Prosecco Sorbetto? Yes Please!

We're starting to get into those hot, sticky days of summer, which can only be alleviated by swimming pools, beach days, AC, and, frozen treats.  Why not indulge in frozen treats like a proper lady, and infuse some bubbles in there?  Yes please, we say here at Gastronomista HQ!

Ardbeg Ice Cream

I was recently invited to a gorgeous dinner at Betony to celebrate William Hill Estate Winery's Coastal Collection.  The wines were gorgeous, and paired gloriously well with the meal, but the show stopper was dessert.  And not even the main dessert.  This dessert was served to one person at the table who is gluten free. She had a large bowl of peaty scotch ice cream, covered in crunchy caramel bits.  Fortunately for me, she was thoughtful enough to share, although after tasting a mere bite of the smoky sweet ambrosia, I know I would have not been as generous.  

I was obsessed.  It was time to conquer the recipe on my own, caramel bits and all!  (I did not conquer the caramel bits).  I found a recipe the LA Times - and let me tell you, it is amazing.  Originally created by Nancy Silverton of Campanile, scotch ice cream is the perfect combination of sweet, salt, and savory from the peaty smoke.  It's incredible.  I used Ardbeg, but you can replace it with any other Islay scotch such as Laphroaig or Bowmore. 

I added a drizzle of dark chocolate sauce to the top of mine for extra measure.  

Enjoy!

Ardbeg Ice Cream

1 pound sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 1/2 cups Ardbeg Scotch
1 quart milk
1 quart whipping cream
16 egg yolks

Dark Chocolate Sauce for Drizzling

Place sugar, vanilla bean and Scotch in large pot and cook until dark caramel color. Add milk and cream and bring to boil. Remove from heat. Let stand 30 minutes. Bring mixture again to boil and pour over egg yolks while whisking. Strain through fine mesh strainer into bowl. Whisk to release heat until cool. Chill.

Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instruction. Makes 1/2 gallon.

LA Times Recipe>>

Valentines 2014 - Gift Guide

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and so you've probably got a little bit of last minute shopping to do.  A perfect Valentine's dinner for me involves a gorgeous dry-aged steak dinner at home, a few glasses of bubbly, followed by a few glasses of something stronger.  I've always loved Valentine's Day, everything is red and cheerful despite the dreariness of winter outside, and it's always a perfect excuse to buy an extra-fancy bottle (or two) for that special someone.

Without further ado:

1.  Start your Valentine's evening right with a bottle of Angostura No. 1, the company's newest limited edition sipping rum from their Premium Cask Collection.  It's sweet, with a lot of wood and citrus on the nose.  It has round sweet flavors of caramel, lemon, spice, cinnamon, toasted nuts, roasted peaches, and a finish of banana pastry.  It is a complex sipping rum that has been produced in a limited quantity of 9,600 bottles.  While rum is following the trend of whiskeys and producing limited edition releases, the price point of rum has not yet caught up with whiskey.  No. 1 drinks like a much more expensive bottle, and will surely impress your someone special.  $49.00

2.  This year for Valentine's Day, Moët & Chandon has a fantastic gift box ready to go!  The box set comes with a bottle of Moët Rosé Impérial, and two champagne flutes - perfect for romantic gondola rides or impulsive picnics!  $119

3.  Heart-Shaped Cheese Trio from River's Edge Chèvre comes with three artisanal bloomy-rind goat cheeses: Petit Bonheursmooth with Pink Peppercorns, Old Flamedense, and Hearts Desire with Spanish Paprika.  $78

4.  There is nothing more romantic than a perfectly cooked, perfectly salted steak.  There's something so lovely about the ritual of splitting a large cut for two, and spending the entire meal savoring each bite together.  Dry aging makes the meat more buttery and full of flavor, and nice marbling keeps your steak juicy.  Go for this Dry Aged Porterhouse beauty from Strassburger.  $249 for 4 20 oz Steaks.

5.  This year spring for a special treat, Casa Dragones sipping tequila!  This tequila is one of the best things I've tasted all year, it is silky smooth, and has a complex layering of pineapple mango, passion fruit, agave, with a creamy mid palate, and a clean yet spicy finish.  Basically, it's the best tequila on the planet.  Casa Dragones also comes in a gorgeous Turquoise Blue box set that comes with two hand-etched Riedel tequila sipping glasses, and a hand-etched crystal decanter filled with this delicious ambrosia.  $275

6.  I am so smitten with Pancracio Chcolates from Spain - I love these little chocolate lip truffles lacquered in red chocolate!  $20

7.  Need more bubbles?  Bravo!  Try Chandon Étoile Rosé from the Napa Valley, a gorgeous bubbly with almost a blood orange color to it.  It has notes of bright citrus, raspberry, candied orange peel, passion fruit, grapefruit pith, with an undertone of clay and leafy green grass.  It has a nice clean finish, and stays on the palate for quite a bit.  This wine is aged for a minimum of five years, and has a bit of Pinot Noir grapes added to the mix to give it its distinctive color and flavor. $50

8.  Still need more bubbles?  I'm a huge fan of Chandon Rosé, also from the Napa Valley, which is a great Rosé for any occasion.  It is a light and dry bubbly with tasting notes of berry, cherry, stone fruits, crisp pear, and a bright green apple.  Plus it is at a great price point of $22! Shall we open a bottle now??  But of course!

9.  Want to get creative with that Chandon Rosé?  Mix it into a cocktail!

4 Raspberries
1/3 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Gin
1/4 oz Simple Syrup
2 dashes Rose Water

Muddle Raspberries with Gin and Simple Syrup.  Add Lemon Juice and Rose water, and shake with ice.  Strain into a cocktail glass and top with Chandon Rosé.  

10.  Sweetheart Heels by Alice + Olivia will heat up any outfit, no matter how cold it is outside.  $295

11.  The morning after Valentine's Day requires just as much attention!  Breakfast in Bed with hot French Toast, Maple Syrup, Fresh Fruit, and a delicious cup of coffee.  Keep it quick and easy with a Nespresso Maestra Machine in Candy Apple Red.  I love the vintage look of this machine, sure to look handsome in anyone's kitchen.  $550

12.  If you're looking for a gift for a discerning whiskey-lover, try Tullamore D.E.W. Phoenix Limited Edition Irish Whiskey.  The Phoenix is a blend of three different kinds of Irish Whiskey: Golden Grain, Pot Still Whiskey, and Malt.  There's flavors of caramel, spice, oak, candied orange peel, grapefruit, and a spicy tannic finish that comes from the two years it has spent in Oloroso sherry casks.  It's a delightful dram, and a powerful one at that, coming in at 55% ABV.  $63

14.  For those with a sweet-tooth for both design and Amaretto, Moschino has teamed up with Disaronno to create a charming limited edition bottle for Valentine's Day, making for a perfect night-cap on such a sweet night.  $24

xxG

Gastronomista Gift Guide - Hostess Gifts

Some people are impossible to shop for.  They seem to have everything under the sun, and whatever they need, they go out and purchase it.  Gah!  Gastronomista is here to help, gifts for your well-provisioned hostess.  Remember, good guests never arrive empty handed.

1.  Great parties require thoughtful details.  Vintage Knife Rests are a great way to add character and whimsy to a dinner table.  $95 for 6

2.  Games keep fellow party goers occupied (and out of the kitchen).   Pocket Boccee travels well, and is great for gardens and hallways.  $8

3.  Even the most perfect hostess never has enough ice.  Bring a bag of ice and a handsome Ice Bucket, and you'll be a gal's favorite guest.  $40

4.  Bottle Openers one of my favorite hostess gifts - they add so much character to a home.  I love these sphere cuties from Poketo.  $20

5.   Give a gift that takes your hostess out on the town!  A night out at The Spot Dessert Bar in the East Village is a fun and memorable evening.  The Spot serves gorgeous tapas-style desserts developed by Ian Kittichai such as Green Tea Lava Cake, Yuzu Eskimo Ice Cream Bars, Kabocha Creme Brulee, and Smoked Coconut Cheesecake.  $10 and Up

6.  Fashionable Aprons for your chef who will never leave the kitchen.  So cute, it doubles as dinner wear. $30 

7.  Christmas snappers are so last year.  This year give your hostess an Exploding Braquier Chocolate Bomb filled with Almond Dragees and toys.  $100 - $150

8.  Upgrade your hostess' butter dish with a Japanese Beehouse Butter Dish that come in fun colors such as carrot and artichoke $26

9.  Great glassware = great drinks.  These Poodle Low Ball Glasses are memorable and whimsical.  Purchase them from the virtual pop up Joyus, where all proceeds until the end of 2014 go to Women for Women International!  $75 for 6

10.  Upgrade your chef's plastic measuring cups with Nesting Ceramic Measuring Bowls from West Elm.  They are even tapered so you can pour from them!  Genius!  These are some of my favorite tools in the kitchen.  $15 

11.  Nothing says party like a Graphic Cheese Platter!  Handmade in Austin, Texas!  $35

12.  For the pie lover, give Kate Lebo's book A Commonplace Book of Pie, that is filled with poems about making pie, eating pie, and theories on pie, and gorgeous pie porn watercolors.  $14

13.  Spoil your favorite hostess with a pair of Manitobah Muklucks!  No one likes cold feet when out and about provisioning for parties, and these Aboriginal Canadian made boots will make her feel warm and cozy even when charging through the snow.   $200

Note:  I have a pair of these, and I LOVE them.  Obsessed.  Wearing them right now, my heart filled with bliss, and my toes warm and snuggled up.

14.  For the hostess who likes a great cocktail, but doesn't know what to make: a subscription to Julibox, a service that sends your hostess a monthly cocktail kit with all the necessary ingredients!  Recipe cards help your hostess make them for future parties.  $36 / mo

15.  Modern Marble Trivets for Hot Dishes by Fort Standard.  $88

16.  Have you ever noticed that it's always the cheese grater that seems to jam up your utensil drawer, and is always the guilty culprit to cut your hand?  Solve the problem with this Folding Cheese Grater by West Elm that folds all the away around, protecting your hands from its sharp edges.  Again, with the genius design move here.   $30

17.  For the hostess with the inclination towards all things Paleo:  Melissa Joulwan's latest edition of her Well Fed cookbook series filled with healthy, fast, and delicious recipes.  $17

18.  Tiered Cast Aluminum Displays for all things pretty and delicious.  $259

19.  Impress everyone at the party with a Cecil & Merl Cheesecake - handmade in Brooklyn with a graham cracker crust.  Flavors include Dulce de Leche, Lemon Ricotta, and Pumpkin.  Trust me, bringing one of these to any party is a very good move.  They are insanely light, fluffy, and mind-boggling delicious.  $55

The Art of Dessert - An Excerpt from The Decadent Cookbook

One of our favorite finds as of late is a lovely book called The Decadent Cookbook by Medlar Lucan and Dorian Gray; less cookbook per se, and more of a collection of historical and amusing recipes from bygone eras.  Peppered in the mix are delightful short stories about feasting and decadent eating.  Today, we bring you an excerpt from The Decadent Cookbook, a short story on the art of dessert.  
 

 Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf

by David Madsen

..........

"Your Holiness - ah - Your Eminences, I meant to say, of course! - my dear and very special guests! I offer you now the climax, the apotheosis, the summit of this rather unusual evening." 

He clapped his hands, and four servants entered the hall, bearing on their shoulders a massive silver dish, in which was heaped what looked like half the cream in Rome; it was decorated more richly than Leo's tiara, with bright red cherries, brown pine kernels, thin green strips of angelica, all kinds of nuts and berries, and was wound about with a great length of dried leaves that had been dipped in gold. The entire assembled company (including myself, I readily admit) drew in its breath.

Strozzi went on, clearly drunk:

"Ah, but all is not what it seems to be, my very dear and special friends! No indeed. What you see before you is but the phantasm of the thing itself - the accidents which occlude and conceal the substance, as our good Tomaso d' Aquino would have said. You see, Your Eminences? I am not entirely unversed in the queen of sciences. Excuse me, I digress. Yes, invisible to your eyes, most cherished guests, is a delight more subtle, more - what shall I say, what term to employ? - more sensuous (for that must surely be the word!) than the simple sweetness which mere appearances
promise. And let me give you a small clue, a tiny hint, so to speak, of the secret which is shortly to be revealed: I provide no implements for this, my final and most exquisite offering; you must
use only your tongues." 

And with that, he collapsed back in his chair. 

The dish was placed somewhat awkwardly in the centre of the table; for some moments we all sat and stared at it. Then Cardinal Salviati stood up, leaned as far as he could across the table, stuck out a greenish, corrugated tongue, and dipped the tip of it into the great mound of cream. He closed his eyes for a moment, licked his lips, then opened his eyes again and nodded. 

"Very delicious," he pronounced. "Very delicious indeed. Flavoured with grappa and wild honey, if I am not mistaken."

 "Bravo, Eminence!" Lorenzo Strozzi cried drunkenly. 

Embolded by Salviati' s initiative, several of the gentlemen and two of the ladies did likewise; they giggled and nudged each other as they extended their tongues to taste their host's culinary 'apotheosis.' The technique, awkward though it was, was clearly catching on. It fell to Cardinal Ridolfi however, to finally expose the 'secret' of the extraordinary dolce; bending across the table and
wiggling his tongue, he pushed it into the creamy mass only to withdraw it again with a piercing and womanly shriek. 

"It moved!" he cried. "God's bones, I tell you it moved! Ah! -"

There was a general commotion as it was observed that the great mound of decorated slop was indeed moving; it shuddered and wiggled, as if suddenly endowed with an alien life of its own. Clotted lumps of cream fell away, nuts and cherries flew off and showered onto the table. It seemed to be growing. Ridolfi by now was having an attack of the vapours, wiping his lips furiously with the back of his hand as though he had ingested poison; indeed, had this been a banquet given by Pope Alexander Vl Borgia, whose memory still haunted curial slumbers, it might well have been.

Everybody was at the thing now, licking and scraping the cream off as fast as they could; people were stretched out across the table, plates were pushed aside or even fell to the floor; there was screeching and laughing and vulgar gestures. I do not think I have ever seen so many protruding tongues in my life, and it is a spectacle I care never to witness again; human beings look utterly ridiculous with their tongues sticking out. Leo should ban people doing it in all papal states. As a matter of fact, I had entirely forgotten about Leo: he was slumped in his chair, spellbound by the goings on. His eyes bulged and watered. 

There was a young woman buried under that grotesque hillock of cream; furthermore, it quickly became obvious, as first a thigh was exposed, then a foot, a wetly glistening pink nipple, ... she was a very naked young woman. The cacophony of screaming and guffawing rapidly swelled in volume as people began to applaud. And still the tongues were at work, probing and wiggling and scraping lasciviously, lingeringly, across the smooth, pale flesh. 

.......... 

Published with permission from Dedalus Books, and many thanks to them!

Tasty Social Media Icon Roundup

In an unrelated search, we just stumbled upon some tasty social media icon sets!  Now we're obsessed!  We've compiled a roundup of our favorite foodie social media icons, and with most of them free, get downloading, people!  Why use a benal corporate icon when one can use little cakes in the shape of the twitter T ?

Below, a few of our favorites:

Candy Social Icons

Pick your Poison

Cake Social

Social Soda Cans

Social Media Cocktails

Choco-social

Java

RSS Cocktail Party

Ice Cream Social

 

Yammy Icons

Enjoy!

McQueen's Rainbow Dress, in Gummies

For those special events when the usual silk frock just wont cut it:

A dress made entirely of gummy bears (50,000 gummy bears, to be exact).

The dress, which was inspired by Alexander McQueen's Rainbow Dress, was created by the team over at TWELV Magazine for their debut issue.  The dress weighed 220 pounds, and took three weeks to construct.  The dress required three people to move and manipulate it, which is disappointing, mostly because we would love to wear this bad boy to our next gala.  Who needs couture when you're wearing dessert?

50,000 Gummies

To create the masterpiece, steel wire was twisted into the shape of the dress and covered with a sheet of vinyl. Then 50,000 gummy bears were painstakingly glued on by hand in a colorful pattern reminiscent of a Chevron rainbow.

McQueen's Rainbow Dress - Not as Tasty, Unfortunately

via Racked

Venezuela's Sweet Treats

If you've been an avid reader of Gastronomista, you already know that we are lovers of the libation, and very loyal to our whiskeys.  Being such ardent whiskey fans (and crack connoisseurs), we would like to think we know good spirits (read, we do).  Whiskey, we're sorry, we are going to abandon you for a little while as we've recently discovered the next frontier - Rum - delicious, complex, Venezuelan Rum. 

Santa Teresa 1796 (featured it in our 2011 Gift Guide), is a rum that will change your opinion of rums.  Who knew rum could be so sophisticated?  Santa Teresa is not a liquor that needs to be served up as a Zombie or a Daiquiri to be consumed, dangerously at that. 

The Hacienda of Santa Teresa was established in 1796 by Count Tovar y Blanco, is now owned by Gustavo Vollmer, and is proudly run as a "family business".  Santa Teresa 1796 was created in 1996 to celebrate Hacienda Santa Teresa's 200th year anniversary.  Let us tell you, this is not your ubiquitous beach resort rum.  It is a structured liquor with a nose of vanilla, banana and apple, while on the tongue one gets more flavors of cocoa, cherries, and molasses.  Santa Teresa is a molasses based rum, and is aged using the Solera method, which ages the rum in four levels of oak casks.  

As if it wasn't already delicious, when paired with a Venezuelan chocolate, it is heaven in one's mouth.   Recommended is the 73% Dark Chocolate bar with Ginger, Green Tea, and Sesame Seeds, made by the New York company, Tu Chocolate with Venezuelan cocoa beans. 

Do check their website for more flavors: White Chocolate with Blue Corn, Salt and Black Pepper, Dark Chocolate with Ground Red Pepper, Curry, and Cashews to name a few!

Santa Teresa is quite delicious to sip straight or with an ice cube.  If you're looking for more action than that, we've got a couple of tasty recipes for you after the jump:

Sugar High - Photography of Brittney Meyer

Surrealism, we love you so.  With your wild juxtapositions and transcending escapes from reality, we are always drawn to you.  In these days of over documentation and over sharing, we are always delighted to see reality contorted, twisted, reflected, and made oh-so-wrong in all the right ways.

This brings us to the work of photographer Brittany Meyer.  She sends frozen treats into orbit, letting them melt into sugary contrails.  Eclairs float effortlessly as if they are in outer space.  Cotton candy clouds flirt with cumulus cloudscapes, brewing up some sort of Willy Wonka thunderstorm.  Lemon Meringue Pie hovers above like a satellite or a suddenly spotted UFP (unidentified flying pie).

With all these sweets aloft, we're sure craving something sweet.  Flying pancakes anyone?

For more flying edibles, check out her website.

Love & Tarts for All

Happy Valentines Day

xxG

Gastropyromania

What do you get when you mix a pyromaniac, a super sick camera, and a lab where one can blow up whatever their heart desires?

Well, this:

Welcome to the world of Alan Sailer - a mad scientist of sorts.  Mr Sailer is a photographer who builds his own air-gap microflash, read, 1/1,000,000 of a second who spends his nights exploding pretty much everything in sight, sometimes to achieve terrifying effects...

But we are interested in his choices of content - fruits, candies, sodas, all blown to tiny tiny bits.  You know, in case you were wondering what your twizzlers looked like from a different perspective...

Enjoy.

For more on this uber-flash : click here.

DIY Chocolate Bars

We're big fans of chocolate here at Gastro HQ - very often a bit of the dark stuff is what we need in the afternoon.  But sometimes just chocolate is a bit dull.  Enter, peanut butter.  Yes, we've been known to slather peanut butter all over a bar of chocolate, undoubtedly ending up all over our faces and frocks.  So ladylike, we know.

Thankfully, designer Elsa Lambient has saved our day!  Chocolate actually designed to hold toppings!  Ms. Lambient has cleverly added two different compartments, one on top for your fruits, nuts, or other gooey additions, and a drawer, as it were, for your neater, crispier treats.  Our imaginations are running wild with the possibilities! 

In the words of the designer:

A modular design allows for three types of chocolate that can support two added ingredients: black chocolate has a hole to contain fruit, milk chocolate has spaces for nuts, and white chocolate is surfaced to hold liquids, and all three contain a hollowed compartment for inserted flavored wafers, perhaps nougat, biscuit or caramel.

And an adorable stop animation?  Now you're just torturing us....

SWEET PLAY by Elsa Lambinet from Jan Czarlewski on Vimeo.



via Dezeen

Foodie Film Favorite - Marie Antoinette

We were recently asked what our favorite food scenes from movies are - and somehow, this hostess drew a blank.  Of course, the next day we were reminded of so many scenes that make our mouths water - not only from the delicious food styling, but also the amazing costumes and cinematography.

Our research on Poufs a la Jardiniere reminded us of one of our favorite movies - Marie Antoinette directed by Sophia Coppola.  A delicious film indeed - a story about a girl, a queen, who likes to play cards with her friends, shop, and eat petit fours - what girl doesn't?

The Life.

  

We were obsessed with this film when it came out - the gowns of satin and silk, tall coiffures, the saturated colors, and of course - the gorgeous food.  We adore the banquet scenes with carefully arranged asparagus, lush cakes and jellies, candied orange peels, mini bites of cream topped with berries and pistachios, all served on gilded and hand painted china.  Swoon.  

Without further ado:

Ah yes, sweet decadence.  Too bad all this extravagance ended in the beheadding of Ms Antoinette.  None the less, this hostess sure wishes she was there in Versailles to drink champagne, eat delicious cakes, and gamble with the girls.  


One last lust worthy video that is sure to make your mouth water! After all, who doesn't want candy?