Tag Archives: bourbon

Browned Butter & Bourbon Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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Tip: Refrigerate the dough overnight to develop structure and a more complex flavor.

Ingredients

  • 3 sticks unsalted sweet cream butter (345g)
  • 1 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed, (350g)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100g)
  • 3 Tbsp bourbon (50ml)
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract (10 ml)
  • 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour (500g)
  • 2 tsp cornstarch (8g)
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda (6g)
  • 3/4 tsp salt (3g)
  • 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips/chunks (425g)

Directions

Melt butter over medium low heat. Heat the melted butter, swirling occasionally, until it turns amber and gives a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer to a heatproof bowl to halt cooking and allow to cool to room temperature, at least 90 minutes.

Combine browned butter and sugars in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Cream the sugars and butter until well incorporated and slightly fluffy. Add eggs and yolk one at a time, allowing each egg to fully incorporate, also scraping down the sides. Add vanilla and bourbon, then mix to incorporate, also scraping down the sides one last time.

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt in another bowl. Add in thirds to the wet ingredients, mixing slowly so to not incorporate air.

Add chocolate chips/chunks and stir to combine.

Turn out onto cling wrap and seal. Refrigerate overnight to several days to develop texture and flavor.

Baking

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Scoop out ¼ cup sized balls of dough and place on lined sheet 3 inches apart. Press dough gently to the sheet to flatten slightly. Bake in 350°F oven 10-12 minutes until well browned, turning once. Optionally sprinkle with flaked sea salt while turning.

Allow to cool and set 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Adapted from https://sugarspunrun.com/browned-butter-and-bourbon-cookies/

Bacon, bacon, bacon!

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Our last attempt at curing bacon didn’t work out so well, coming out more like a country ham than bacon. The cure also gave the fat a kind of sickly, gamey flavor that I found mildly off putting. It was a combination of too much salt, too much time and blurring the line between a wet cure and a dry cure.

Back to fundamentals. This 10 pound belly is split into thirds and I’m working on three different recipes: a basic dry cure, a basic wet cure and a bourbon & black pepper wet cure.

Basic Dry Cure

Derived from several online sources. This is for 3.3 lbs of belly.

  • 3.3 lb pork belly, trimmed
  • ¼ cup sea salt
  • ¼ cup raw sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoon pink salt

Combine dry ingredients and coat pork belly liberally on all sides. Seal in a zip lock bag and displace as much air as possible. Refrigerate 5 days, turning daily. After 5 days, rinse the cure from the belly, pat dry and refrigerate on a rack 4 hours or overnight, uncovered. Smoke over 225°F until internal temp reaches 150°F. Refrigerate up to 1 week, or freeze up to 2 months.

Basic Wet Cure

Derived from several online sources. This is for 3.3 lbs of belly.

  • 3.3 lb pork belly, trimmed
  • ¼ cup sea salt
  • ¼ cup raw sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pink salt
  • 2 cups cold water

Combine ingredients in a zip lock bag and slosh around to dissolve. Seal belly in the bag with the brine and displace as much air as possible. Refrigerate 2-3 days, turning daily. After 3 days, rinse the cure from the belly, pat dry and refrigerate in a rack 4 hours or overnight, uncovered. Smoke over 225°F until internal temp reaches 150°F. Refrigerate up to 1 week, or freeze up to 2 months.

Bourbon & Black Pepper Wet Cure

Derived from several online sources. This is for 3.3 lbs of belly.

  • 3.3 lb pork belly, trimmed
  • ¼ cup sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons raw sugar
  • 2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon pink salt
  • 1 ½ cups cold water
  • ½ cup Kentucky straight bourbon, 80 proof

Combine ingredients in a zip lock bag and slosh around to dissolve. Seal belly in the bag with the brine and displace as much air as possible. Refrigerate 2-3 days, turning daily. After 3 days, rinse the cure from the belly, pat dry and refrigerate in a rack 4 hours or overnight, uncovered. Smoke over 225°F until internal temp reaches 150°F. Refrigerate up to 1 week, or freeze up to 2 months.

No Man’s Land

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imageWhat better drink to order in Old Chicago than the World War I favorite, the No Man’s Land?  Made with bourbon, grenadine, lemon and bitters as a traditional daiquiri, this was a popular favorite among American service men along Western Front.

Amanda C. made this one with dubious but attentive care at the Aloft bar at Chicago O’Hare using Knob Creek 100 Kentucky Bourbon, just like the old Dough Boys used to drink. An authentic drink from bygone days, in an old town that gave much during the Great War.

Ingredients

  • 3 oz bourbon or rye
  • 1 oz grenadine
  • 1/2 oz lemon juice
  • bitters to taste

Shake over ice and serve in a cocktail or rocks glass.

Maple, Bacon and Bourbon Turkey fry!

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I volunteered to contribute a fried turkey to our Festivus staff lunch today, and had planned to fry the bird on site. The logistics of carting along the fryer, propane, carving kit and work table were complicated by rain in the forecast. I didn’t feel comfortable frying under the overhang on our loading dock, and didn’t want to stain the concrete. I was feeling too lazy to bring a canopy along, so I just did the fry at home and brought the hot bird in.  I had wanted to share the process with some of the guys at the office, so I took some shots and video for them. 

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Maple bacon bourbon brine

The brine was the best part. I adapted another recipe I had and brined the bird overnight. It’d make a great injection marinade as well.

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Rain in the forecast, frying under a canopy

It’s always a little dodgy running a hot fryer under a cannot like this. The vinyl cloth gets soft and sags, collecting rain water. I really need to get a new canopy. Still, this did the trick for today.  That’s my 110k BTU burner under there.