Green For Green

Wish I would've been invited to this!

A Spanish Feast

Tonight I'm cooking a Spanish feast for my hubby just because. We're starting off with Spanish olives, cheese, and of course wine. I picked out a rubi (rose) from Penedes. Then I'm making an arugula salad with a garlicky dressing spiced up with paprika and cumin. The base will be Spanish olive oil and sherry vinegar with a bit of lemon juice. The main event is a chicken and seafood paella. I don't have an actual paella so I'm just using my beloved, gigantic Dutch oven. I'm pretty sure it will still turn out scrumptious. Anyway, I'm basing my dish on a recipe from Food and Wine that serves 12. Obviously I'm decreasing ingredient quantities, but I'm also making it my own by using proteins we'll both like: chicken thighs, sole, bay scallops, and pancetta. For dessert I made individual flans flavored with lemon and cinnamon. Maybe we'll step over the border and end with a little port. I'll be sure to take pictures.

Brooklyn Tidbits

We made a spontaneous trip to New York recently for my hubby's bday. Spent most of our time in fantabulous Brooklyn. There was a lot (really more like a whole hell of a lot) of eating and drinking involved.

The best grub we had - by far - came from Fette Sau in Williamsburg. It's a cross between an alley and a garage, and it's putting out A-maaaazing BBQ. And it has the largest selection of American whiskey in NYC plus craft beers by the gallon. What more proof do you need, people? Go here!

My souvenirs consisted of this and this.

The former's for bringing lunch to work - in style. And the latter's for making a spin-off of the 1930's martini I mentioned here.

Wanna Go To South Beach?

Enter for your chance to win a trip to next year's Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival. I just did.

Eric Felten's 'How's Your Drink?'

I just read Eric Felten's How's Your Drink? Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well (2007). I liked it, and now I'm thirsty for more. It referenced a lot of old cocktail books that I want to find. It had a lot of cool quotes that I want to remember. And a lot of recipes to try. I thought it a good idea to share some of this stuff, though this is no substitute for actually reading it. There's lots more where this comes from.

Books
Bartender's Guide by Jerry Thomas (1862)
New and Improved Illustrated Bartenders' Manual by Harry Johnson (1882)
American as I Saw It: Or America Revisited by Ethel Alec-Tweedie (1913)
The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930)
Shake 'Em Up by Virginia Elliott (1930)
The Gentleman's Companion: An Exotic Drinking Book by Charles H. Baker, Jr. (1939)
Crosby Gaige's Cocktail Guide and Ladies' Companion by Crosby Gaige (1941)
Standard Cocktail Guide by Crosby Gaige (1944)
The Roving Bartender by Bill Kelly (1945)
Bartenders Guide by "Trader" Vic Bergeron (1947)
Handbook for Hosts by Esquire (1949)
Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David Embury (1961)
On Drink by Kingsley Amis
The Spirits of America by Eric Burns
The Hour by Bernard DeVoto
Martini Straight Up by Lowell Edmunds
Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh
John Barleycorn by Jack London

Quotes
"In the world of potables, the cocktail represents adventure and experiment. All other forms of drinking are more or less static. Beer drinkers lead a dreary and gaseous life. The cocktail contriver...has the whole world of nature at his command." -Crosby Gaige

The cocktail hour to Bernard DeVoto is "the violet hour, the hour of hush and wonder, when the affectations glow again and valor is reborn."

"My best advice is to make every drink as though it were to be the best you've ever made and you can't do this if you don't measure." -"Trader" Vic Bergeron

Lowell Edmunds describes the martini as a "sacramental drink that unites in spirit even those who have never met."

Drinks
- A Martini with a couple drops of orange bitters as it was drunk in the 1930s
- A Dandy Cocktail involving rye (yay!) and red Dubonnet, which I've never had
- A Florodora, which is gin and framboise with ginger ale and some lime juice
- A Bacardi Special with white rum, gin, lime juice, and real grenadine like this
- A Cantarito involving tequila and grapefruit soda with fresh citrus fruit
- Gin shaken with rosemary
- Whiskey and sparkling wine, and I'd probably add some Drambuie

It's That Time Again

To register for classes at L'Academie de Cuisine. This time I signed up for two: Pasta 101 and the Fall Beer Dinner. I'm especially excited about the second one because I'm taking it with my hubby - and of course because beer's involved.

Will be sure to report back. Oh and, by the way, next up will be something of a book report on How's Your Drink by Eric Felten. I dogeared like 50 pages so there's a lot to share.

Concocted Amalgamations

I've been making weird amalgamations, strange concoctions, whatever you want to call them this week.

Last night I pulled out ground beef, broccoli, and Kashi's pilaf made with their "Seven Whole Grains on a Mission." I ended up with a stir-fry of sorts after adding soy and sriracha. Pretty good one, too.

Tonight I whipped up a casserole. As an aside, I was talking with my brother while it was baking in the oven and I said, "Hold the phone a sec - I have to check on my casserole." Now if that doesn't sound like Betty Draper I don't know what does. Ha ha. "Mad Men" on the brain. Anyway, I grabbed a prepared tube of polenta, a yellow squash, and a giant tomato. I layered them in a baking dish along with olive oil, pesto, parmigiana, fresh basil, dried oregano, and of course salt and pepper. Not bad!

I wonder what I'll come up with tomorrow...

FYI: I had one of the carrot chiles from the balcony with dinner tonight. Not too hot - just right.