Cooking With Bourbon

I am curious.....what is everyone's favorite main dish, appetiser, soup or stew (meat or vegetarian or vegan) that involoves bourbon? Do you prefer the item marinated in bourbon or the flavoring in an accompanying sauce? do you like the alcohol flavor or the alcohol cooked out? Just curious, entered the Evan Williams contest at the fair and I am still trying to decide what to cook.

Carolyne,

My favorite bourbon foods tend to be sweet (Bourbon/Whiskey cake, Bourbon sauce on Bread pudding, etc, Mint Julep brownies ), but I may not be typical. My understanding from the Evan Williams folks is that historically a huge percentage of the submissions are for some kind of BBQ- mostly pork. ( Ironic given that the Shapira family who owns Heaven Hill/Evan Williams are Jewish... )

Deb

Deb:
I'm with you, I tend to like bourbon in sweeter dishes. I have entered this %$#@ contest every year since it started but two and have NEVER placed! Every other fair cooking competition I have won ribbons in at least once. Not this one and it makes me crazy! Honestly, I blame the judges.....pick something more exotic. Last year it was wings. aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhh! Anyway, I am sort of leaning toward either a salmon or shrimp something or my butternut squash bisque. We'll see.

I can't cook worth a darn but if it were me, just from a marketing perspective, I'd do a game hen of some sort. A pheasant or cornish hen. Not the usual beef, pork stuff they see so much of. There's alocal pheasant farm out near Brooks KY. Work the 'local' angle.

I am curious.....what is everyone's favorite main dish, appetiser, soup or stew (meat or vegetarian or vegan) that involoves bourbon? Do you prefer the item marinated in bourbon or the flavoring in an accompanying sauce? do you like the alcohol flavor or the alcohol cooked out? Just curious, entered the Evan Williams contest at the fair and I am still trying to decide what to cook.

As a relative newcomer to KY I'm still getting a handle on Bourbon recipes...That being said I am beginning to take a real liking to drinking the stuff.

Sticking to recipes for a moment, we are quite fond of the Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce at Selena's. I keep telling Becky I want to smear it all....errrrrrrr....never mind Seriously though, give the Bread Puddin' a try. It rocks.

I love your idea Carla. By any chance do you remember the name of the place? Cornish hen had crossed my mind a couple of times.
Steve, you always crack me up!

I am sorry Carolyn I don't remember the name. Only that it was out near Nob Hill road. It may not even be there any more. This link
http://www.kyagr.com/buyky/corral/FarmS ... ategory=95
will take you to the KY Proud store bird farms and shows one in Frankfort. I'll keep looking.

[Robin Garr]

Here are a couple of recipes I created using Bourbon as an ingredient, at least a supporting player if not the star.

SAVORY:
Bourbon pecan chicken

SWEET:
Bread pudding

I usually add about 1/2 cup per dutch oven of burgoo when I make it at Derby time. I generally add it with about 30 minutes of simmer left - just enough time to get rid of the alcohol flavor and concentrate the sweetness a bit.

It adds a nice taste to the overwhemlingly meaty stew.

You can even get cornish hens @ Kroger! (If you're featuring the sauce, finding an expensive "free range" bird isn't as important).

One key to this particular contest is to remember that (1) you bring the dish in covered, (2) register and then uncover it, and (3) it sits there or up to 30 minutes rapidly chilling before anyone tastes it. Last time I entered, I did a cold dish featuring bourbon, as it would hold up better.

Looking at past winners, most (NOT all) are in two categories: very simple grilled meat with a bourbon marinade and/or sauce (which holds up very well while sitting out) or casseroles (which retain heat and aren't bothered by sitting in juice/gravy for a while). Some really fancy dishes - which the entrants obviously spent a lot of time and money creating - had congealed fat and sauce, limp vegetables, etc; they might have won if served fresh & hot, but after getting to the fair and then sitting were disasters. (I am not sure about Robin's recipe . . . you can't light the sauce at the last minute, and I'm afraid that sitting would hurt the dish)

In other words, you need to "play the game", backing into a recipe from what you want the judges to see and taste. (and - from talking to the judges - visuals account for almost half of the points)

Good luck!

[Robin Garr]

the Evan Williams contest at the fair

Say, I'm judging that! Heh heh heh ...

Get outta here, Robin! You're judging the bourbon, right? LOL!!!
At any rate, I thank everyone for all the suggestions. I have made a decision and am keeping it secret in case Andrew has entered again this year!!! JK! I'll let you know the results afterward. I have entered the "My Favorite Cake" category and I am entering a wedding cake in the non professional division. (I only make them for friends as gifts right now)....so wish me luck!!!

I have a great salmon with bourbon and brown sugar recipe. So simple to make and everyone LOVES it every time!!

Good luck!
Jess

My mother makes a pork loin with bourbon sauce. It's sort of a cross between sweet and savory. She butterflies the pork loin, stuffs it with a mixture of dried apricots (don't know if she soaks them in liquid or not first), pecans, and rosemary, then wraps it up. She seasons the outside and adds a little really finely chopped rosemary. She browns it on the stovetop, then roasts it until it comes up to temperature. Then, while it's resting, she deglazes the pan with a whole lot of bourbon (a cup at least?), which she lights to burn off the alcohol either before deglazing or while deglazing - not sure on that. Then, she mellows out the sauce with cream. It's really good.

Sorry I don't have the exact details. I watched her make this many, many times for company, but I never did it myself. I think I'll have to start experimenting right now. Pork and bourbon are great together, I think of the both as "Southern" flavors somehow.

The Shrimp Jenkins from Equus is one of my favorite bourbon recipes...Here's the recipe!

http://secretsoflouisvillechefs.com/ind ... pageid=143

I don't think it would be "kosher" to use in competition though, as it has already been used...

http://www.ksuaquaculture.org/ETCrecipes.htm

Although, if you tweak the recipe a little and use something like chicken croquettes instead of shrimp or use the sauce as a country ham glaze I think it would "fair" pretty well.