I like cocktails because they’re the cooking of drinking. Instead of opening a bottle or can, you make something. I generally like to improvise cocktails with whatever I have in the frig/on the tree at the moment, using the following formula: But I also have go-to cocktails–most of which come from three sources: the SouthwestContinue reading “Friday Favorites: Cocktails”
Category Archives: blackbird
For Fall: Marrakesh Express Cocktail
This is one of my all-time favorite cocktails for any season, but it’s particularly nice in fall when you start being able to get pomegranates at the grocery store. The recipe is by Maggie Hoffman, one of my favorite food writers. I replace the simple syrup with maple syrup a lot of times because, asContinue reading “For Fall: Marrakesh Express Cocktail”
Apple Makgeolli
To celebrate receiving my new ceramic cups from Jeewon Jeong, I brewed a batch of fall apple makgeolli adding peels from some of my Honeycrisp apples to this recipe. It came out great—my best batch yet. (The teapot I used to serve it was thrown by a talented local potter around here, Joe Winter.) EvenContinue reading “Apple Makgeolli”
High-Protein Avocado Toast
Well, at least higher protein…. I mocked avocado toast until I had the version from Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco. I think the key was really good Acme bread, to be honest, but they also added some nice, crunchy sprouts and a spritz of lemon juice. Anyway, it got me seeing avocado toast inContinue reading “High-Protein Avocado Toast”
Baking in a Basque Oven
The area where I live is rich in Basque tradition, owing to a wave of immigration in the late 1800s by shepherds hired by the big sheep-ranching outfits here. (Little known fact: the Australian Shepherd dog is actually a Basque breed; the dogs immigrated from Australia alongside their Basque owners to work the sheep hereContinue reading “Baking in a Basque Oven”
Gravensteins and Honeycrisps
Left and right. It’s so nice to have apples this year after they got frozen off last year! These are headed for an apple crisp tonight–and the peels for my upcoming batch of apple makgeolli!
Unauthorized Uses: Secret Ingredient Edition
I have a few go-to ingredients when I need to punch up the flavor of a dish, and unusually for my cooking style—where I like to stick pretty close to whatever tradition I’m working from and not get too fusion-y—I use these ingredients completely indiscriminately. They’re flavor powerhouses, basically: Pomegranate molasses: This has a lip-smackingContinue reading “Unauthorized Uses: Secret Ingredient Edition”
The Acadian Sazerac
My go-to cocktail is a Sazerac, which is kinda a problem because a lot of bartenders don’t know how to make one at all, much less properly. I once got a Sazerac that was literally pink from how much Peychaud’s Bitters was in it; yep, undrinkable. Fortunately, it’s easy to make at home if you’veContinue reading “The Acadian Sazerac”
Fall in a Jar: Wine-Poached Pears
When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time canning fruit with my mom and sister. A mainstay was canned pears in sugar syrup: we had an absolutely freakishly giant Bartlett Pear tree, and I don’t know how many jars of pears it yielded, but it was a LOT. Enough to get usContinue reading “Fall in a Jar: Wine-Poached Pears”
Letter of Recommendation: Defiance
I like defiance because it’s positive instead of negative. It’s creative rather than destructive. It’s a “yes” in answer to somebody’s “no.” It’s a step into the world you’d rather be living in. And it’s time-honored across cultures: from the ancient Christians who continued meeting when the Roman emperor banned it; to Gandhi making saltContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: Defiance”
The Rookery 