The Very Dream of Drinks - Joshua Soule Smith, c. 1890

Then comes the zenith of man’s pleasure.
Then comes the julep -- the mint julep.
Who has not tasted one has lived in vain.
The honey of Hymettus brought no such solace to the soul;
the nectar of the Gods is tame beside it.

It is the very dream of drinks,
the vision of sweet quaffings.
The Bourbon and the mint are lovers.
In the same land they live,
on the same food they are fostered.
The mint dips its infant leaf into the same stream
that makes the bourbon what it is.

The corn grows in the level lands
through which small streams meander.
By the brook-side the mint grows.
As the little wavelets pass,
they glide up to kiss the feet of the growing mint,
the mint bends to salute them.
Gracious and kind it is,
living only for the sake of others.

The crushing of it only makes its sweetness more apparent.
Like a woman’s heart,
it gives its sweetest aroma when bruised.
Among the first to greet the spring, it comes.
Beside the gurgling brooks that make music in the pastures
it lives and thrives.

When the Blue Grass begins to shoot
its gentle sprays toward the sun,
mint comes, and its sweetest soul
drinks at the crystal brook.

It is virgin then.
But soon it must be married to Old Bourbon.
His great heart, his warmth of temperament,
and that affinity which no one understands,
demand the wedding.

How shall it be?
Take from the cold spring some water,
pure as angels are;
mix it with sugar until it seems like oil.
Then take a glass and crush your mint within it with a spoon.
Crush it around the borders of the glass
and leave no place untouched.
Then throw the mint away -- it is a sacrifice.

Fill with cracked ice the glass;
pour in the quantity of Bourbon which you want.
It trickles slowly through the ice.
Let it have time to cool,
then pour your sugared water over it.
No spoon is needed,
no stirring is allowed -- just let it stand a moment.
Then around the brim place sprigs of mint,
so that the one who drinks
may find a taste and odor at one draught.

When it is made, sip it slowly.
August suns are shining,
the breath of the south wind is upon you.
It is fragrant, cold and sweet -- it is seductive.
No maiden’s touch could be more passionate.

Sip it and dream -- you cannot dream amiss.
Sip it and dream -- it is a dream itself.
No other land can give so sweet a solace for your cares;
no other liquor soothes you so in melancholy days.
Sip it and say there is no solace for the soul,
no tonic for the body like Old Bourbon whiskey.

Wednesday Night Dinner - Chicken Livers

We were looking for something different to eat this week and came across some really cheap packages of chicken livers on Fresh Direct. I'm nuts about liver and have been wanting to cook it for some time, so this was a no-brainer.

Sautéed in butter with onions, a bit of vinegar, and veal demi-glace, and served over polenta. One of my absolute favorite dishes!

Smoked Old Fashioned's

I saw this drink on Mike Colameco's Real Food and felt compelled to recreate it. I had just been telling Leah that we hadn't used our smoking gun in a while and then happened to see this, so it was perfect timing. 

It's basically just a standard Old Fashioned. Angostura Aromatic and Orange Bitters, demerara syrup, overproof rye whisky, and lemon and orange peel. The catch is that it's served in a smoked glass, which makes all the difference. Not exactly a summertime drink, but fantastic nonetheless!

Tuesday Night Dinner - Artichokes and Macaroni Pie

Leah has been looking for something different vegetable-wise, so she's been trying to make artichokes happen. The first couple times the quality wasn't so good, but she finally was able to get a couple good-looking chokes. We stuffed them with breadcrumbs and garlic and roasted. 

For the main course, we used leftover spaghetti cacio e pepe to make my family's macaroni pie, which we usually eat at Easter. We normally use tube macaroni, but it actually came out even better with spaghetti!

Date Night Dinner!

It's been a while since Leah and I had a special meal together, and with the pandemic still keeping us from safely/comfortably going out, we decided to cook something nice together.

Leah picked up a couple fine-looking lobsters at Fairway, which we steamed at home and served with warm potato salad and corn. Meanwhile, I baked a chocolate cake for dessert, which we enjoyed with fresh cherries and some Scotch. 

Wednesday Night Dinner - Pork Chops

Nothing super-fancy here, just some nice thick boneless pork chops served with green beans and a hash made of potatoes, onions, garlic, pickled chilies, bacon, and corn. Served with a cold bottle of Peaches En Regalia cider we picked up at Critz Farms. A great little mid-week meal!

Saturday Night Dinner - Chiles Rellenos

Leah picked up some nice-looking poblano peppers at the grocery store recently. We charred and peeled the skin, then stuffed them with a mixture of ground pork, onions, jalapenos, black beans, and cheddar. Topped it all off with my homemade enchilada sauce (ancho, guajillo, and pasilla chiles, onions, garlic, tomato paste, chicken stock, herbs and spices) and more cheese. Baked in the oven until brown and bubbly, and topped with fresh cilantro, lime, and avocado. 

Saturday Afternoon Lunch - Oysters and Guacamole

Fresh Direct is finally usable again, so we splurged on some oysters and avocados for a nice light lunch. Yum.

Un-Quarantine Dinner! STEAK!

First time since the outbreak that we've seen my parents - we decided to give it a go and visit them in NJ for the day. They surprised us with these incredible ribeyes, which I cooked on the grill along with a few garlic scapes and my mom's delicious sides. Amazing!

Wednesday Night Dinner - Fried Chicken Sandwiches

We had some leftover buttermilk, so my gears started turning as to how to make the best use of it. We settled on these fried chicken sandwiches, recipe courtesy of Bon Appetit. They came out great, though I thought the overabundance of ingredients in the dredging mixture worked against the chicken rather than enhancing it.

Cooking Posts - 2020

This will be my final backlog post since I revived this blog in Feb 2019!  From here on out, all  posts will be brand new content. In the meantime, please enjoy my cooking adventures and misc. food-related photos from the start of 2020 to present. 

French Onion Soup

Deschutes Brewery - The Abyss, 2017 Reserve

For Leah's 2019 Christmas present I got her two bottles of relatively rare craft beer. The first of the two was the limited edition The Abyss from Deschutes Brewery, an imperial stout aged in a mix of bourbon, wine, and oak barrels. It was outstanding, but not the absolute best of its type I've ever had (scroll down for that). 

From the Deschutes website: "A deep, dark imperial Stout, The Abyss has almost immeasurable depth and complexity. Hints of molasses, licorice, and other alluring flavors make it something not just to quaff, but contemplate."

From my own notes after tasting: "Aroma of leather, raisins, cherry, port wine. Jet black slick pour, thin brown head. Complex flavor, coffee finish." 4.5 / 5

Homemade Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese

Firestone Walker - Stickee Monkee, 2015

What a beer. The best barrel-aged expression I've ever had and truly a memorable experience. 

From the Firestone Walker website: "A Belgian Quad by recipe, but aging it in spirits barrels garners its own category: Central Coast Quad. A beer formulated to sit on the sweeter and malty side so that we could utilize it for blending. Turbinado brown sugar from Mexico and Belgian candi sugar add wonderful molasses flavor. It has a full body and lush texture with barrel expression all over this beer: toasted oak, coconut, leather, and cigar tobacco."

From my own notes: "Sweet, caramel, vanilla, raisins, port wine, leather. Super smooth, almost no head, coffee-brown color. Incredible." 5 / 5

Paella

Thanks to my wonderful in-laws for this delicious dinner!

Grillmaster

2 oz Añejo Tequila

2 tsp BBQ Sauce

1/2 oz Lemon Juice

1/2 oz Agave Nectar

Chipotle Chili Powder & Salt (Rim)

I enjoyed reading a cocktail book from Casa Migos (the tequila brand famously founded by George Clooney) while visiting my wife's family at Thanksgiving. I had saved a few recipes that stood out to me, including this fun cocktail that incorporated barbecue flavors. 

Steak Salad

Manicotti

Sadly, due to the pandemic, we were not able to get together with my family for Easter this year. I still made a point of cooking the annual manicotti recipe, which was just a little less delicious without the company of my family.

Lemon Cake

One unexpected result of the quarantine has been an unfortunate uptick in mine and Leah's sweet tooth. Craving a dessert and remembering that we had a brick of cream cheese in the freezer, I made the executive decision to bake a lemon cake with lemon-cream cheese-buttercream frosting. It was absolutely stellar, and gave us sweet sustenance for 8 delicious evenings. 

Mille-Feuille

Our planned spring 2020 trip to Au Pied de Cochon Sugar Shack was cancelled (due to the pandemic), leaving us with a craving for maple syrup-themed dessert. I looked through the entire PDC Sugar Shack cookbook for a recipe we actually had most of the ingredients for in-house, and came upon the amazing-looking mille-feuille. It was a tricky recipe and we ran into a few hiccups, but ultimately it was an insanely delicious dessert, which gave us a days-long sugar high!

Here we're busy making the maple pastry cream that made up half of the filling (along with maple whipped cream). 

Unfortunately I over-thawed one of our puff pastry sheets, which meant it stuck together and subsequently required rolling out rather than unfolding. You can see the difference between the lovely correct puff (left) and the sad deflated cracker (right). Oh well!

Maple whipped cream (the addition of maple sugar constituted the "maple" here). 

Assembled! Next step was to trim the edges to make it nice. The best part was eating the big plate of trimmings!

Finished! Plated beautifully and drizzled with thickened maple syrup. AMAZING!

What to do with leftover pastry cream and whipped cream? I plated them in bowls and topped with crumbled graham crackers and another drizzle of maple syrup. This dessert seemed like it would never end!

Cooking Posts - 2019

Another year, another year's worth of cooking! As with prior years that I've been catching up, this is a collection of all the one-off cooking posts from 2019. Enjoy!

Lamb Kafta

I happened to be watching Nigella Lawson on TV one day and she made a similar version of this dish. It looked great and I decided to recreate it at home. It was delicious!

Shepherd's Pie

Arancini

Bouchon Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've made these cookies a few times and they stand as my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. They're enormous and just a little bit salty. I have to laugh every time I make them, as according to the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, their crepe cake, which I made a few years ago for one of my dinners with Al, is the easiest recipe in the book. Nope. Pretty sure these cookies are more than a little bit simpler. 

Superbowl

Mozzarella Sticks w/ Marinara Sauce

Wings w/ Blue Cheese Dressing

Nachos - Sodium Citrate Queso, Pickled Onions & Jalapeños, Cilantro, Cholula

It's no secret that while I don't care about the "Big Game" itself, I love Superbowl food. It's tradition that Leah and I make a bunch of junk food and gorge while we watch commercials and the Puppy Bowl. 

Fried Fish & Coleslaw

Dinosaur BBQ Peanut Butter Pie

BBQ Night!

Oven Ribs

Jalapeño Cornbread

Ham Hock Collard Greens

Stuffed Peppers

This delicious dish was Leah's idea to make. We used cauliflower rice and I think ground beef for the filling, topped with cheese and enchilada sauce and baked until bubbly. Wonderful!

Baked Ziti

Garganelli w/ Lamb & Peas

Whenever we visit our dear friends Al and Megan in Katonah, NY, we like to stop in the excellent Katonah Pasta Shop and pick up a few pounds of homemade pasta. Their garganelli is one of my absolute favorites. 

Spanish Coffee

1 oz Bacardi 151

1 1/2 oz Kahlua

1 dash Triple Sec

Coffee

Nutmeg

Whipping Cream

Lime Juice & Granulated Sugar (for the rim)

I used to watch a fantastic cocktail show on the Esquire Network. The hosts would travel to different places and enjoy cocktails, often posting the recipes on-screen. I would pause the screen and take photos to add to my recipe archive for any that stood out to me, like this incredible Spanish Coffee. 

Lasagna

Another amazing meal courtesy of the fresh pasta (in this case lasagna sheets) from Katonah Pasta. 

Mussels & Fries

Pork Chops & Cauliflower Purée

Vegetable Fritters

Hotpot

Another visit to Al and Megan's in Katonah, NY - we were treated to this spectacular Shabu Shabu hot pot extravaganza!

Lemon Pasta w/ Clams

The last of the pasta from Katonah - they make this amazing lemon fettuccine. Leah and I were strolling through the farmer's market near Lincoln Center and saw a fishmonger selling great-looking clams. We picked up a couple dozen and I threw together this wonderful dish. Only problem was I forgot to stick the clams in water first to let them expel their sand, so it was unfortunately a bit gritty. 

Cheesesteaks

Sodium citrate, that magical salt-like additive, is endlessly fun. Here we used it to make whiz-like cheese sauce for reasonably authentic Philly cheesesteaks.

Mac N' Cheese

Roast Chicken & Vegetables

In late October when the weather starts getting cold, nothing beats the comfort and warmth that a nice plate of roast chicken delivers.

Sugar Pumpkins

Leah's project making filling for pumpkin pies.

Au Pied de Cochon Apple Cake

As you may know if you read my post about our visit to the legendary Montreal temple to gluttony, Au Pied de Cochon, we were sent home with a couple cans of Martin Picard's maple condensed milk product. One we gave away as a gift, and the other sat in our pantry until I finally decided to use it to make this indulgent apple cake served with maple syrup. Yum. 

Aged Eggnog

Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown. We made a big batch of this eggnog in early November and let it age until Christmas time. It was delicious immediately after making, but as it aged became more mellow and smooth. We have additional stock still in the fridge (I'm posting this the following year in May 2020) and it's still absolutely amazing. We'll see this Christmas what it tastes like after a full year of aging!

Dutch Baby

I can't take credit for this spectacular-looking blueberry Dutch baby - this was my mom's doing. Amazing as always!

Swedish Meatballs & Spaghetti Squash

Pumpkin Gin Sours

2 oz Gin

3/4 oz Lemon Juice

1/2 oz Pumpkin Butter

1 Egg White

Dash of Cinnamon & Fresh Thyme (for garnish)

Chicken Hearts & Grits

Store-bought chicken usually comes stuffed with a bag full of giblets. You'll usually get the heart, liver, neck, and maybe the kidneys and/or gizzard. On this occasion I opened up the bag and it contained almost a dozen hearts! Too good to be true. I set about dicing them up and cooked them with onions and thyme. Served over creamy grits, there's almost nothing better!

Orecchiette w/ Sausage & Broccoli Rabe

I feel like the older people get, the more difficult they are to shop for. Some things are always a hit with me though, like a big bundle of delicious food! This classic dish came courtesy of my brother's Christmas gift to Leah and I - a care package of great Italian ingredients.