9
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What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking?
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
I've been getting into cocktails a little more, picked up Modern Classic Cocktails from Death & Co. So far I've just started with the Oaxaca Old-Fashioned and loved it -- anyone familiar with the book or bar have any recommended favourites?
It's been a while since I cracked Modern Classic Cocktails open so I can't speak directly to the contents of the book but, as I recall, one of the fun things was trying the original recipes with the modern interpretations of Death & Co. That leads into probably the more practical advice: pace yourself, and not because of the alcohol. Cocktail making and exploring alcohol gets expensive FAST.
Some of my favourites are: John/Tom Collins, Gin Fizz, Americano, Long Island iced tea even if finding a place that makes it right it's hard and Moscow Mule.
Then there are the "party cocktails" so badly and cheaply made like Mojito and Gin Tonic, had way too many of those that I can't even see them anymore.
I used to enjoy Pisco Sour as well but I no longer drink that because of the egg white.
Is there a cocktail called the Americano? I'm most familiar with that term from the coffee world, curious what it's used for on the cocktail front.
There is! It's absolutely one of my favorite cocktails. It's essentially a negroni without the gin, so you really have to like Campari but it's definitely a nice cocktail and lends itself well to modifying and playing with the more unique flavors (I love to add a splash of grapefruit juice, for example.)
Seconding Gin Fizz. It takes quite a bit of effort, but the end result is delicious!
Well, that depends on if you want a Gin Fizz, a Silver/Gold Gin Fizz, or a Ramos Gin Fizz... If someone ordered a Gin Fizz at my bar, I would make a classic Gin Fizz (basically a gin sour.) They would have to specify they wanted a Silver/Gold Gin Fizz to get that level of work out of me. And if they order a Ramos Gin Fizz, they are getting kicked out; they knew what they were doing!
Hahahaha, Completely reasonable to kick them out! I did mean a Ramos Gin Fizz, so I'll go get my jacket. They are a pain in the butt to make but easily the tastiest drink I've ever had.
No shame in liking one of the best cocktails! I'm sure the bartender needs a good arm work out anyway!
I made Creamy Garlic Soup!
(Three Cheers and I are fighting for it deleting this post as I built it the first time. Should be fixed now)
Pic, maybe because Imgur and I are also Fighting
Recipe inspirations are all from Chef Ziad
Year 1 of his autumnal garlic soup
Year 2 of his Autumnal Garlic Soup
TikTok (Year 3 of Autumnal Garlic Soup)
We used onion, potato, and a large carrot, S&P, in the base along with four heads of roasted garlic, which was not quite enough for my ancestors but enough for my partner. Added chicken stock and cream, used immersion blender, and tossed on chives with some (green canister) Parm on top. (It's all we had!)
Ate with some premade crostini. It was really really good.
This looks very nice and I applaud your presentation. Very homey and I'm sure it's delicious.
I've been a cooking a lot for more with Chicken fond these days. Reduces the number of pans I use for cooking, and cooking veggies in the same pan collects a ton of the left-over flavours.
Will highly recommend trying it out.
I've made several condiments? garnishes? recently that I absolutely love!
The easiest is picked onions: halve one red onion, and slice. Bring to a boil on the stove: ~1 cup red wine vinegar, 0.5-1 cup water, black peppercorns, slivered garlic, red pepper flakes, some salt, and a spoonful of sugar. Put the red onion slices in jars, and then pour the vinegar mixture over them. Refrigerate, they last about a week.
My favorite salad dressing, a caramelized balsamic vinaigrette:
(Refrigerate) I like to use this in salads with pear slices and goat cheese, maybe with some walnuts too.
But the best of the best is chili crisp. Fantastically good on just about any rice dish, sandwiches, whatever.
You should get about 2 12-oz jars out of it. If you don't like spicy, maybe cut the arbol and gochugaru in half, or replace with a milder chili powder. It should keep for quite a while, but needs to be refrigerated.
I actually made pickled onions for the first time this week, since it was a required ingredient in a salad and I didn't want to go to the store. I'm probably never getting store-bought again, it's so easy and much better. But the recipe I found did not mention boiling it first, only putting the jars in boiling water to sterilize them. Is there any added benefit or reason for boiling the vinegar mixture?
Not really! I mostly just heat it up so that the sugar and salt will dissolve. To be clear, I'm not shooting for shelf-stability or anything, just something I can keep in the fridge for the week.
Aaah, right, makes sense! I didn't add sugar to mine, as the dish already contained some maple syrup. But definitely will try it with some other things, since I didn't take into account that the salt also needs to dissolve.
I'm also not going after long-term storage for the moment. We eat those those things way too fast anyway. But it would be nice to eventually learn more about the proper technique, since I want to try and grow a sizeable crop of cucumbers next year.
I also recommend using your pickling method on sliced shallots. They make a great addition to roast beef or pastrami sandwiches, provided you use a mayo or aioli with strong enough flavors to keep up.