Mmm…root beer float — such a perfect drink/dessert combo, except it almost feels like there’s something missing…oh right — booze!
2 oz. Van Gogh Dutch Caramel Vodka
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
6 oz. chilled root beer
Add the vodka directly to a tall glass, then top with root beer, and lastly the ice cream (add slowly, as it has a tendency to overflow). Garnish with a long straw and enjoy!
This 4th of July we’ve got you ready to stay cool for your summer picnic, and to keep things patriotic we striped your cocktail cooler with Uncle Sam’s signature colors. Kinda.
The striping is a bit messy, but um, so was the test kitchen while mixing. That’s what happens Monday night when you’re mixing, shaking, testing, pouring, more testing—things get a little blurry. The result of that blurry-good-time is a Poptail stamped with our ES Double Seal of Goodness.
The implication of our double seal — Good enough to lick to the stick!
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Recent food world discoveries the ES crew is loving and hating…
We’re already fans of chai lattes, but adding a hint of rich, flavorful saffron makes this taste like drinking a cup of gold. Available from Jaipur Avenue.
We’re told you many times that bacon will never die, but it’s time for fake bacon flavor to take a hike. We loved this idea when we heard about it last year, but now that it has hit the market it turns out we actually like our soda to taste like corn syrup, not pork syrup.
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You like fruit, you like vodka, you like popsicles — shoot, you like a lot of things. So to help move you more quickly towards all your likings, we found a way to combine the three aforementioned likes into one.
Before your skeptical brow can arch upwards, let us say — yes, you can freeze vodka. After some quick experimenting and an afternoon of mixing and an evening of freezing …Strawberry Peach Vodka Collins Popsicles are yours for the licking!
And careful, these are deceptively kid-like in flavor but packed with adult enjoyment.
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A couple of weeks ago I received a text from a friend who was having dinner at DC’s newest taqueria, El Centro, D.F. He asked me if I had ever tried a Moscow Mule. I immediately had a flashback to New Years Eve 1995. I was 15 and my older sister had taken me under her wing to a nightclub in my hometown in England. If you’re familiar with the UK bar scene you’ll know that they’re not too strict on ID and age restriction — I used a fake birth certificate to get in the door — and well, I don’t remember much other than drinking the night away on one too many pre-bottled Smirnoff Mules, to the point of not ever drinking them again.
I had a perverted hope that El Centro, D.F. would be serving these pre-mixed bottles, but my hopes were dashed. Instead I found a seductively crafted cocktail from El Centro’s beverage director, Brennan Adams. I’m not sure what has happened to the Moscow Mule I first encountered and quite frankly, I don’t care. Adams’ version, with its summer fresh tones, splash of beer, and peppery aftertaste, is a whole new kind a mule. I spoke with Adams about his drink, explaining it was too good not to share, and he was kind enough to give me the recipe.
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Last week after a press dinner at Smith Commons (yes to the mushroom soup) Johanna and I checked out a few bars along H Street, NE, an area hard to get to from most of the city. We figured if we’re all the way out here already we might as well sniff out the scene.
We landed in Fruit Bat, a bar bursting with so much fruit that huge baskets hang low at the counter, blocking my view of the bartender (and the back mirror that I use to finger wave my hair back in place). I tried a pumpkin infused vodka, but when it didn’t taste like pumpkin pie I became upset.
Sometimes I just want a creamy drink. I was raised on Kahlua and cream (my mom would let me sip her’s during the last hour of our cousins’ bar and bat mitzvahs) and I sometimes I can’t shake the urge for liquid comfort.
A few nights later my friends Tim and Alice entertained. I didn’t have much to bring, but pulled together 2 bananas, a V8 and a Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout (in fact, from my Smith Commons goodie bag). I knew cocktail master Tim would find a good use for my gifts – a dream of a shake with all the comfort a girl could want.
PB, Banana and Vodka
Blend: peanut butter, banana, milk, honey, Kahlua, Creme de Coca, Vodka and ice.
(Photo: Dalekwidow)
The younger, hipper cousin to the Fancy Food Show, the annual Food Fete is a gathering place for foodie types; a showcase of the newest products across the world of cooking, dining and drinking; and an all-around schwagfest. Obviously, we bit. Here are the coolest new products we spotted at this year’s fete.
Remember last year when I got high on Top Chef and bought that Thomas Keller sous vide cookbook but then realized you need a couple grand worth of equipment to sous vide food at home? Well some clever market researcher must have realized there are a lot of d-bags like me out there, because SousVide Supreme now has an at-home sous vide machine designed for the average joe. OK, at $450 maybe it’s for the slightly above-average joe, but still, getting closer! Everyone must sous vide! UPDATE: Endless Simmer tries out and reviews the SousVide Supreme.
Ya’ll know we don’t usually hype pre-packaged sauces and such here at ES, but when the supermarket starts carrying roasted veal stock reduction, I have to digress from the norm. Yes, yes, I can hear Anthony Bourdain carping on about how every cook should have their own homemade veal stock in the freezer and how it only takes 172 hours to prepare so what’s your goddamn problem? Well you know what? I’ve had your book on my shelf for two years and still never made any damn homemade demi-glace, so I’m going with this. In stores this fall.
I think Lucini was actually there to show off the taste of their olive oil, but I was more impressed by the packaging. I don’t know about you all, but I’ve always found those tiny 6-oz. jars of oil woefully inept at keeping up with my usage, and the large bottles too heavy to lug home from the grocery store. Solution: an ungodly amount of extra-virgin olive oil, packed into a plastic bag in a cardboard box. It even comes with a spiggot, just like boxed wine! All I need now is the self-control not to drink directly from the spout.
This is a tasty green product that I’ve never seen in stores before. California-based Christopher Ranch is expanding their garlic repertoire by harvesting the stuff while it’s still young and green, and selling it with the leafy, scallion-like stalks attached. The green part of the garlic offers a less intense garlick-y bite, and you can still use the bulb, or even fry up those little strands at the root and sprinkle them on top of a dish. Coming soon to a Fairway or Whole Foods near you. Downside: shipped across the country in plastic packaging — I’d rather see them at the far mar.
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