David Lebovitz's Blog, page 21

Vieux Carre cocktail

This post was originally published in 2013, which I updated and revised. It’s part of an online “L’heure d’apéro” or Happy Hour that I’ve been doing on Instagram Live on my IGTV channel most evenings at 6pm Paris time (which currently is 1pm ET, 10am PT) where I’m making a favorite cocktail live in my kitchen and responding to reader’s comments while I mix and shake. (The videos get archived on my Instagram page in my Stories, which are available to watch up to 24 hours afterward, and in my Feed, which are there indefinitely.

In the live videos I’m also talking about French spirits, a few of which are used in this cocktail, the Vieux Carré. I’ve brought this cocktail post up to the top here on the blog, and I’ll be bringing others up others, as well as sharing other types of recipes that I hope you’ll find helpful during this time when many of us are housebound. (Tonight, March 26th, I’ll be making the Jasmin Cocktail if you want to tune in. Thanks! – David

A Vieux Carré is supposed to have Peychaud’s bitters in it. It was at the tippy top of my shopping list when I wanted to make this cocktail. I had the rye whiskey in spades, as well as the other ingredients, but the bitters eluded me.

But I went to four liquor stores that specialize in cocktail liquors and spirits in Paris and three didn’t have it. And the fourth was inexplicably closed for some sort of fermeture exceptionnelle. There was no sign, no nothing, so I don’t know. I peered through the darkened windows to see if they had the bitters on any of the shelves but couldn’t get a glimpse of the bitters selection, so went home empty-handed.

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French Manhattan

Someone told me that “cocktails” is one of the most used search terms right now on the internet. Sometimes I feel like I’m in the right place at the right time. Other times, I feel as if things might go the other way. Right now, I feel a little bit of both. When my planned book tour was nearing the start date, the news cycle shifted and when it looked as if it didn’t seem like the right time to get on a lot of airplanes and invite people to join me at large gatherings to share food and drink, I hit the pause button.

So here I am, and there you are. Thankfully the internet can keep us connected. I don’t know if people are searching for Chocolate Chip Kitchen Sink Cookies, but I’ve got tons of cookie dough on hand from developing and retesting the recipe five times in the last ten days. In nineteen years of baking between two countries, I’ve never had any issues with French butter versus butter elsewhere, but that seemed to be the culprit.

Fortunately, liquor is a different story and what we get here is what you get everywhere else. But unlike all the butter, oats, chocolate, and eggs I used working on that recipe to get it right so it worked for everyone, after writing Drinking French, I’ve still got plenty of alcohol on hand, so there’s zero possibility of running out.

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Chocolate Chip “Kitchen Sink” Cookies

Being confined for two weeks has been, um, interesting. As someone who works at home, I was, like, “I got this…” But by day two I started getting loopy. As much as I think Romain is the greatest thing ever, it’s hard to be cooped up and not allowed to go out. True, we can go to the grocery store or bakery if we bring a signed attestation with us for each trip we make (good thing we keep plenty of paper on hand for printing and photocopying here all the paperwork) but I was surprised how much I missed the interactions of daily life, much more than I thought.

Today they suddenly closed one of my local bakeries because they didn’t have enough masks and other supplies to protect their employees and customers, and tears welled up when I talked to one of the owners, who I’ve known since they opened the place. I ran over to get a baguette and a loaf of bread. They’re not the only bakery in the neighborhood, but it was sad to see them go and I hope they can reopen.

I knew from living in earthquake country, when this started, to have extra provisions on hand, so I bought a few extra bags of non-perishables like sardines, tuna, canned tomatoes, and pasta sauce. I have tons of grains and pasta always on hand, but I wanted to make sure I had enough butter, eggs, and flour, which I usually keep well-stocked. But when I was at the grocery store last week and saw all those blocks of butter on the shelf, I thought, “Why not?”

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Stay-at-Home Recipes

I’ve been working on some recipes to share on the blog, then the confinement hit, and going to the supermarket or obtaining ingredients became more of a challenge. Having lived in earthquake country, I started buying a few extra things in the last few weeks, especially seeing what was happening to our neighbors in Italy. Being a baker, I’m fortunate that I always have flour, chocolate, sugar, and nuts in stock, plus I keep butter on hand in the refrigerator and freezer, in case of emergencies. And not being able to bake a cake or a batch of cookies for me, counts as one!

We are on day #1 of a fifteen-day confinement. Bars, cafés and restaurants were closed Saturday at midnight (which were packed in my neighborhood, as usual, with twenty- and thirty-somethings), and people were told to keep a distance between them and avoid public places. But the revelry continued on the streets around here through the wee hours of Sunday morning. Later in the morning, people waited in line, shoulder-to-shoulder, shopping at the Bastille market, and Sunday afternoon, people filled parks in Paris, or sat by the canal to have a beer with friends. To be honest, it was disheartening, and a little frightening, to watch the news and hear people being interviewed, talking about how they didn’t care, that they were going to do whatever they wanted. So here we are, with talk of the military coming in to make sure people stay indoors.

I realize how fortunate I am to have a safe place to live. And while being stuck indoors isn’t all that fun, other people are having a much more difficult time. So be sure to compassionate to others, especially people in the medical community, public service, or who are working in shops. Bakeries and grocery stores in France are allowed to be open, and those people are in close contact with others, as well as handling money. Many are taking public transit to work, which isn’t the ideal place to be. So we should all do our best to make an extra effort to be compassionate and nice at this time, both in daily life and online, and realize that we are all in this together, no matter what country, continent, and culture you come from.

While we’re confined for a few weeks, I’ll be sharing some new recipes I’ve been working on which you can bookmark for later if you don’t have the ingredients right now, and I’m planning to share one of my favorite cocktails from Drinking French shortly as well, because many of us could use a good drink at the moment. Right?

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Drinking French Book Tour update

My bags were packed, and I was ready to go (and planning on stocking up on Sharpies as soon as I hit the ground) but due to current circumstances, I’ve had to cancel my Drinking French book tour. With travel difficult between countries and advisements to avoid large gatherings, my publisher and I decided it was best to put it off for now.

Hopefully, the situation will improve, and if possible, I may do some events later in the spring, summer, or even in the fall. I may be doing a live virtual booksigning on Instagram, where we can “meet” and I can sign a bookplate for anyone that would like one to put in their books. I’ll let you know when and if that happens. But perhaps we’ll meet in the future, in person, and share a drink, and perhaps a bite to eat.

For those who would like to get a copy of Drinking French (and to be honest, who doesn’t need a good cup of Parisian hot chocolate, or an apéritif or cocktail right now?) you can pick up or order a copy from you local independent bookseller, or online at Book Larder, White Whale, Kitchen Arts and Letters, Omnivore, Powell’s, Now Serving, Strand, and RJ Julia. All would welcome your support, especially now when in-store business is down. Global readers can order Drinking French from Book Depository, which offers free international shipping.

Drinking French is also available at Indie Bound and Amazon, as well as Barnes & Noble, which is offering signed editions of the book.

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Candied Grapefruit Peel

As you get older, you tend to forget things. Often it’s blamed it on age, or an allusion to an early onset of a memory-loss disorder. I forget things all the time, but I blame it on a full brain. Think about it; every ten years, our brains have so much more information to remember than they did a decade ago. Think about all you’ve done in the last ten years, then multiply it by four, or five, or six, or seven. That’s a lot to remember. And unlike computers, we can’t empty our trash or upgrade our memory. We’re stuck with what we’ve got

You name it; names, dates, places, birthdays, and even recipes I’ve written, I’ve forgotten about. That goes for Candied Grapefruit Peel, which I made the other day after I’d made a batch of Pink Grapefruit Marmalade. I was diligent about jotting down what I did, photographing the steps, writing up the recipe to share, and taking more pictures of the results. They were so pretty, how could I not?

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Pink Grapefruit Marmalade

I’ve been making my own jams and marmalades for many years, so with apologies to those who’ve asked me which French jam to buy when they come to Paris, they’re often disappointed when I can’t guide them in the right direction. (Unless they want me to guide them to my jam-crowded kitchen cupboard.) Unless someone has given me a jar of theirs, I have so much on hand that, I can say without a hint of snobbery (but out of necessity) that I only eat my own. Romain is used to them, too, but when he tasted this Pink Grapefruit Marmalade, he put his morning coffee down to tell me that this was the best marmalade that he’s ever had.

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Drinking French is Out!

I’m excited to announce that Drinking French: The iconic cocktails, apéritifs, and café traditions in France, with 160 recipes is out!

My latest book features recipes for the iconic beverages of France, from café specialties hot chocolate, tisanes and infusions, and chilled chocolate frappés, to classic French apéritifs, recipes to make liqueurs, crèmes, wines, punches and cordials at home, as well as French-themed cocktails from my favorite bars in Paris. To make sure you and your guests are properly fed, there’s a whole chapter of Snacks for apéro hour, such as a Terrine facile (an easy-to-make, meaty terrine), savory Cornmeal-Bacon Madeleines, bite-size Mushroom-Roquefort Tartlets, a recipe for Duck Rillettes as well as another for Chicken Rillettes (spread), one being quite rich, and the other for those who want to eat a little lighter. Or those who can’t get duck. (Writing the book, I thought of everything…and everyone.) And there’s a Kale Crespèu, a specialty of Provence which is perfect for summer with glasses of chilled rosé.

Drinking French starts out as a typical French morning does; at a café with a small shot of coffee or a more leisurely wake-up at home with a steaming bowl of Café au lait. Later in the day, people enjoy other café favorites, such as Citron pressé, Lemonade, Fresh Mint Tea, and if it’s the summer, to beat the heat, nothing beats a chilled Chocolate Frappé. For those needing a little more of a boost, there’s a Coffee Frappé, as well as one that uses one of the most popular liqueurs in France (which, interestingly, isn’t French), in case you want something cool and spirited. But there are dozens of recipes that don’t have any alcohol, making Drinking French enjoyable to all.

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Crepes Dentelle cookies (Gavottes)

These may be the best cookies in the world. Okay, they’re not really cookies, per se. At least not in the French sense. Les cookies refers to chocolate chip cookies and these ultra-thin, ultra-crisp, and ultra-buttery tasting crêpes dentelles are so different, yet so good, you’ll find yourself eating your way through several of them in no time. To prove that point, as a courtesy, the company that makes them places two crêpe dentelles in each shimmering foil packet because they know that it’s impossible to eat just one.

The other great thing about these cookies (let’s just go with that, in English), is that you can pick up a box in any French supermarket, yet the cookies are grand and elegant enough so that restaurants in France have no problem serving store-bought cookies to customers. At least I’ve never heard any complaints. French grandparents and others are known to crumble cookies over a dish or bowl of ice cream to dress it up at home. (For the record, I like to think that I still fall into the “others” category – even though a young man offered me his seat on the métro the other day.)

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Slow-Cooked Chipotle Pork

I was recently tagged in a debate on Twitter, where some of the people objected to having to scroll down a post to get to the recipe, because they didn’t like scrolling. (Which was odd, since unless I’m doing it wrong, don’t you need to scroll to use Twitter?) The discussion also tapped into a few people’s dislike of a longer headnote before a recipe in cookbook. Personally I don’t find it all that much trouble to avert my eyes down when reading a book. Nonetheless, I’m going to get right to this Slow-Cooked Chipotle Pork recipe.

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