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slkinsey

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    Velvet Tango Room "Spicy Chica"

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted · Edited by slkinsey (log)

    Is this a very sweet cocktail?  Looking at it, I see an ounce of a not-exactly-dry rum, an ounce of sweet (1/4 amaretto plus 3/4 syrup) balanced with only 5/8 ounce of citrus.

    It's slightly (not cloyingly) sweet. I think the ginger syrup has a touch of habanero in it. That, combined with the ginger and cinnamon, moves the flavor profile toward the spicy and aromatic side.

    Anything's possible, I suppose, but I seriously doubt it. Habanero chilis have a very distinctive flavor. Also, fresh ginger is quite spicy all on its own. Bars that know they're going to use the syrup within one service can make spicy ginger syrup by juicing ginger and mixing sugar with the fresh ginger juice. Home cocktailians generally don't want to go to this trouble, but unfortunately ginger syrup of any kind does not keep its spice very well for even 24 hours, never mind several weeks. The work-around solution is to muddle plentiful ginger with simple syrup.

    Also, I'm not sure that the proportions in the published recipe are an exact match for what they serve at VTR.

    This seems rather more likely, considering that the specification of an eighth of an ounce of lemon juice seems highly unlikely to happen in a working bar. Does the VTR use jiggers, or do they free-pour?

    Katie, I like the Luxardo amaretto better than the di saronno, but it strikes me as a touch sweeter. Not sure what I'd adjust in the recipe to compenstae. More citrus, maybe?

    Doesn't strike me as any sweeter. But definitely more flavor.

    Velvet Tango Room "Spicy Chica"

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    Spicy Chica - from Sante May 2008

    1oz Gosling's

    1/4 oz Disaronno

    3/4 oz ginger syrup

    1/2 oz fresh lime juice

    1/8 oz fresh lemon juice

    1 egg white

    Vietnamese cinnamon garnish

    Is this a very sweet cocktail? Looking at it, I see an ounce of a not-exactly-dry rum, an ounce of sweet (1/4 amaretto plus 3/4 syrup) balanced with only 5/8 ounce of citrus.

    ISO: Fish Sauce - no MSG, no gluten

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    I wouldn't think that finding one free of MSG would be too terribly much of a problem. Anchovy fish extract is chock full of free glutamates. That's why it's in there.

    Gluten may be a different story. Some of them may contain something like "hydrolyzed wheat protein." This is something celiacs have to worry about. I have three brands of fish sauce. Only one (Three Crabs) contains anything other than anchovy fish extract, water and sugar (it contains hydrolyzed wheat protein).

    Eggnog – Recipes, Ingredients, Styles, etc.

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted · Edited by slkinsey (log)

    We always make that recipe "a la minute" since it only takes around 3 minutes to stir the ingredients together. My experience with the day-old leftover eggnog is that it's okay but nothing like it was when it was fresh. For sure you need to whip the egg whites right before you serve it. The idea is that the egg whites form a kind of frothy "raft" that floats on top of the liquid. (We rarely make less than a double batch at a time, and in our holiday party are likely to go through 4-6 batches at least -- this in addition to multiple gallons of Fish House Punch.)

    The Punch Topic

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    For something like the Regent's Punch, it would be relatively easy (and inexpensive) to make the "base" at home and bring it. This is to say, do the whole bit with peeling the citrus and muddling with sugar, making the green tea and pouring it over the peels and sugar, adding the pineapple syrup, adding the juice from the citrus, even adding the arrack. At this point, all the people at the venue would have to do is pour in the brandy and rum, pour in the punch base, and add the champagne.

    The Punch Topic

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted · Edited by slkinsey (log)

    Regent's Punch

    (This is my recipe for George IV's favorite tipple, triangulated from two different recipes of the period.)

    Using a vegetable peeler, peel two lemons, two small oranges and, if possible, one Seville orange (these are difficult to find and their season is extremely short; try www.citrusranch.com), avoiding as much as possible of the white pith.

    Juice the lemons and the oranges, straining out the pulp.

    In a large, sturdy bowl, muddle the peels with four ounces Demerara sugar until the sugar becomes impregnated with the citrus oils.

    Make a pint of green tea (using two tea-bags or two teaspoons of loose tea). While this is still hot, pour it into the bowl with the peels, first removing the tea bags or straining out the loose tea.

    Add the citrus juices, along with eight ounces VSOP cognac, two ounces dark, heavy rum (I like Inner Circle, Coruba or Gosling’s), and—here’s the problem—two ounces Batavia arrack. [van Oosten is the brand.]

    Then add two ounces of pineapple syrup, which you have cleverly prepared the day before by cubing a ripe pineapple and soaking it overnight in a simple syrup which you made by bringing two parts Demerara or turbinado sugar and one part water to a simmer, stirring constantly, and letting it cool (use just enough to cover the pineapple and strain it through a fine sieve when you’re done; it’ll keep for a few days in the refrigerator).  [i have some pineapple syrup I can give you.]

    Now add a large block of ice; you can order these from your local ice company, or make it yourself (follow [chrisamirault's] instructions, above).

    Finally, after everything has sat for long enough to catch a chill, gently stir in one bottle of brut champagne or, if you're feeling flush, two. Your punch is completed. It should serve about eight people.

    The Punch Topic

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    Steven, something like that Regent's Punch I made the other night would go down pretty easily. It's delicious, not particularly challenging to even the most finicky drinker, and you can tell your friends on the PTA that you're giving them a drink that is actually on the cutting edge of mixology. Believe me, a year from now, being able to say you were on on the Punch trend and had offered the famous Regent's Punch to your nursery school "way before it was cool to you people" will confer serious bragging rights.

    Stomping Through the "Savoy" (2007–2008)

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted · Edited by slkinsey (log)

    This technique is probably better described as "fractional freezing" than "freeze distilling." Distilling required boiling as a matter of definition. I don't think it has ever been particularly significant once people were able to get a proper still knocked together. One reason for this is that fractional freezing does not offer any way to get rid of the impurities, congeners, fusel oils, etc. that are removed or controlled through careful distillation.

    A lot of this is discussed over in the applejack thread where Doc had this to offer:

    Applejack was called applejack all the way by in colonial times and did not really differentiate between distillation methods. As a matter of fact, even back then, steam distillation was highly preferred. Cold distilling makes a gut-wrenchingly awful product and was only used at times of dire necessity.

    I later offered this quote from a NYT article:

    By the 1670's, according to the Laird archives, almost every prosperous farm had an apple orchard whose yield went almost entirely into the making of cider. Hard cider - simple fermented apple juice - was the most abundant drink in the colonies. Much of it was made by leaving apple cider outside in winter until its water content froze and was discarded. About 20 years later, farmers began to distill the hard cider into 120-proof "cyder spirits," which soon became known as applejack.

    So, to sum up: distillation (separation of substances based on differences in boiling points) is preferable to fractional freezing, and was practiced in the rural US extensively by the late 1600s.

    Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 4)

    in Cooking

    Posted

    Freezing the liquid is probably the best method, although I have also had pretty good results using a long bag as NY_Amateur suggests.

    One technique I use is to use NY_Amateur's "long bag" method and then manually seal the bag again much closer to the food items.

    I have not had any difficulties achieving the vacuums necessary for 99% of sous vide applications using a bag sealer. I also noted looking at the pictures in "Under Pressure" that plenty of the bags had small amounts of internal air clearly visible.

    Drink made with avocado and alcohol

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    Avocados are native to Central and South America, it was likely being cultivated in the Caribbean by the end of the 17th century, but I rather doubt it was in sufficient quantities to be incorporated into a "traditional" drink there. So, we would likely be talking about South America. Considering that the first rum distillery in North America dates to something like 1664, I have a hard time believing there was sufficient distilled spirit being made or available in South America for such a drink to be popular enough to give rise to advocaat as in imitation. Also, fwiw, Suriname and Recife do not appear to be significant producers of avocado. Doesn't it seem more likely that this drink evolved from the same tradition that gives us egg nog? And that advocaat is related to advocatenborrel?

    If It Grows Together, It Goes Together

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    As lala suggests this is often said in referring to food and wine.  On Molto Mario, he always says this (at least every show), but always in reference to wine.

    This goes back to my earlier point: Local foods and culinary traditions evolved with local grapes and winemaking traditions because there was nothing else the locals could use. Add a thousand years or so, and you end up with some good combinations. Part of the point Mario was making is that, if you go to Firenze and they have a certain tradition of pairing wine with food, the chances are that it's going to be pretty good. Are there other possibly good, or even better combinations? Of course. The so-called "Super Tuscan" wines were unknown 100 years ago (it's also likely that the Chianti of 100 years ago would be largely unrecognizable to us, but that's neither here nor there). The other part of the point Mario was making is that, if you want your meal to taste as "Tuscan" as possible, then you should use Tuscan ingredients. This includes the wine, olive oil, etc. It's not going to taste worse if you use an olive oil from Sicily and drink a California wine. It just won't taste as close to the way it tastes in Firenze.

    Is there a name for "slow sauteing"

    in Cooking

    Posted

    "Pan frying," for most people, has the connotation that you are "shallow frying" (which is to say, cooking the food partially submerged in fat) in a skillet instead of a deeper vessel. See my remarks above about how this is not really "frying" -- which is neither here nor there, since this is a commonly accepted meaning. The problem is that it has shifted meanings: "fry" now often means "boiling in oil" and "sauté" now often means "fry."

    If one is using the "correct" meaning of "fry," then there is no need to preface the word by saying that it is done in a pan. All frying (which is to say, cooking food in a limited amount of fat, mostly by letting it sit still) is done in a pan.

    Simple Syrup Preservatives

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted · Edited by slkinsey (log)

    You will find more information about this in the simple syrup thread.

    To sum up:

    1. The best thing you can do to increase stability is to increase the concentration of sugar. Bars typically do a 1:1 syrup because it can be mixed up without heating, overpours are not as critical, and because they've got enough turnover that it's unlikely to spoil. For home use, I have found that 2:1 is far more stable. You do have to adjust the amount you use, however.

    2. Refrigerate your syrup. I have managed to keep even 1:1 syrup for multiple months in the refrigerator in a bottle with an open pour top. I have managed to keep 3:1 syrups for months unrefrigerated in a sealed bottle.

    3. Pour a tiny bit of high proof booze into the top of your syrup bottle once the syrup has cooled. Not sure why this works (the percent alcohol should not be enough to make much difference), but Dave W reports that it prevented funkage of his unrefrigerated syrup.

    4. Citrus-infused syrups seem to last a long time if refrigerated. Herbed, spiced and gingered syrups don't tend to last as long without spoiling and/or serious flavor degradation. Things like mint syrup tend to taste weird almost immediately, IMO, and many "spicy" chemicals such as the ones that give ginger its distinctive bite degrade fairly quickly (for this reason I muddle fresh ginger with regular simple to-order). Very saturated fruit syrups made from already-pasteurized juices (e.g., >2:1 grenadine made from reduced POM) last more or less forever. Things like pineapple syrup made by soaking pineapple chunks overnight in simple syrup (4:1 if you're me) may not last very long.

    5. I have taken to making my 2:1 syrups right in the bottle for added sanitation. Just put in your sugar and water, then put the bottle in the microwave on "reheat." Carefully monitor and turn the microwave off when the sugar is all dissolved. When the bottle cools, put in a pour top and refrigerate.

    If It Grows Together, It Goes Together

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    Traditionally, it seems quite clear why peoples in various parts of the world would combine foods that grow in that locale and are harvested at around the same time. What else are they going to do? Filter that through however many centuries of selective breeding and culinary invention, and you end up with some pretty good-tasting combinations.

    Of course, most foods can go with most other foods if you put your mind to the task. That said, I'm sure there are plenty of counterexamples. Does butternut squash go well with apples? Sure. But I wouldn't say it's a great match with cabbage or cauliflower, both cold-weather crops. Indeed, I'd think that it does better with tomatoes, a warm-weather crop.

    I don't see why there would be any answer more complicated than this.

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