Face it…booze makes just about any recipe better. From Southern Comfort Peach Pie to Rum Baba, alcohol enhances the flavor of so many dishes.
So, what do you put booze it? Share!
Just to get us started:
Bourboned BBQ Sauce
2 cups catsup
1/4 cup hot sauce (I prefer Crystal)
1/4 cup prepared mustard (I use Plochman’s)
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup molasses
3 tblsps brown sugar
3 tblsps Worchestershire sauce
2 tsps garlic powder
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt (Lawry’s)
Combine in a non-reactive saucepan and cook over low heat for 20 minutes or so.
If we get some responses to this, I’ll share my secret for deep-dish Southern Comfort Peach Pie.
I’ve found that not only does alcohol make food better when it’s in the food, sometimes it makes the food better when it’s in YOU. Case in point: Rockit’s Pizza, a little punk-rock joint here that sells pizza by the slice and is frequently open until 4 AM. The pizza sits under hot lights in racks, marinating and fermenting, for hours and hours. When you finally eat it, it’s outstanding.
I mix a bottle of beer and a pint of barbecue sauce to make marinade. Soak the meat overnight, and the flavor’s all through the meat without having to slop a ton of sauce on at the last minute.
Halve, peel and pit bosc pears. Poach them until they are tender in a simple syrup of sugar and water to which you have added a bit of cinnamon stick, some lemon peel and a clove. Cool them in the syrup. Add to the syrup a couple of tablespoons of good brandy and chill the pears in the brandied syrup. This is simple and addictive.
I’ve mentioned it before, but a small splash of sweet vermouth into a red tomato sauce can really make things pop, even more so then when just using wine.
I fookin’ love Bananas Foster. I know, it’s a recipe that traditionally has rum in it, but damn that’s some good stuff. On a warm summer evening. Over homemade vanilla ice cream.
I cheat, so you purists out there can make your crust by hand if you wish.
Buy two deep-dish pie crusts at the store. Bake one in a 350° oven for 15 minutes or so. Remove. Fill crust with sliced peaches. No, more than that. In a bowl, mix 1 stick butter (softened), 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup slivered almonds, 2 tblsps flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice to taste. Sprinkle over peaches. Pour 1/2 cup Southern Comfort over the peaches. Flip the other pie crust upside-down on the filled crust. Seal the edges and vent. Bake in a 375° oven for 40 minutes or so, or until the crust is done and the peaches are all bubbly. Serve with ice cream.
Last time I grilled pork chops I wanted to make a tequila-lime glaze for them, but I couldn’t find any limes or lime juice in the house (I know, I’m a horrible person!). But we did have some pineapple. So I threw about a cup of cheap tequila, 4 or 5 chunks of pineapple, 1/3 cup honey and some red pepper flakes into a small sauce pan and let it cook down into a glaze while I grilled the chops. I diced up the pineapple chunks at the end and threw them back into the glaze and then brushed it ontp the pork chops right off of the grill. It was pretty damned good.
One pot of thick cream, whip till well thickened, add liquor of choice, whip some more till thick again, add more liquor. If liquor is unsweetened then add a teaspoon of sugar and finally whip again until thick and stiff.
It can be eaten straight, used to top pie, mixed with nuts, spooned into coffee, spread over the wife or mistresses naked body, just about anything it’s all good.
