Bourbon Chicken

Yum! Largely inspired by Cook's Country's recipe published Aug/Sept 2021.

Ingredients

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken cut into bite-sized pieces

1-2 T cornstarch

¼ C soy (or tamari or amino acids)

¼ C brown sugar

2 T bourbon

1 t toasted sesame oil, plus more for cooking

      (or use vegetable oil for cooking)

½ t Sriracha or a pinch of red pepper flakes

1 lg clove garlic

1 t grated or fine minced fresh ginger

1-2 t apple cider vinegar

1 T butter

Optional for serving/garnishing: toasted sesame seeds, sliced scallions, rice...

Directions

Whisk together soy, brown sugar, bourbon, 1 t sesame oil and Sriracha/pepper flakes in a small bowl. Heat, as needed, to dissolve sugar.

Toss the chicken pieces with cornstarch. Preheat skillet over medium-high heat; add 1 T sesame (or vegetable) oil to coat; add chicken. Cook, stirring and turning as needed, until browned and cooked through. (10 minutes, more or less, depending on the size of your chicken pieces)

Add garlic, ginger and sauce. Bring to a boil; cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened to a syrupy consistency (6-8 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in cider vinegar and butter.

Serve ...over rice, garnished with sliced scallions and/or sesame seeds.

Bourbon-Peach Sauce on Pork Tenderloin

This is my own spin inspired by a couple different recipes...bourbon-peach over chicken, pork chops...or ice cream! I had a pork tenderloin this time around, but the sauce would work with other cuts and proteins. And the ice cream sounds like a winner too! Fresh peaches would be ideal, but this time of year, I used canned...and even added a little of the juice to the sauce.

Ingredients

1-1.5 lb pork tenderloin (or chops, chicken, etc.)

s & p

1-2 T neutral flavored oil (I used olive oil)

2 C sliced, peeled peaches*

2 T bourbon

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 T honey

1 T butter

* fresh peaches wouldn't have to be peeled; it's just a textural preference for me

Directions

Preheat oven to 375° F. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. rub oil all over the tenderloin and season with salt & pepper. Sear the tenderloin until well-browned on all sides. Transfer the tenderloin to a baking sheet to finish in the oven. (Depending on the thickness of your tenderloin, you could do all the cooking in the skillet. It's done when a thermometer inserted in the thickest part reaches 145° F; actually, you can pull it off the heat around 140° F as it will continue to heat/cook a bit as it rests. A thicker cut can be finished in the oven while you work on the sauce.) When the internal temp reaches 145° F,  remove it from the heat onto a plate or cutting board, tent it with foil and let it rest while you prepare the sauce.

Add peaches to the skillet with a little extra oil, if needed; cook until they just begin to brown and caramelize, but are still firm. Add bourbon, vinegar and honey; stir or swirl often as sauce boils, cooking 4-5 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat; add butter swirling or stirring--gently, don't smash the peaches--until melted and incorporated. Season with salt & pepper as desired.

Slice the tenderloin; serve with peaches & sauce.

Lemon-Caper White Sauce

Serve it hot over chicken or fish. Thinned a little and chilled - it's zesty as a salad dressing.

Ingredients
1 med shallot, minced (about ¼ C)
1 T olive oil
¼ C white wine
¾ t lemon zest
juice of 1 lemon (scant ¼ C)
1 C + 1 T chicken broth, divided
1 T capers
1 T cornstarch
2 T butter
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Cook shallot in olive oil just until softened. Add wine, lemon zest and juice, deglazing pan; simmer until reduced by about half (2-4 minutes). Stir in broth, capers and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Continue simmering until reduced by half again (another 3-4 minutes).

Whisk together remaining T of broth and cornstarch to form a slurry; whisk into sauce and heat gently just until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in butter; season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired.

Apple-Maple Cider Cocktail or 'Mocktail'

Ingredients
3 C apple cider
3 T lemon juice
3 T maple syrup
optional: 2 or 3 sprigs of thyme for steeping; extra thyme sprigs and/or very thin apple slices for garnish, if desired

1 C ginger beer or gingerale (mocktail)
    or
¾ C bourbon (cocktail)

Directions
If stronger thyme flavor is desired, steep apple cider with thyme first: Bring apple cider to boil with 3 or 4 sprigs of thyme; remove from heat. Chill. Remove thyme sprigs. (Maple flavor is more pronounced without steeping thyme.)

Add lemon juice and maple syrup to apple cider, stirring until maple syrup is dissolved. Add ginger beer, gingerale, or bourbon. Pour into glasses over ice. Garnish with apple slices and/or thyme sprigs.

Buttered Bourbon Spiced Cider

A hot-buttered-rum-twist on spiced cider. I like this better than hot buttered rum!

Ingredients
½ C butter, softened
 C brown sugar
 t each nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon
4 C applie cider
1 C bourbon

Directions
Mix the brown sugar and spices into the softened butter. Shape into a 1" thick roll/log, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour.

Heat the apple cider. Divide the cider and bourbon between 6 mugs. Add a slice of spiced butter.

The sugared and spiced butter sinks to the bottom and as it melts, drop by drop, floats to the surface where it spreads out in a delicious, spiced butter layer to sip through with each swallow!

5 Cool (sparkling!) Drinks for Hot Summer Days

Cool drinks for hot summer days...or whenever! Personally, I love carbonated drinks; bring on the bubbles! But they can tend to have a lot of sugar (and sometimes caffeine) and the healthier versions can get kind of pricey. So...here are some homemade flavors; with a little extra effort ahead of time, you can have more control over the amount of sugar and keep costs down. I made a few of the base syrups and kept them in the refridgerator; with some seltzer or club soda on hand...easy to mix and enjoy spontaneously! If desired, you could substitute Prosecco or any other sparkling wine for an alcoholic version. Let these inspire other flavors as well...

Grapefruit Jalapeno Soda
Ingredients -- per 4-6 servings
2 C grapefruit juice
¼ C sugar -- more or less to taste
½ jalapeno*
seltzer or club soda

* more or less, with or without seeds...to your taste; I'm not a big jalapeno fan; I used 1/2 of a smaller jalapeno without seeds -- and wasn't sure I'd like it even then. But I love grapefruit...I used a grapefruit flavored seltzer with this one; and--to my taste--it was good!

Directions
Combine grapefruit juice, sugar and jalapeno (slice or dice it if you want to release more flavor) in a small saucepan. Bring to simmer for 5-10 minutes until syrupy. Let cool, then strain. Combine 2 or more ounces with seltzer or club soda and ice.

Sparkling Basil Lemonade
Ingredients -- per serving
2 oz frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed*
6 (about) torn basil leaves
seltzer, club soda or gingerale

* or make your own simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, boiled to dissolve all the sugar) and mix with lemon juice.

Directions
Combine concentrate and torn basil leaves in a small saucepan and bring to boiling. Remove from heat; let cool, then strain. Combine 2 oz of syrup with 10 oz (more or less) club soda, some ice, and a fresh sprig of basil.

Minted Sparkling Limeade
Ingredients -- per 2 servings
2 oz each: lime juice and water
2 T sugar (more or less to taste)
6 (about) mint leaves
seltzer, club soda or gingerale

Directions
Combine lime juice, water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to simmer for 5 minutes until syrupy. Stir in mint leaves, muddling slightly; let cool, then strain. Combine 2 oz of syrup with 10 oz (more or less) seltzer, club soda or gingerale, some ice, and a fresh sprig of mint.

Grape-Vanilla Soda
Ingredients -- per serving
2 oz frozen grape concentrate, thawed*
½ tsp vanilla extract
seltzer, club soda or Prosecco

Directions
Stir together the grape concentrate and vanilla in a glass. Add ice and seltzer, club soda or Prosecco.

Minted Sparkling Grapefruit Punch
Ingredients --  per 4-5 servings
 C loosely packed mint leaves
1-2 T sugar
3 C grapefruit juice
optional: 1 C vodka (personally, I'd prefer rum in this mix, but suit yourself!)
seltzer or club soda

Directions
Muddle mint leaves with sugar in the bottom of a pitcher. Add grapefruit juice (and vodka, if desired). Chill. If desired, strain out muddled mint leaves. Serve over ice with seltzer or club soda and a fresh mint sprig.

Mint Juleps

My mint plant is growing like crazy lately. So...I made some minted simple syrup and threw together a mint julep!

For each Mint Julep...

Ingredients
2-3 fresh mint leaves
1 T minted simple syrup*
1 (or 2) T bourbon
crushed ice
1 fresh mint sprig

* Simple syrup is simply equal parts sugar and water, heated enough to dissolve all the sugar. For minted simple syrup I used 1 cup each of sugar and water, brought it to boiling, then threw in 4 generous mint sprigs (muddling and crushing them to release the mint oils) and let them steep while it cooled. 

Directions
Muddle 2-3 fresh mint leaves in the bottom of a glass with the minted simple syrup. Add bourbon and crushed ice, stirring to mix well. Garnish with a fresh mint sprig and a straw (next to the mint so you smell it while drinking the julep!).

Bourbon Sour

I'm not much of a drinker. When I do, it's often some fruity cocktail -- often citrus. I had the bourbon out for a bourbon caramel sauce (have to post that recipe later...), so decided to mix up a simple version of a bourbon sour (recipe complements of Evan Faber @ Salt bistro in Boulder, CO)

Mix roughly equal parts:  
bourbon
vanilla simple syrup*
lemon juice

Suit your own taste... Evan's recipe is actually 3 parts bourbon, 2 parts each vanilla syrup & lemon.

* Make your own (sugar, water, and vanilla, often boiled to dissolve more sugar) or use a prepared, bottle syrup like the Torani syrups or other brands readily available at supermarkets.

Vanilla-Prosecco Pound Cake

To give credit, this recipe may have come from Better Homes & Gardens. A search on their website didn't turn up anything however, so I can't be sure. It's a decent pound cake, but nothing outstanding -- especially considering all the vanilla paste and prosecco. I'd leave off the glaze next time, dust it with a little powdered sugar and serve it with fresh fruit...and save the prosecco to drink with it (use fruit juice IN the cake).

Ingredients
3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 C prosecco (or other sparkling wine)*
3 T sour cream
2 C sugar
¾ C unsalted butter, melted
¼ C canola or safflower oil
5 eggs, cold
2 T vanilla paste (or extract)

Icing ingredients: 1 C powdered sugar, 1 T sparkling wine

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease and flour a 10" tube pan; set aside.

In large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, salt; set aside.

In large bowl of stand mixer, beat sugar, melted butter, and oil until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Continue to beat on medium to high 3-5 minutes until thicker and lighter in color.

Add a third of flour mixture, beating on low until just combined. Add half prosecco mixture next, then another third of flour, then remaining prosecco, then flour; beat until just combined after each addition.

Pour or spoon batter into prepared tube pan. Bake 50-55 minutes, until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes. Turn out of pan, onto rack; cool completely. Drizzle with prosecco glaze.


* For an alcoholic-free pound cake, substitute milk or a fruit juice. Fruit juices will, of course, alter the flavor...but that might be an intentional choice!

Beef & Vegetable Stew with Red Wine & Thyme

There's a lot of flexibility with this and any soup or stew recipe. I just kind of put in what I had available...trying to use up the end of a bottle of red wine, and half a green pepper. Add and adjust to suit your taste...or whatever you have on hand! These amounts made enough to feed about six.

Ingredients:
1 sweet onion, large diced
1 tsp thyme 
¼+ C butter
32 oz beef stock
1 lb beef stew meat
1½ C red wine (cabernet, or any red wine)
1 lb potatoes, large diced 
½ lb carrots, large diced 
½ green pepper, large diced 
¼ C heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
After dicing the vegetables, sauté and caramelize the onions in a couple tablespoons of butter. (I actually had the grease from bacon fried the previous day, but any fat would work.) Meanwhile, heat beef stock in a stock pot. When the onions are nearly ready, add the thyme and continue to sauté until fragrant; then add to stock pot. If you like (and I do!), brown the potatoes and carrots first; if not, add them directly to the stock pot.

Pat the beef dry with a paper towel; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown in a hot pan with  a couple tablespoons of butter (or bacon fat...); add to the stock pot. Use the red wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits left in the pan, then add to the stock pot.

If you like a thicker stew, melt some additional butter (or bacon fat) in the sauté pan, and use roughly an equal amount of flour to make a roux; add some of the beef stock and whisk to make a smooth gravy...then add it all to the stock pot to thicken the broth. I had about ¼ cup of heavy cream leftover from another recipe...so I added that too.

Simmer until potatoes and carrots are thoroughly cooked. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sparkling Blackberry Mint Julep

Ingredients:
mini ice cubes or crushed ice 
½ C blackberries
4 Tbls mint leaves, torn or roughly chopped
2 Tbls simple syrup*
3 oz bourbon
prosecco (or other sparkling wine)

* Combine equal parts water and sugar; bring to boil just long enough to melt sugar. Cool.

Directions:
Fill 8 oz glasses with ice cubes/crushed ice.

Muddle blackberries, mint leaves and simple syrup in shaker (or bowl).  Add 1 C ice and bourbon; shake (or mix) well. Strain and pour into glasses, filling ¾ full. Finish filling glasses with Prosecco.

Garnish, if desired, with additional mint leaves and/or blackberries. Serve with a short straw.

For a non-alcoholic version, simply skip the bourbon and use seltzer water or ginger ale instead of prosecco.

Beer Brine

I only have a photo of pork chops marinating. The finished product doesn't look all that much different than a typical roasted (grilled, baked, fried...) chop. Of course, plate presentation with a side dish and a little garnish can dress anything up! :)

Ingredients:
1 12 oz bottle amber ale
1 Tbls kosher salt
1/8 C brown sugar
½ Tbls black peppercorns
½ Tbls mustard seeds
½ Tbls fennel seeds
1 clove garlic, peeled & crushed

Directions: Combine all ingredients in saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar and salt are fully dissolved. Let cool completely. Place pork or beef in zip lock bag with brine. Chill at least 4-6 hours. Remove meat from brine (discard brine); rinse gently. Cook.

Strawberry Soup

Ingredients:
2 quarts strawberries
¼ - ½ C honey
1 - 2 Tbls lemon juice
1 C Riesling wine

Directions:
Wash, hull and trim strawberries. Puree everything in a food processor until smooth. Use more or less honey and lemon juice depending on the sweetness of the berries. Champagne can be substituted for the Riesling (or try a splash of Grand Marnier or Kirsch), or sparkling cider for a non-alcoholic soup.

Serve well chilled; garnish with fresh berries, mint and/or a dollop of vanilla yogurt. 

Same quantities can be used to make a cantaloupe or honeydew melon soup.

Green Apple Sauvignon Blanc Sorbet

Ice cream, sorbet, gelato...what's the difference?

Ingredients:
1 C water 
¾ C sugar
1½ lbs Granny Smith apples
¾ C chilled Sauvignon Blanc 
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:
Peel and core apples; cut into 1" chunks. Heat water, sugar and apples in saucepan over medium-high heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pan; simmer until apples are very tender (about 10-12 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in wine, salt and lemon juice. Using an immersion blender (or transfer mixture to standard blender), purée mixture. Place mixture in frig until chilled. Process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions (usually about 20 minutes). For a firmer consistency, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for an additional 2-8 hours before serving.

For a non-alcoholic version, simply substitute apple juice for the wine.

Chicken Braised in Wine & Rosemary

Ingredients:
1½ -2 lbs chicken
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 Tbls olive oil 
¼ C flour 
½ C chopped shallots
1 Tbls chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 C Chianti (or other rich red wine)
1 C chicken stock*
1 tsp sugar
1 (14.5 oz) can crushed or diced tomatoes*
1 bay leaf
2 Tbls chopped fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley

* The original recipe called for low sodium and/or sodium free chicken stock and canned tomatoes. While the wine, rosemary, garlic and bay leaf added good flavor, I found the dish slightly under-seasoned and ended up adding a little salt just before serving. Salt & pepper to suit your own tastes.

Directions:
Season chicken pieces with ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Dredge in flour. Heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat, swirling oil to coat. Place chicken pieces in skillet, 3-4 minutes per side to crisp and brown the surface -- they'll get fully cooked later. Remove chicken from pan.

Add shallots, garlic, and rosemary to hot skillet; cook 2 minutes until tender and fragrant. Add wine and bring to boil for 1-2 minutes, gently deglazing the pan. Add remaining salt and pepper, chicken stock, sugar, tomatoes, and bay leaf. Bring to boil. Return chicken to pan. Reduce heat to medium; cook, partially covered, about 15 minutes until chicken is fully cooked and sauce is reduced and thickened.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve.

Rosemary Beef with Blackberry Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients
Two 6-ounce steaks
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary, plus 1 sprig
salt & pepper
2 Tbls olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
1/2 C fruity red wine (such as pinot noir)
2/3 C beef stock
1/4 C blackberries
2 Tbls blackberry preserves
1 Tbls butter, cold

Directions
Heat a skillet over high heat for 2 minutes. While skillet heats, pat steaks dry, then sprinkle with the chopped rosemary and salt & pepper. Add oil to skillet; once it shimmers and is almost smoking, add steaks and rosemary sprig. Sear steaks for 4 minutes on each side, until well browned with a nice crust. Remove the steaks and rosemary sprig to a plate and loosely tent with foil.

Lower heat to medium; add shallots and thyme, cook until soft (about 2 minutes). Add wine, turn heat back up, and scrape up browned bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Reduce wine by half (about 3 minutes).

Stir in the beef broth, blackberries and berry preserves. Mash berries into sauce with a wooden spoon. Continue simmering until sauce is reduced and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat; swirl in cold butter. Taste for seasoning; add salt & pepper if needed.

Serve the steak drizzled with the sauce.

Wine-Marinated Peaches

Ingredients (per person):
1 peach
1 tsp fresh chopped mint
1 Tbls brown sugar
¼ C white wine (a Riesling is nice...sweet)

In a bowl, mix sugar and wine until sugar is dissolved. Add chopped mint.

Pit and dice the peach (peel it if you want, but it's not necessary; white peaches look especially pretty). Add peach pieces to wine mixture, stirring to coat. Place in refrigerator to marinate 1-2 hours before serving; stir it once or twice while marinating to make sure all peach pieces are coated/soaking in wine mixture.

Delicious on it's own, but you can also serve it over ice cream, sponge cake, angel food cake, etc. Other fruits (strawberries, nectarines, pears, plums...) can be prepared the same way. Use more or less sugar depending on how sweet the fruit is itself.

Orange & Pale Ale Marinade

Makes enough for about 2 lbs meat.

½ C medium-bodied beer - pale ale
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 Tbls olive oil
1 Tbls soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
½ onion
1 tsp salt

Peel onion and shred on a grater. Whisk together all ingredients. Put meat in a glass baking dish; coat with marinade. Bake...

This was not my favorite marinade. I generally like the zingy sweet of citrus (in case you hadn't noticed in many of the recent marinade recipes). I don't like beer, though I have other recipes/marinades made with beer that I DO like. Mostly this one was just rather bitter. Maybe with a different ale and a sweet onion...

Mustard & Wine Marinated Game Chops

4 game chops (elk, caribou, venison)
¼ tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
3 Tbls stone ground mustard
1 C red wine

Rub chops with mustard. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with wine and marinate overnight in refrigerator. Broil or grill to medium rare basting with the marinade.

COOL BEANS: White-Bean and Tomato Bruschetta

4 oz sliced pancetta
3 Tbls olive oil
1 C chopped onion
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 C dry white wine
1 (15 oz) can white beans
2 C lightly packed spinach leaves
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
salt
pepper
1 loaf Italian bread

Chop spinach leaves. Rinse and drain white beans; drain diced tomatoes.

Fry pancetta in 1 Tbls oil in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp; drain on paper towel and break into small pieces. Set aside. (Pancetta is a seasoned, Italian bacon. Not at all hard to find even here in the States, but you could substitute ham or other bacon. Not exactly the same...but a reasonable substitute.)

Add remaining oil, onion and rosemary to skillet; cook over medium heat about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Add wine and bring to a boil; boil 1 minute. Stir in beans, reduce heat to low, cover, simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in spinach, tomato, salt and pepper (to taste). Cover and let stand while toasting bread.

Slice bread on the diagonal and toast: Arrange bread slices ona baking sheet adn place under broiler. Toast on one side until golden (about 2 minutes); turn bread and toast second side.

Stir bean mixture and spread on toasts; sprinkle with reserved pancetta.