Cocktails are the focus of this week's New York Times Dining Section. After two weeks of cover-to-cover turkey tips, this week provides some bubbly, boozy relief. Perhaps this Special Drinks Issue is The Time's early homage to Repeal Day?
Knock It, Then Try It: Pete Wells takes us to the cocktail test kitchen and shows just how much power the title of a recipe has. I'd rather serve a Stray Dog than a Pernod and Pomegranate Cosmopolitan, wouldn't you? Plus a slide show with recipes for Horseradish Pomegranate Margarita, Malta Fizz, and The Love Unit.
All but Lost, Rye is Revived as the Next Boutique Find: Rye is ready for its close up, says Eric Asimov.
PLUS...
• The Weighty Responsibility of Drinking for Two: Julia Moskin looks for medical research about why pregnant women should avoid alcohol, as well as soft cheese and fresh orange juice. "What were the real risks of having a glass of wine on my birthday?" she asks.
• Stand-Up Party Food Without a Punch Line: I was hoping for an easy holiday punch recipe, but this week, the Minimalist makes some snacks to go along with all these cocktails: Polpetti, Grilled Chicken Wings, Gougres, and Asian Corn Fritters
• Specialty Tonic Waters, Subtly Sweet: A tonic water tasting, including one flavored with "Sicilian lemons, African marigolds and hand-pressed Tanzanian orange oil".
• Raise a Mixed Drink for Dear Old State U.: The Times goes tail-gating and comes home with recipes for Big Batch Bourbon Milk Punch and Tequila Bloody Mary.
What a pregnant woman should (or shouldn't) eat or drink is such a touchy subject. Around here, they say no alcohol, no soft cheese, no sushi, no cured meats, no spicy foods. Yet European women keep drinking wine, Japanese women keep eating raw fish and Indian women eat their daily curries. Is it just cultural taboos getting magnified by the "holy" 9 months of pregnancy?
i find it thoroughly amusing that blog-hating Pete Wells' story is basically a glorified blog-post about how no one loves his favorite cocktail.
recipe included!
Gougeres recipe recommendation: turn off or remove pot from heat upon adding flour in Step 2. Didn't think about it beforehand, seared some flour onto pot. Ding! First batch done! Uh-oh, not quite finished. did i miscalculate? should the flour have cooked a bit on the stovetop, or longer cook time? Batch 2 will go for 12 min. Anyone else try it yet?
Ann, how do you know Pete Wells doesn't like blogs? I too thought this article was very bloggy.
first there was this article
http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/in-the-belly-of-the-blog
where he made the statement "Today, eating a cheese sandwich qualifies as a hot scoop for legions of bloggers."
which started a legion of angry posts, which culminated in an international "blog about cheese sandwiches day"
it was his article that got me thinking about writing a blog just so as i could muse about cheese and whatever else and pi** him off
you can read more here: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=pete+wells+food+blogs&btnG=Google+Search