle upside down (I'm assuming you mean storing the bottle on its lid) would put the air pocket at the base of the bottle, not the closed end. Did I misunderstand you? Thanks, Starkman ← Yes - air pocket at the base where there are no miniscule cracks or porous cork for yet more oxygen exchange to take place. Works pretty well in the door of the fridge, or propped up with other groceries. Not a perfect solution, but extends life by a day or so. Hopefully "leftover" wine doesn't lay around any longer than that. If it will, best to freeze and use for sauces, I'd think. Really, the solution is to always keep wine in the smallest container that will hold the volume with the least amount of air in the bottle, just like an unopened bottle.
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Rich: Much as I'd love to, starting to drink at 11AM and then going to work at 4PM is just a bad idea on so many levels. But mostly because I'll already be tired from getting up early (for me, at least) the day before for a cocktail photo shoot I have to do. I don't drink or eat red meat early in the day if I have to function. Both things make me comatose and effectively useless if done before noon.
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Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 2)
KatieLoeb replied to a topic in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking
Source?? Anything? -
rubyred: Thank you so much for the kind words. I'd describe the St Germain as a less-sweet-than-usual liqueur that's well balanced with acidity and that has a not-too-cloying floral aspect. But I'd certainly check the St. Germain website for their description and the accolades of various members of the Cocktail Mafia, whose opinions carry a bit more weight than mine. I know how it feels to hoard something you think you can't ever get more of. Been there, done that a bunch of times. Can you have a bottle shipped to you? Or shipped to a friend that's overdue for a visit?? Perhaps shipping is available to a <*cough*> neighboring state or province where you could pick it up? There has to be some way for you to get your hands on it. Necessity is the mother of invention. I've seen retailers turn a blind eye and ship plain brown boxes labelled "gourmet supplies" or whatever, to locales that ought not to be getting them. It isn't radioactive materials or bomb making supplies, ferchissakes! I think if you make some discreet email inquiries and befriend the shipping manager at a major retail outlet that ships to other places, they might hook you up. I know the international thing is tough, but perhaps a friend in another (non-controlled) province has a good relationship with their local store manager? There has to be a way.
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Speaking of Champagne cocktails with St. Germain, I made up a French 75 variant for a party this past weekend. .75 oz. gin (I used Tanqueray) .75 oz. St. Germain .5 oz. fresh lemon Shake and strain into a cocktail flute. Top with champagne. Optional: Garnish with a lemon twist. These were quite refreshing on a freakishly warm March afternoon...
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If you can't drink the whole bottle, transfer the remainder to a clean empty half bottle (375ml) and recork it. Or even a well cleaned and rinsed out Snapple bottle with the screw cap functions well for keeping left over wine. Limiting the amount of oxygen that the wine comes into contact with should be the most helpful in making it last longer. Refrigerating it helps too, just let the reds come to a cool room temperature before you drink them. Storing them upside down so the air pocket is at the closed end of the container helps too. I'd rather do any of that than add sugar. Mostly, just drink as soon as you're able. Oxygen is the enemy of opened wine...
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Clearly I didn't take French! I'll fix the typo on the next menu, thanks...
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Thanks Matthew. You could totally sub the Rose's if you wanted to, but the recipe for the Homemade Lime Cordial is both pretty easy and tastes a heck of a lot better, IMHO. The homemade is less sweet than the Rose's too, I think, so you might want to be careful if subbing in the Rose's. I guess you'd have to make the cocktail and try it out and see if it was too sweet for you. I tried to proportion the recipe so that the juice of the lime wedge garnish (1/8 of a regular sized lime, squeezed and plopped into the glass) would be just enough to make it taste perfect to my palate. YMMV.
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Here's the official website for Philly Beer Week 2009. Anybody been to any great events yet? Everyone has to report back, since there's so many events scheduled at once! It's insane! Tim, I especially want to hear about the Smoke 'Em if You've Got 'Em event. I love smoked beers. And there's some really good barbeque to be had as well. I can't go since I have to work that night, and going earlier in the afternoon wouldn't bode well for me getting through my shift!
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He'd better check the mileage with a pedometer this time. That's what they got him on last time - still being within the geographic "non-compete" zone. It's going to be tough to bounce back from all the bad publicity the Wayne story generated. I wish him the best of luck.
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I currently have a cocktail on the list at Chick's called "Le Fleur Rouge". It's a hibiscus infused daiquiri variant. A put about 1/3 cup of crushed jamaica into a bottle of Appleton V/X at the start of a shift. I leave it right next to the register so it's constantly in my view/in my way. Every time I go near it I shake it hard. 5 or 6 hours later, when I have time, I strain it through a fine bar strainer, rinse out the bottle with a little Appleton white and then water to remove the little bits. Funnel the now screaming red and floral scented rum back into the bottle. Then I make the drinks with it. Le Fleur Rouge 2 oz. hibiscus infused Appleton V/X .75 ounce homemade lime cordial .5 ounce fresh lime .5 ounce Demerara simple syrup .25 ounce Luxardo maraschino 2 dashes Fee Brothers Cherry bitters Shakes and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge. Looks very beautiful in the glass - bright red and smells delicious. Tastes like a red popsicle!
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It's only because the rice and the gumbo were both cold that they made it home untouched. You better believe a bowlful went right into the nuker the second I arrived home. In fact, it was reheating while I put all the groceries away!