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Cocktails with Bagna Cauda?

Posted by aluapaluap, January 8, 2008 at 3:42 PM

So I'm throwing a very Italian dinner party for my very Italian boyfriend's birthday, and I want to serve Bagna Cauda with cocktails before dinner. While I can find many, many, many websites recommending you serve Bagna Cauda with cocktails, I haven't found any recommendations for which ones. A friend suggested martinis, but that's kind of boring and normal, and we're going to be drinking a lot of wine with dinner and probably don't want to make the meal too top-heavy booze-wise, as it were. Any ideas?

7 Comments | Tagged: alcohol, bagna cauda, cocktails, liquor, spirits

The Ten Most Recent Comments By aluapaluap

MFK Fisher Nickname?

Nevermind, I found it. It's Dote, if anyone is curious.

aluapaluap at 12:25PM on 05/29/08

To Store Chocolate or Not to Store?

Wait--SERIOUSLY? Over 90%? Every DAY? I have chocolate like once a month, maybe.

aluapaluap at 10:53AM on 05/09/08

Throwdown: Chick-fil-A vs. McDonald's Southern Style Chicken

I just (like three minutes ago) finished my first McDonalds southern-style chicken biscuit breakfast sandwich. It was ok, but I would like to throw Wendy's breakfast chicken biscuit sandwich into the mix, which is much, MUCH better than McDonalds'. Chick-Fil-A reigns supreme, however.

aluapaluap at 10:20AM on 05/01/08

Take It Outside, Junior

When I was little, my dad took me to bars to watch Packers games. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything, and I don't think they could've happened outside of a bar.

I understand the liability thing. I also understand that most people (myself included) don't want to have to watch their language (among other behaviors) while drinking. That's cool. I don't think it messes up the kids any, though, and for me, at least, it was a positive experience.

aluapaluap at 7:58PM on 02/13/08

Cocktails with Bagna Cauda?

So I ended up serving it with Negronis Sbagliatos, which are Negronis with Spumante instead of gin (and actually Prosecco instead of Spumante). I wasn't feeding a terribly adventurous crowd; my roommate's nose crinkled at the very thought of Campari (*eye-roll*), but I did my best. Thanks for all your suggestions!

Gastronobooks

aluapaluap at 10:11AM on 01/23/08

The Best Pies in America: The Serious Eats Pie Honor Roll

The Norske Nook has always somewhat underwhelmed me, although I have to say that when I was a little girl I absolutely covetted the waitress' outfits.

And Ed! Don't forget A&M in Grinnell, now!

aluapaluap at 10:08AM on 01/23/08

http://gastronobooks.blogspot.com/search/label/Wish%20List

Christmas List: Cookbooks/Food Lit

I'm keeping a running list on my blog:

aluapaluap at 5:25PM on 11/07/07

From Recipes

In the News: Jamie Oliver Does Italian; Tots 'Cue in KC; Urine as Fertilizer

You'd think that maybe if Dallas knows about chutney, they'd carry it at grocery stores in Austin.

Oh, I know, I know, they have it at Central Market for like $7 a jar. In Wisconsin we had it for $3.50, and at the normal supermarket.

Grumblegrumblegrumble.

aluapaluap at 11:45AM on 10/09/07

Cook the Book: 'Beard on Food'

Man oh man do I love me some Claiborne. Also Mimi Sheraton. And Pei Mei! I love Pei Mei.

aluapaluap at 2:02PM on 10/02/07

Photo of the Day: Pi Pie

At my high school (East in Madison, WI), they had this thing called the Pi Mile. On March 14th (right? 3/14? Pi day? I'm not a math person) they would have a bunch of students bake pies, and then a bunch of students would run 3.14 K and if you ran you got one of the pies. The whole thing was to raise money for underprivileged kids to get graphing calculators. I'm not kidding. Maybe the dorkiest fund-raiser ever, but pretty cute.

aluapaluap at 10:36AM on 10/02/07

Responses to Comments by aluapaluap

Throwdown: Chick-fil-A vs. McDonald's Southern Style Chicken

I've eaten the sandwich for Breakfast & lunch at McDonald's. It is tasty, if you like the flavor of pickle juice. It was very consistent in browning & texture, but I will tell you I don't like condiments & the one thing I didn't like was the taste of PICKLES!!!

Today, my dad took my daughter to McDonald's, not one close to me & raved about this sandwich. They ordered them to be made to order. When my daughter got it, she said it tasted like it had something on it. My dad looked it over & wasn't happy that she was complaining, it had nothing on it. She told me when she got home it tasted like pickles. I thought maybe they prepped it with pickles & pulled them off when they made one ordered without condiments. Like I said, the breakfast one tasted like the juice as well. I decided to blog & this site came up when I mentioned pickle juice. Does anyone work at McD's that can confirm this. It actually really caused an argument.

weisemb at 6:53PM on 06/30/08

SeraCandyEnthusiast at 11:48AM on 05/16/08

To Store Chocolate or Not to Store?

Oh yeah, I'm one of those 90%! Proudly so!

Thanks for the informative article Clay. :)

Throwdown: Chick-fil-A vs. McDonald's Southern Style Chicken

Just thought of something else.... I bet CFA's Sandwichs are less fats then mcdonalds, im not sure on that one, i forgot how many calories and fat is in a CFA but know that its really not to bad considering its fried and its fast food.

I just noticed all my spelling errors on those comments, i spelled sandwich wrong like 100 times. sorry

Aharper0029 at 12:37AM on 05/14/08

Throwdown: Chick-fil-A vs. McDonald's Southern Style Chicken

Oh yeah and the CFA that i work at uses homemade biscuts, i know that some CFA's use frozen biscuts but not all of them.

Aharper0029 at 12:25AM on 05/14/08

Throwdown: Chick-fil-A vs. McDonald's Southern Style Chicken

I would just like to comment to the person who said that the secret to the CFA sandwhich is that they marinate the chicken in pickle juice. I have worked at a CFA for 6 years now i have been a manager for 3. We do not marinate are CFA Sandwhichs in pickles juice. Our Grills and our old strips are marinated in pickle juice but the regular CFA is not. The secret to our Sandwhich and what makes it 100 times better then Mcdonalds is that its FRESH! not frozen, we bread ALL of our chicken (except the Chargrills of course). When i think of Country fried Chicken Sandwhich, i think of fresh chicken, not a frozen patty that gets reheated. We also have a timed holding system, if the chicken has been sitting for to long we can't serve it. I dunno that all Chick-Fil-A's follow this holding system but i know that they are supposed to and the CFA that i work at in Kentucky does follow the rules.Also, our bun is evenly buttered, the mcdonalds sandwhich above looks as if they used a squirt bottle to spray the butter on. Something i did notice about the CFA sandwhich above is the pickles, they are supposed to be evenly placed on the bun, not over-lapping. Something else that makes the CFA sandwhich is the foil steam bag that we put are sadwhich in, it keeps the sandwhich hot and very moist. I do find it alittle bit weird that the Mcdonalds sandwhich costs more then our CFA sandwhich though considering that its a frozen patty and also its MCDONALDS arn't they supposed to be really cheap? Well with the quality of there food the whole menu should be 99 cents. I have worked at CFA for 6 years now and yes i am tired of eating there 5 days a week, (i eat chargrills everyday almost) i would still, hands down, chose CFA over mcdonalds.
We do have a new limited time coffee carmel milk shake that is out of this world and you should try it. Also we have new chicken strips (no longer marinated in pickle juice) that are amazing as well. Oh and our new Chicken Salad recipe! yummy!

Side note- KFC is the only other place that i know that breads their chicken but i know that not all of their chicken is breaded, i know that the popcorn chicken is frozen, not sure about the rest.

Aharper0029 at 12:22AM on 05/14/08

To Store Chocolate or Not to Store?

benknight -
While the chocolate might not be "bad" it certainly will not be at its best after more than a month in storage at room temperature. My recommendation to you, especially if you happen to be studying in Barcelona or will be visiting there shortly before you leave, is to pick up some Spanish chocolates. Some names to look for include Enric Rovira, Oriol Balaguer, Cacao Sampaka, and Blanxart.

:: Clay

Clay Gordon at 10:02AM on 05/13/08

Throwdown: Chick-fil-A vs. McDonald's Southern Style Chicken

vox8light: I wanted to ditto what you say. We live in Atlanta too, there is just no comparison between Mc Copy and Chick Fil A. Ill take Chick Fil A. Their biscuits rock too. When ever I have to go down to Macon, I stop at Chick fil a for breakfast. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

amharkness at 5:22PM on 05/12/08

To Store Chocolate or Not to Store?

Clay
Nice to have a fellow chocophile on board. For the novice, this is a must read article. Superbly done. See you back at "the ranch".

Mark

Boscompb at 9:58AM on 05/12/08

To Store Chocolate or Not to Store?

I'm storing chocolate I bought in Belgium about a month ago to bring home with me when I'm done studying abroad in Spain in June. Right now I'm keeping it in a plastic bag in an odorless closet. I open the window to the room often, and luckily I think the Spanish spring is not too bad with humidity and temp usually stays between 60-80 F. I hope this will keep the chocolate quality high enough to have been worth it to bring all the way home to the US from Belgium!!

benknight at 11:31AM on 05/11/08