Two for the weekend

Firstly, a Maiden's Blush - 2 oz Gin, 3/4 oz lemon juice, 1 tsp Absinthe, 3/4 oz Simple Syrup, a few dashes of Grenadine. The original calls for more syrup but I have learned I prefer my cocktails with less. Nevertheless, it was then too sour for Monika and she added more Grenadine. The Absinthe came through nicely and the overall flavour was nicely balanced.
Then a Home Wrecker - 1 1/2 oz Rye, 1/2 oz Averna, 1/2 oz Elderflower liqueur (homemade), 1/2 oz Lemon Juice. The Elderflower got lost in the powerful Rye flavour, with the lemon and a slight bitterness from the Averna coming through. Very good to end the evening on.
While cooking I'd had a very nice Gimlet (Gin, lime juice and simple syrup) and with the meal a couple of glasses of wine, so I slept very well.

More cocktails

We started the week off by adding a few more ingredients to the cocktail cabinet. One trip to the local specialist Rum shop Rum Kontor, which carries a lot of other high-class spirits as well. Then another to the supermarket to fill in some gaps. Still lots of things left to get, such as Creme de Cacao, Sweet Vermouth, Pastis and Arrack.
In the spirit of experimentation, we tried a grappa-based Chocolate Truffle Martini, substituting chocolate liqueur for the creme de cacao. Nice and chocolately, but not entirely successful as the powerful grappa came through very strongly.
Later in the week I relaxed after a long day with a Bennett, very nice indeed but a little too much syrup. I would have preferred more of the lime. Looking forward to trying some of the others on that page, especially the Debutante.
After the weather got a little hot and sticky I enjoyed a Witchy Woman. I like campari a lot, but the rum got lost somehow.
And the next day a Cold Blooded Fashion, which was an excellent way to enjoy the special flavour of Geneva. However, I need to get a proper measure, since I just based all the proportions on the amount of juice I got from squeezing one orange... so that meant I had a heck of a lot of Geneva.
Nevertheless, my lesson of the week was - go easy on the syrup.

A Weekend in Cocktails

My partner and I have just returned from visiting and old friend in Boston and benefitted from his newly rediscovered enthusiasm for making cocktails, We also visited several excellent bars where they made them for us.
In a few short days we covered the Citizen, Eastern Standard, Drink and Green Street. All excellent and, although Drink would get my vote for idiosyncrasy (no menu, just tell them what kind of drink you want), Green street was my favourite as a place to go for an evening.
Including the cocktails whipped up at home, I counted 19 different ones for myself, so I guess that's probably 60 different cocktails we had between the four of us in that time.
Perhaps even more dangerously for my liver and my wallet, the trip rekindled my own interest in making cocktails at home, so I've been looking at what I can do with what I have, and what I need to bring the drinks cabinet back up to standard.
With what bottles I have and the help of the excellent Cocktail Virgin blog, I was able to concoct these three and one other (with no picture).
First was Theresa No 4., a nice balance of sweet and bitter, alcohol and refreshment. I had that one on my own on Thursday (bad habit!).
On Friday, my partner and I enjoyed a Veritas cocktail, quite limey (good for me), and again a lovely combination of flavours without the cassis overpowering everything.
After a Saturday evening out with a fair bit of wine, we sat on the balcony into the small hours and had a Toto, (no photo) very alcoholic but totally delicious.
And on Sunday we had variation on a Ménage à trois, to which I added a little chocolate spirit and some grated chocolate. Nice, but this was the least satisfying of the four for me, with not much flavour coming through the cream, I felt.

Pollo alla Cacciatora

Friday, 8th June 2013

Al Fresco dining on the balcony today.
"Hunter style" means something else in Germany, but for this Italian recipe it was with tomatoes, onions and red pepper (Home book of Italian Cookery p124).
Brown the chicken then add chopped onion, garlic and pepper and cook for 10 minutes. Then add chopped tomato, bay leaf, a little red wine, salt and pepper. Add enough stock to just cover the chicken and then some tomato concentrate. Simmer for an hour or so.
Served with pasta in this case.
Simple and very good. The chicken could have been slightly juicier, but that's a minor quibble.

Lamb chops

Monday, 20th May 2013

Simply grilled and served with double-fry chips and green beans boiled then quickly fried with a little vinegar and spices. The chops were a little over done. Still having trouble getting that timing exactly right.

Jardalu Boti - Lamb with Apricots

Friday, 18th May 2013

Indian Cookbook p 433. Brown onions then add ginger and garlic and cook for a few minutes, then cinnamon sticks and cardamon pods. Then chilli powder, cumin, a little water and chopped tomatoes. Then diced lamb, black pepper and garam masala. Cook gently for 2 hours and add a little hot water if necessary. Add chopped apricots, a little sugar and a sprinkling of vinegar. Heat through and serve.
This recipe calls for dried apricots soaked overnight, but I used fresh apricots which worked very well.
Served with green beans, boiled, then stir fried quickly with a asafetida, a few yellow lentils, mustard seeds, lemon juice and cayenne (Madhur Jaffrey's Ulitmate Curry Bible p. 157). The recipe also says two hot chillies, but I left them out and the beans were pleasantly spicy enough.
Very successful.

Braised Goat Shoulder with Beans and Cabbage

Wednesday, 1st May 2013

I used this recipe, but I could only get pinto beans and chinese cabbage. The sauce, the meat and the cabbage came out very well, although a larger piece of meat would have been better. The beans were completely uncooked and awful. I put the left-over beans back in the pot for another two hours cooking and they were still hard. Next time I'll get the right beans!
(After this disappointment, I ordered a cassoulet the next time we were in a suitable restaurant. It came with no beans at all. Whoever heard of cassoulet with no beans??)