Food Recipes

Bourbon Bacon Brownies

Posted 2:20 am June 22nd, 2011

Sometimes at BourbonBlog.com, recipe creations catch our eyes, tastebuds and hearts simultaneously.

Made with dark chocolate, crumbled bacon and a splash of bourbon, these Bourbon Bacon Brownies mean business. They render such a strong medley of flavors in your mouth, you’ll wonder if you’re eating a brownie, a handful of bacon or a shot of bourbon. The good new is it’s all three in one delicious concoction!

Simple to make, Stephanie Wise of GirlVersusDough.com shows us how to use Betty Crocker brownie mix, crumbled bacon and your favorite Bourbon whiskey to give an extra grown-up taste that’s neither sweet nor salty, but still extremely rich and tasty.

Bourbon Bacon Brownies Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix
1/2 cup cooked, crumbled and cooled bacon
3 Tbsp. Bourbon
1/4 cup Bourbon (reserve for end)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven according to directions on package for and 8 x 8-inch pan.
2. Prepare brownie mix according to package instructions.
3. Fold in crumbled bacon; stir in 3 tbsp bourbon.
4. Pour brownie batter into a lightly greased 8 x 8-inch pan. Bake as directed on package (about an hour), or until a toothpick inserted two inches from the edge of the pan comes out mostly clean.
5. Remove brownies from oven and immediately (and carefully) pour 1/4 cup bourbon on them. Cool in refrigerator completely before slicing and serving.

Recipe by Stephanie Wise of GirlVersusDough.com, and originally discovered on Tablespoon.com via this link, thank you all!

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Maker’s Mark Bourbon Chocolate Bread Pudding for Your Valentine

Posted 2:05 pm February 14th, 2011

Bill Samuels, Jr. of Maker’s Mark Bourbon says that while he knows we are all trying to stick to those New Year’s resolutions, he still wanted to share with BourbonBlog.com this recipe for Bourbon Chocolate Bread pudding for Valentine’s Day.

Bourbon Chocolate Bread Pudding

2 cups whole milk
4 eggs
1/3 cup Maker’s Mark Bourbon
8 ounces 72% dark chocolate, chopped
4 cups day-old French bread cubes (packed)
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together milk, eggs, and bourbon. In a large bowl, combine the liquids with the chocolate, bread cubes, and sugar. Toss to coat and set aside to soak for about 45 minutes, gently stirring once or twice.

Posted in Blog, Desserts and Sweets, Food Recipes, Recipes, Valentine's Day Cocktails | 4 Comments »

Campari-Macerated Treefruits and Berries with Yoghurt

Posted 4:16 pm September 11th, 2010

I’ve done this recipe, by request, a couple times since that evening. For many a heavy confection-laden dessert is not what they have in mind. Just some berries in a glass will do well, thank you. Pair that with a nice porto and the diners and I are happy children.

Combine diced treefruits such as plums, pears, apricots, etc. with

a variety of seasonal berries.

Cover with a mixture of 80% Campari, 20% water.

Let sit for 2+ hours.

Strain.

Place in individual martini glasses.

Top with plain yoghurt.

Garnish with mint sprigs.

Article written and Recipes created by BourbonBlog.com Chef/Mixologist Stephen Dennison

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Bourbon Sugar Brûléed Wild Salmon

Posted 4:01 pm September 11th, 2010

Sweet and savory. Hard and soft. This dish revels in juxtaposition. Candied fish? With Bourbon? Yes- it works!

For the rub:

1 part bourbon of choice (We used Woodford Reserve)
2 parts sugar

Mix both well, spread out over a baking sheet, and allow to crystallize – exposed.

Take this mixture and cover:

4-6 oz cuts, wild Pacific salmon, skin on and carefully de-boned

Sear the salmon, skin-side down for 4 minutes. (The coloration will be creeping up the side of the filet.) Take a Brûlée torch and caramelize the sugared top-side, while still in the pan. Look at the sides of the fish. There should be a round, cooked patina, with a bolder, ocher-looking center. If appearing too raw, finish in a 400 degree oven. Serve with a smile.

On a side note, the intended side dish was my mistake. It was meant to be an orzo/Bourbon rehydrated apricot/almond pilaf. The almonds took two attempts(chefs learn to smell when things are finished in the oven – when nuts begin to smell, they are burned… Doh!) The orzo was undercooked. The apricots never had a chance. Oh well!

Article and Recipe Created by BourbonBlog.com Chef/Mixologist Stephen Dennison

Posted in Blog, Entrees and Main Courses, Food Recipes | 1 Comment »

Aquavit Baby Artichokes

Posted 3:50 pm September 11th, 2010

Sooner or later, I have to set something on fire! Here I pair the softer flavor of baby artichoke with the back-nuance of caraway-laced Linne Aquavit. Aggressive in approach, after the flambe’ the dish balances out quite well.

¼ pound butter, cut into slices
8 baby artichokes, cleaned of excess leaves- stem on
½ cup Linne Aquavit
salt and pepper, to taste
squeezed lemon, to taste

Blanch artichokes. Place in acidulated water, so that they will not become brown.

Place butter in deep sauté pan. Bring to heat, until foam forms. Strain artichoke. Add artichokes to butter, sautéing for 5-6 minutes, tossing occasionally. Remove pan from fire. Add aquavit. Place back above fire and tilt pan, or light with fireplace lighter – always away from your face! Allow the flames to consume the excess alcohol. Add salt and pepper. Taste. Add lemon. Taste. Adjust seasonings. Serve.

Recipe created by BourbonBlog.com Chef/Mixologist Stephen Dennison

Posted in Entrees and Main Courses, Food Recipes | 1 Comment »

To Build a Vinaigrette

Posted 3:15 pm September 11th, 2010

This recipe is a raw utilization of a spirit. The rhubarb infusion is unexpected in that is doesn’t drink sour, like the raw product tastes. Instead, like a gin, it has a vegetal profile. Go figure. Here we build a vinaigrette, so you will not see exact proportions, instead I will explain the concepts behind designing a dressing/marinade that you can truly call your own.

For the infusion:

1.5 L Vodka (we use Vikingfjord Vodka) with 0.2 of 1.0 of the bottle emptied and replaced with

2 large rhubarb stalks, cut into batons

1/1 simple syrup, to fill

Let steep for at least 3 days. Enjoy.

For the vinaigrette:

Rhubarb Infusion
Lemon
Salt and Pepper
EV Olive Oil

The trick to building a great emulsion is this: build your spices and acids first. Then you incorporate the olive oil by whisking this liquid while drizzling in the oil, just a bit at a time. You can see the emulsion come together. Keep lots of spoons nearby, because you have to taste the product as it is built. The trick is to come in soft on any of the elements, because you can always add more but you can’t take it away. Close your eyes. Not enough acid? Add more lemon. Lacking body? More oil. No alcohol prevalence? Add a skosh. When done, marinate buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes in the vinaigrette, for 2-4 hours. Garnish with whole basil leaf as is tradition.

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Bourbon Escargot

Posted 2:55 pm September 11th, 2010

In this recipe, I use just a slight amount of bourbon to affect the nuance. Normally, when spirits are cooked with, they are flamed in order to reduce alcohol prevalence. Here I adjust the proportions so that they provide that same nuance without the prevalence (and flammability). By the way, I found some excellent petite gris snails, canned, at our local market that are of high quality and at a surprisingly low price. I have since bought them out!

1 8 oz can Petit Gris Snails, drained
4 oz. butter, high-quality, sliced into ½ oz pieces
3 oz. (approximate) flat-leaf parsley, chiffonade
1 tbsp. Bourbon of choice (we used Four Roses Single Barrel)
1 clove garlic, sliced thin as possible
bread boule, hollowed out and toasted

With butter in it, bring pan to medium-high heat. When butter begins to foam, add escargot, then garlic. Sauté for 3 minutes, shaking often. Add Bourbon and parsley. Sauté for 1-2 minutes, shaking often. Pour inside toasted boule. Serve, allowing guests to soak up the butter mixture with the pulled interior of the bread.

The toasted crust also makes for a delicious critter tapas – as my neighborhood raccoon can attest. (I laid out this for the morning birds, yet he had designs of his own!)

Article and Recipe by BourbonBlog.com Chef/Mixologist Stephen Dennison

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“Big Red” Onions Recipe

Posted 4:30 pm August 25th, 2010

Kentuckians like Texans and vice versa. Perhaps it’s because we gave them Daniel Boone at the Alamo, or that they gave us chili (the average Kentuckian’s favorite [it’s not Kentucky burgoo] meal.) I’d honestly bet that it’s because we share the same soda- Big Red.

This stuff has traditionally been released to select states, yet it’s a prominent part of the culinary landscape in these places. Now, you can actually order Big Red from their website from where you live. I personally was bottle fed this soda- red, yet not a crème. It is simply described as “Red,” to be truthful.

Next, we will show a familiar recipe that illustrates the use of a soda simple syrup in a culinary role. This will be based in part upon our last two articles from the Maker’s 46 series including our Blueberry/Coca-Cola Infusion and Maker’s and Coke Reengineered. We hope that you enjoy the technique and will enjoy using it with some of your own local soda selections.

For the Syrup:

1 part Big Red or local soda variation
1 part Sugar

Bring Soda to a boil. Add sugar and dissolve. Let sit to room temperature. Store refrigerated, up to two weeks. Combine:

1 part Soda Syrup
1 part water
1 part white vinegar

Warm till just below simmer.

Add: 1 medium onion, yellow, sliced.

Cover.

Let sit overnight. Serve.

Recipe and article by BourbonBlog.com‘s Chef/Mixlogist Stephen Dennison

Posted in Appetizers and Snacks, Blog, Food Recipes | 1 Comment »

Seasonality: The Gazpacho Cocktail

Posted 4:11 pm July 2nd, 2010

Like chefs, bartenders design cocktails based upon a variety of different criteria. At the top of this wide and variant list is the question of the season. Indeed, whether the mixologist knows it consciously or not, I believe that we all ‘get in the mood, and that this mood compels us, instinctively, to follow the seasons.

Most people simply do not order hot toddies in the middle of summer and pina coladas tend to fall out of favor in the winter. Now reverse the roles and both drinks find favor in their respective seasons. Fresh berry smashes aren’t nearly as good out of season, when they are produced in the assembly lines of hothouses. I’ll hold that some drinks are timeless, but there is a reason that mint juleps are consumed almost exclusively, in Spring around Derby-time- even in Kentucky.

The following is a wonderfully light, refreshing summer cocktail meant to use the first of the year’s tomatoes and cucumbers. Drawing inspiration from Spain’s archetypical chilled summer soup, it finishes with the surprise of sweet balsamic vinegar exploding out of what appears to be a simple grape tomato in the bottom of the glass. Salud!

For the mix:

4 Vine-Ripened Tomatoes
2 Large English Cucumber
1 Garlic Clove
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 Pepperoncinis, destemmed
1 Tbspn Pepperoncini brine
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Place all in a blender and blend until fine. Press through a chinois or fine-mesh strainer with the back of a ladle. Discard pulp (yet it does make a nice salsa with the addition of cilantro.) Strain the liquid through coffee filters (you will have to use more than one.

Crystal Head Vodka Recipe For the drink:

1 part Crystal Head Vodka, or other neutral vodka
3 parts Mix

Shaken, Served up.

For the garnish:

Grape Tomatoes
Balsamic Vinegar
Meat Injection Needle

Simply inject the tomato, where the stem met fruit, with the injection needle. You will find that if you stir the inside of the tomato up a bit, it will absorb more vinegar. Take it slow, being careful not to pierce the bottom or to inject the vinegar too quickly. It can make quite the mess, if you let it!

Recipe and Article by BourbonBlog.com Beverage Consultant/Mixologist Stephen Dennison

Posted in Blog, Food Recipes, Recipes | 1 Comment »

Smackin-Cracklin Bacon

Posted 3:30 pm May 10th, 2010

Smackin-Cracklin Bacon by Stephen Dennison

What you will need:

Sheet Pan

Large Plate

Paper Towels

Sautee Pan

Whisk

Ingredients:

2 oz. Butter

2 oz. Margaritaville Dark Rum

3 Tbsp. Sugar

10 Pieces Thick-Cut Bacon (we used hickory-smoked)

Food Release Spray

Black Pepper

Procedure:

Lay out bacon on sheet pan. Bake in 300d oven. Cook until still soft, almost crispy, approx 10-14 minutes. Remove from oven. Place on paper towel-lined plate. Pat dry.

In sauté pan, add butter and rum. Melt on medium heat until incorporated, whisking occasionally. Add sugar and whisk until fully incorporated. Reduce heat to low. Add bacon, taking care not to over-crowd the pan. Allow bacon to sit in the glaze for 2 minutes. Remove and place upon the sheet pan, wiped free of excess bacon fat and sprayed with food release. Do not allow the bacon slices to touch each other! Pepper, to taste. Allow to set for at least 3 minutes prior to serving.

Article written and recipe created by BourbonBlog.com’s Beverage Consultant Chef/Mixologist Stephen Dennison.

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