I looked at our bare cupboard after I got home from work and experienced a surge of ennui…nothing in there that looked remotely tasty, and we’re decidedly out of money at the moment. Pasta and marinara. Yay.
It wasn’t until I opened the freezer and saw the bottle of bourbon there in the back that my imagination sparked. I used it as a starting point, and by the time dinner popped out the other end of the kitchen, I’d determined that I had to write this recipe down.
It was heavenly. I’ll let you imagine from the recipe. I served the following dish with a baked sweet potato, which, I must say, was a great complement.
Anybody else got any recipes that they just whipped up on the spot, and were totally taken aback by how good they turned out?
Orange Roughy with Bourbon Molasses Sauce
2 cups bourbon
1 tsp dark brown sugar
2 tsp molasses
1 tbsp chives
1 1/2 tsp fresh garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
2 orange roughy fillets, fresh or frozen
1 medium sweet/tart apple (I used Braeburn), diced
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
In a small saucepan, pour the bourbon. Bring to a light boil and carefully light the whole works on fire. Enjoy show. Burn off almost all the alcohol. Cover briefly to put out fire. While still boiling, add chives, garlic, brown sugar, and molasses. Stir well, and allow to boil and reduce throughout the rest of the process.
In a medium pan (Calphalon! Yeah!), over medium high heat, brown the roughy quickly in the olive oil. If the fish is frozen, you may get a lot of melted water from the fish. Not to worry. Just get rid of it.
Once the fish is tender and light brown on both sides, increase heat and pour half the bourbon sauce into the pan, making sure it contacts all the fish. It will begin to boil quickly. Let it reduce all the way to caramelized sugars (brown, folks, not black.) Turn fish over and pour a little more sauce in.
Serve hot with some of the leftover sauce and diced apples and walnuts piled on the top.
Really, really good.
