Cooking with Whisky?

You can use it for desert in fudge or brownies (or both). A chicken fried in butter and whisky (had this in Inverness, they used glenmorangie) can be quite delicious. I often marinate the BBQ meat in laphroaig, to give it an extra medicinal smokey peat flavour, but always be careful, alcohol and hot charcoal don't mix that well

Making BBQ sauces for pulled pork (you could also use bourbon), baking (whisky cakes)...if was a peated whisky, I'd suggest making whisky matured cheese: awardrobeofwhisky.com/post/…

All good suggestions. Thanks.

Bourbon pecan pie is always good. Slow cooked pork ribs in a crock pot with bourbon added to the sauce. And some peach, bourbon pork chops again in the crock pot. Come to think of it I've never used scotch to cook with.

@maltygirl - Arrowroot or social tea cookies (or just about any cookie) - dunk them in a generous pour of your 'surplus' whisky. A wide mouth mug works best...really. Getting the 'dunk time' right is the challenge...keep a spoon handy. You'll be wishing the bottle of CR was bigger. Scrumptious!

@paddockjudge When I first read your post I thought you were joking but I think your serious. I would have never thought to dunk 'butter cookies' in my whisky.

@maltygirl - I assure you, the word delicacy is appropriate for this practice. Yes, it does appear to be a silly post and especially on April 1st. Butter cookies would be an excellent choice. You are going to love it.

I regularly saute mushrooms with thin sliced shallots, truffle or olive oil, and a small dram of scotch. Finish with black pepper. Bourbon may find their way into a marinade.

I use bourbon for pulled pork rub. If I just use dry ingredients in the rub, a lot of it falls off. Using bourbon turns the rub into a paste which sticks to the pork shoulder, marinates more effectively, and provides a better char on the crust, getting hungry just thinking about it.

Note this is not the same thing as BBQ sauce, that goes on the cooked meat afterwards. A rub/paste you put on the raw hunk of pork shoulder (usually 5 to 9 lbs heavy) and let it sit for several hours, leave it on, and then cook over low and slow heat for several hours.

I made parfait that used rum a couple months ago. They were a major hit. I'll try to find the recipe and see if crown would work into it somehow. More to come on that!

I made some icecream with Cragganmore and that was a favourite on the whiskyclub.

@softailman Whisky Ice Cream? Now that sounds interesting. I'll have to try that.

Just thought I'd bump this thread to see if anyone has any recipes that uses whisky that they'd like to share? I've been Googling around some, and this is one I intend to try in a couple of days:

myrecipes.com/recipe/…

I'll report back with my findings.

I like to make parfait with a generous helping of whisky. Vanilla and glenlivet nadurra works like a charm!

I make a Smoked Bourbon Cheesecake that is to die for! I wrote about it on a pellet grill forum, here: pelletheads.com/index.php I can post my recipe if people are interested (I'm not at home as I write this), but what makes it really "Pop!" Is cooking in a smoker--I cook mine in a pellet grill, which imparts a delicate smoke flavour (think of a pellet grill as a convection oven heated by a wood fire; there is smoke, yes, but not billowing clouds of it).

To top the cheesecake, I make a sauce (from Martha Stewart, dontcha know) consisting of equal parts heavy cream, sugar, and bourbon, with a bit of butter.

Oh, and other whiskies work with this, too. I used some Urban Craft Single Malt for my last cheesecake and sauce (made for a group of art students); the oak tang of the Urban malt came through nicely (I need to get more of that juice).

@Spitfire i would love that recipe. I love cheesecake and have been planning on purchasing a pellet grill in the near future, so this sounds perfect.

@gfc OK here you go.

First, look at this site for general tips: dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/…

Then, before starting, wrap the outside of a large springform pan with heavy-duty tinfoil (it's going to be sitting in water, so it needs to be watertight). Smear the inside of the pan with butter or oil.

Start the pellet grill and aim for about 325F.

My recipe:

Crust: 2 cups of chocolate wafer crumbs (I use Christy brand) 1/2 cup butter (I prefer unsalted)

Crush the chocolate wafers into fine crumbs and mix with the melted butter. Spread in the bottom of a large springform pan (already smeared with butter or oil, and wrapped with heavy duty tinfoil).

Cheesecake: 3 bricks cream cheese (250 gm each) 3/4 cup sugar (I prefer less refined sugar, such as sucanat) 3 tbsp cornstarch 2 large eggs (I get these from my neighbour...) 2/3 cup whipping cream 1 tbsp vanilla extract 2 tbsp bourbon

Mix 1/2 of the sugar with one brick of cream cheese and the cornstarch; beat it until soft. Mix in the rest of the cheese, sugar, vanilla and of course the bourbon (and whatever, I might throw in a bit extra, and pour myself a dram as well--just for quality control, of course!). Beat this well, then add the eggs and whipping cream and mix just enough to make everything smooth.

Pour the batter into the pan on top of the crust. Place the springform pan into a larger pan, pour boiling water into the larger pan until it comes about 3/4" up the side of the springform, then put the whole thing into the pellet grill. Bake at 325F for an hour to 75 minutes or so--take it out as soon as it all seems solid (centre can be a bit wet still). Try not to overcook it.

Remove it from the grill and let it cool for several hours--you can put it in the fridge overnight.

Sauce: Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 cup whipping cream in a saucepan, heating gently until the sugar dissolves, add 1/2 cup bourbon, and simmer gently until it reduces a bit. Add in 2 tbsp butter and remove from the heat, stirring until smooth. Cool before serving. (BTW, I usually only make a half recipe of this stuff--very good, but very rich).

Enjoy. This has been a consistent crowd-pleaser for me.

@Spitfire what bourbon do you use?

@Nozinan I usually use "cheap" bourbon (Jim Beam white label or similar)--there are enough other flavours that the quality of the spirit probably won't make much difference, and I'd rather drink the good stuff. Note, if I wasn't baking this on a pellet grill, I might be more concerned about the spirit.

That said, when I made this a week or so ago I used Urban Distillers' Craft Single Malt, which has a strong oak tang that came through in the finished product--wonderful!

@Spitfire thanks a ton, I am definitely trying this when i get the grill!

@gfc Check out pelletheads.com --it's a forum dedicated to pellet grills, not associated with any specific brand (but they do have several brand-specific boards where owners can discuss problems or quirks).

The quick story: I got my pellet grill after a really bad experience at a "ribs joint" provoked me to learn how to cook ribs at home properly, and, although I had good success on the old propane grill, when it came time to replace it... :-)

The other day I tried that recipe I posted earlier (myrecipes.com/recipe/…) and it turned out pretty tasty. I used Collingwood for the whisky (I just can't get into that one... so figured it'd be a good sacrificial lamb for cooking) and the sauce ended up quite flavourful.

Although I should note that it made quite a bit more sauce than I needed for the meat, so the next day I used the leftover sauce on a vegetable stirfry. Basically, I took some chopped up peppers, mushrooms, carrots, corn, kidney beans, and potato and fried it up and then just added the sauce. I served it with rice, and it was really quite good too.

So yeah, I can recommend that recipe if you're looking to use up some whisky you'd rather not drink. Next up I think I'll try a burger recipe (passthesushi.com/whiskey-burgers-zesty-pota…) but that won't be for a week or so. Once I try it I'll report back with my findings.