Hanky Pankys And Samosas

What do these two things have in common? Not much except that I learned how to make both of them this week (the first's a cocktail, the second's an Indian appetizer).

Nawlins' Museum of the American Cocktail sponsored Tuesday night's "Great Cocktails of the Great Hotel Bars" at the Tabard. Philip Greene (of the MOTAC), Derek Brown (of the Columbia Room), and Chantal Tseng (of the Tabard) discussed the Savoy in London (Hanky Panky), the Biltmore in Phoenix (Tequila Sunrise), the Roosevelt in Nawlins (Ramos Gin Fizz), the Algonquin in NYC (Algonquin), the Seelbach in Louisville (Seelbach), and the Moana in Honolulu (Royal Hawaiian).

My favorite drink of all time is the Sazerac, followed closely by a dry martini. I never had a third fave until now: the Hanky Panky cocktail. Check it out.

I'm signed up for the next MOTAC event at the Columbia Room. It'll be hosted by the legendary Dale DeGroff. I'm psyched.

Last night the hubby and I took Indian cooking at CulinAerie. We'd never been there before. It was different than L'Academie in that each couple had their own station to cook at and all their own mise en place and supplies. I didn't like it as much because 1) we didn't cook as much; the instructor and his assistants prepared a lot for us ahead of time or on the spot while we watched, 2) we cooked over a tiny portable gas burner, not at an actual stove, and 3) the class size was big (close to 30). I'd go back though. It was still fun, the instructor was good, and we got some easy but flavorful recipes out of it.

The menu included Mumbai dal (lentil soup) with basmati rice, crab samosas, butter chicken with naan (flat bread), and carrot halwah (pudding) with chai. Our favorite part of the night (besides eating everything and the seemingly endless supply of wine) was making the naan. Usually naan is cooked in a 900-degree tandoor (oven), but we made it in a pan. Surprisingly authentic looking and tasting. And we had some dough leftover so we brought it home to freeze and make later.

If anybody wants any of the recipes just let me know. I'm being lazy right now and not typing them in. In fact, it's 6 p.m. on a Saturday and I'm sitting here on the couch in my pink housecoat and granny slippers drinking tea and talking to my cat. Yikes. At least I'm listening to cool music (Twin Shadow).

The layer cake might happen this week. We'll see.

The Garden Is Growing. Oh My!

In just a couple weeks' time the garden is growing. All but the chile peppers have sprouted. (I wasn't expecting these to sprout yet though anyway; they have a longer germination period.) The arugula started first, followed closely by the radishes. Then came the herbs, cucumber, and tomato. I'm so excited. Everything looks healthier this year too. (I suspect it's the potting soil and also the fact that I soaked a few of the seeds overnight before planting them to give them a little boost.) Maybe we'll actually get some bounty from the balcony. Here's some pics of planting day:

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On Pork, Cocktails, Seeds, and Growlers

We got our Philly fix this week by going to Taylor Gourmet. All their sandwiches are named for streets in the City of Brotherly Love so, by just looking at the menu, we knew we were in for something good. We both got the Pattison Ave. sandwich: pork, broccoli rabe, and provolone on warm, soft yet crusty rolls. Just the right amount of grease cut by the bitterness of the rabe and the saltiness of the cheese. Good God was it good.

There also was a second visit to the Columbia Room. And, yes, there will be a third (and so on). This time Katie took care of us. I felt pear-y so I asked her to use pear liqueur in some way. She whipped up a champagne cocktail using pear and ginger liqueurs and ending with a bit of citrus. Nice. I followed it up with a gin cocktail. I’d never tried Junipero gin before so I asked for something made with that. Essentially Katie made me a martini sweetened with agave. It came in a champagne glass--not a flute, but a wide-mouthed one like people drank champagne out of in old movies--with a giant hand-cut ice cube. Really nice.

The next night I created my own, but I made a huge mistake--the biggest mistake you can make when mixing cocktails. I didn’t measure. I’ll have to try to recreate them. If I succeed, I’ll be sure to note the measurements. For the first one, I muddled rosemary (from the balcony garden), ground ginger, cane sugar, and grapefruit bitters. To that I added fresh orange juice and gin. Whoa was that wonderful. Then, in honor of Karl Pilkington (we were watching An Idiot Abroad), I whipped up gin, Pimm’s, Peychaud’s Bitters, fresh orange juice, and agave. Wowey zowey.

Today I’m planting our balcony garden: cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, Bulgarian Carrot chile peppers, Silvery Fir Tree tomatoes, French Breakfast radishes, Lemon cucumbers, and arugula. Here’s hoping for a greener thumb this year.

Oh, one more thing…We got our own growler from Falls Church’s Mad Fox Brewing Co. They make THE BEST IPA called Orange Whip, though they didn't have it the day we bought our growler so we got the pale ale. We plan to keep it full at all times (as often as possible with Orange Whip).

I lied. There’s still one more thing: I missed the tart workshop at L’Academie because I was sick that day (darn), but our Indian cooking class is coming up next week. So is a third class I signed up for at the Tabard Inn: a cocktail history one co-hosted by Derek Brown from the Columbia Room. Yay!

Long Time No Blog 2

I've been under the weather the past couple weeks, but now I'm back and ready to blog. A longer post will follow this one, but in the meantime I want to share an awesome website with you:

Good Food Jobs

Check it out. If you're like me and you're awed and delighted by the rapid and steady growth in farming, restaurant, bar, coffee shop... jobs in recent years, you'll want to check out this site and sign up for the weekly e-newsletter. They're providing a service that no one else is and they deserve to be recognized!