David Lebovitz's Blog, page 20

Jumpin’ Genepy Cocktail

I’m always on the lookout for a cocktail that has an herbaceous quality, a touch of bitterness, and some fruity undertones courtesy of a dose of Cap Corse or Lillet, two French apéritifs that feature citrus flavors. And this Jumpin’ Genepy cocktail fits that bill.

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Lockdown in Paris – plus some easy recipes for kids

Hello, Emily here. We are now on day 27 of official lock-down in Paris and day 32 since we decided to stay home with the kids. With other cities and countries also implementing stricter social distancing measures, I thought I would share our routine, favorite recipes and ways to pass the time, and hopefully pick up some ideas from you in the comments below!

–Emily

Lockdown in Paris – plus some easy recipes for kids

With a one-year-old, an eleven-year-old and a dog (not to mention I am also 6-months pregnant, which is wonderful, but can be overwhelming even during the very best of times!) in a Parisian-sized apartment, we had to quickly adapt to keep things manageable. I am self-employed so am working hard to keep my clients for as long as possible while supervising cyber-school and an Evel Knievel-like mini daredevil, who has just learned to walk. My husband Jérémy is also working from home but at a much more structured 9am-7pm job that is continuing as “normally” as possible. Renovations were scheduled to start on an extension to our apartment next week, to accommodate our rapidly growing family, but they are now on hold indefinitely as we try to figure out how best to welcome our upcoming baby with our current living situation. 

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Blog Notes and Online Appearances

-This Thursday, April 16th, I’ll be on my publisher’s Instagram Feed at Ten Speed Press I’ll be talking about how to set up your own French bar as well as sharing a classic French apéritif that I’ll be demonstrating, which you can make at home. It’ll be taking place at 10 pm CET which is 4 pm ET, 1 pm PT. Please confirm the time it is where you live with Google or using a time converter if you don’t want to miss it*.

-Thanks for tuning into my daily/nightly Apéro Hour on IGTV, which happens every day except Sunday, live at 6 pm CET, Noon ET and 9 am PT. You can access the live presentations from my kitchen by heading to my Instagram profile at that time, and tapping on my profile picture there, which will have a red ring around it when I’m live.

If you miss it, you can watch a replay either in my Instagram Stories within 24 hours after they occurred using a smartphone or tablet (it doesn’t appear to work on the IG desktop app) or in my IGTV archives. (Note that two-way interviews and discussions that I do with guests can’t be archived in the IGTV archives.) For more info on accessing the daily Apéro Hours, check my post here.

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The Marc Negroni

One of the happiest days I’ve spent in my life was the one when I landed at the train station in Beaune, hopped in a car with a stranger, who took me to a cemetery out in the middle of nowhere. I found myself facing a large copper contraption spewing steam in the air, surrounded by bins of what looked like the outcasts of an agricultural experiment gone wrong, and a guy behind it all, wearing a red knit beanie and a fleece vest, to ward away the cold.

I did an Instagram video Story about it here. But I remember the day vividly. That was Mat Sabbagh behind the still, owner of Alambic Bourguignon. I was in the region doing research in Dijon for Drinking French and while drinking a mustard-flavored cocktail at Monsieur Moutarde, a local bartender I was having a drink with, urged me to go to Beaune to see Mat at work.

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Radish Leaf Soup

Tough times call for looking at everything in the kitchen as a potential source of food. I’ve been saving the breadcrumbs on my cutting board and scraping them into pots of soup. I parsimoniously scrutinize every egg I use, counting how many I might need for any upcoming baking projects. Fresh lettuce has become a precious commodity as I’m trying to only to go food shopping only one day per week. We don’t have the same shortages (or hoarding) they have in other places, but some things are in short supply, mostly pasta, rice, flour, and yeast.

When I filled my wheeled caddy with produce on my last trip to the natural food store, I included two big bunches of radishes since we eat a lot of them, and I didn’t want to be caught without any. Usually, I toss the leaves, since we don’t have composting here yet, and I do so much cooking and baking, it’s not possible to always use everything*. (I need to go outside sometimes, ya know, even if we’re not locked down in confinement.) But I remembered when we used to visit Romain’s parents, they would often serve us Soupe aux fanes de radis, or Radish Leaf Soup.

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Montparnasse Cocktail

It’s been fun doing my daily Apéro Hour on IGTV and happy that people are tuning in. Here’s how if you’re not familiar with the format. Yesterday, bartender and spirits writer Jeffrey Morgenthaler, author of Drinking Distilled and the award-winning The Bar Book, was my guest and he made his revised French 75. Here’s the line up for the rest of the week:

Wednesday: This Montparnasse cocktail with Calvados from Normandy and elderflower liqueur

Thursday: A round-up of French apéritifs; Pineau de Charentes from cognac, Pommeau de Normandie (made with apples), and the elusive, but excellent, Macvin du Jura.

Friday: Making tisanes and herbal infusions the French way with a Frenchman…Romain returns!

Saturday: A visit to Burgundy with traveling distiller Matt Sabbagh of Alambic Bourguignon and Sab’s Spirits, who makes gin, pear eau-de-vie, and marc & fin de bourgogne.

This cocktail is named after Montparnasse, an area of Paris where the Gare Montparnasse is situated in, a train station that’s surrounded by crêperies. Each train station in Paris serves a different region of France; The gare du Nord serves the North of France, the gare de l’Est serves Alsace, and the gare Saint-Lazare transports people to Normandy.

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The Hanky Panky

(Note: I’m bringing this Hanky Panky cocktail post, originally published in 2014, which I revised and updated, to the top here as I’ll be making it on my IGTV Live on Monday, April 6th, at 6pm CET, Noon ET, 9am PT on Instagram. You’re invited to tune in. For instructions on how to do that, click here.)

The golden age of cocktails happened during the period of prohibition in America. (So it seemed to have the reverse effect.) During that time, people made their own spirits underground, like bathtub gin, and since the taste wasn’t exactly up to snuff, a good number of cocktails were concocted so that the taste of the main alcohol could be hidden under a few layers of various other mixers.

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Pasta Bolognese

 

During the current lockdown in Paris, you can still get most things at the supermarket. True, there’s less of a selection as some items are more popular than others; butter, of course, is popular, and so is flour. Fortunately I always have a good stock of both on hand, lockdown or not, but I did neglect to replenish my chocolate supply. But the pasta and rice aisles have suffered the most damage, and the selection of what’s available has been sparse.

Since I’m limiting my time going out, and food shopping, the other day I went to the frozen food store, Picard. Everyone in France loves Picard, although I’m usually happy to dice an onion and don’t need to buy frozen pre-diced onions, nor do I need to buy ice cream. (Theirs is rather good, but I’ve usually got several batches of my own in the freezer.) But I was craving pizza and they have a frozen one with arugula and speck that’s pas mal, as they say in French, which actually means “not bad.” However frozen pizza seems to be as popular as rice and pasta, so I had to get another kind that wasn’t so great (pas terrible.) But I did pick up a bag of those onions and some ground beef because I’ve also been craving Pasta Bolognese, and they were there, and so was I. So I caved.

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Daily Live IGTV Instagram Apero Hour (Happy Hour)

As some of you know, since the lockdown (and since my book tour was postponed), I’ve been doing a daily Apéro Hour (Happy Hour) on Instagram Live. At 6pm (CET, Paris time) each day, I’ve been demonstrating a different drink, ranging from cocktails to classic café drinks and apéritifs. Along the way, I’m talking about French spirits and apéritifs, sharing some history and lore about iconic beverages such as French gin, vermouth from Chambéry, gentian liqueur, Chartreuse, Cap Corse apéritif from Corsica, cognac, orange liqueurs…and more! It’s been a great way to stay connected, especially with many of us shut in.

The event is live daily at 6pm CET, which is Noon ET, 9am PT. (You can ask Google what time it is where you live if you’d like to join me live.) If you can’t make it, most of the videos are archived at my IGTV channel so you can watch them later. I’m also uploading them to my Facebook page, too. During the live videos I’ll also be taking questions and will be having special guests from time to time. (Unfortunately, the videos featuring guests can’t be archived due to formatting issues, so you’ll need to watch them live.)

This week’s line-up:

Monday: How to make a Chocolate Frappé.

Tuesday: Making a Cap Corse Negroni.

Wednesday: Q & A with reader’s questions.

Thursday: Lavender Lemonade with Melissa Clark, from her new book, Dinner in French.

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Cream of Cabbage Soup

When the virus hit, I’m pretty sure the first thing people didn’t think about stocking up on was cabbage. I only saw the empty shelves of pasta, rice, and toilet paper from photos posted online, taken in the U.S., but I didn’t seen any pictures of the empty cabbage bins. I’ve loved cabbage for a long time, and even my mother shredded red cabbage to toss in green salads. Not only does cabbage comes in different colors, but there are many different varieties as well.

Whichever you choose, Most can be used raw in salads or slaws, or cooked. Cabbage also lasts a long time and isn’t expensive either. In other words, cabbage is our trusted friend, there for us through thick or thin.

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