How to make spirited meals
While you drink alcohol to get inebriated and blur reality, cooking food with it is more about enhancing food taste and aroma than it is about inebriation. The truth is that while cooking may break down part of the alcohol you are using to cook, more than 40 per cent of the alcohol remains potent in the dish.
But you would have to eat quite a large portion of food cooked with alcohol to get inebriated. Cooking with alcohol is an art governed by just a few rules. The first rule is that you should cook only with what you would be comfortable drinking.
If your beer has gone flat and you would need a gun to your head to sip it, it is definitely a bad idea to use it to cook. While it is okay to use top-shelf spirits and wine to cook, it is best to steer away from your expensive collection such as champagne, as cooking will interfere with their composition.
Best to pair your champagne or King David with the food after it is done as you can then savour every thousand note you put into buying the bottle. Cooking with alcohol is highly discretionary. However, you should avoid using too much of it as it might denature the food.
You can use stouts and whiskeys or even beer to make marinades for meat or batter. It is important to note that darker alcohol such as stouts, whiskeys and red wine is perfect for dark meat such as beef, while alcohol that is light in colours such as white wine, gin and tequila is perfect for cooking white meat such as chicken and fish.
You can make anything with alcohol by swapping some of the water needed to cook food with said alcohol. You can make breakfast fruit pudding with whiskey, breakfast bread with beer, main meal sauces with wine and dessert with milk liqueur. Just make sure you give the alcohol enough time to break down so that only the aromatic flavours are left behind.
Get experimental and try making your stews more flavourful by adding just a dash of alcohol. To start you off on this savoury sojourn, here are four recipes.
- PENNE WITH VODKA SAUCE
Ingredients
• 1 packet of penne pasta
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 4 cherry tomatoes, crushed
• ¾ cup vodka
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• Salt
Method
a) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook till al dente. Drain the pasta and reserve one cup of the cooking water. Drizzle the pasta lightly with olive oil, toss and set aside.
b) Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the ground tomatoes, vodka, the reserved cooking water, salt and the red pepper flakes. Bring to a rapid simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened. Stir in the heavy cream and simmer for one more minute.
c) Add the cooked pasta, some olive oil, the grated cheese and parsley to the sauce. Cook, for another two to three minutes.
d) Serve. - FISH WITH CREAMY SAUCE
Ingredients
• 400g firm white fish fillet
• 20g butter
• 2 onions finely chopped
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 180ml dry white wine
• 180ml fish stock
• 300ml cream
• Salt
Method
a) Cook fish in heated oiled large frying pan until cooked. In another pan, melt butter, add the onions, and mustard powder, stirring, until the onions are cooked. Add wine and cook uncovered, until wine reduces by two-thirds.
b) Next add the fish stock, some salt to taste and bring to a boil. Boil uncovered for about seven minutes then add cream and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for a further 15 minutes.
c) Serve fish drizzled with sauce. - RUM BALLS
Ingredients
• 250g plain biscuits
• 395g sweetened condensed milk
• 80g desiccated coconut
• 25g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp finely grated orange rind
• 60ml dark rum
Method
a) Put the biscuits in a bag and beat them with a rolling pin until they form fine crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a large bowl, add condensed milk, coconut, sifted cocoa, orange rind and rum. Stir well to combine.
b) Roll mixture into walnut-sized balls. Toss balls in extra coconut. Then place the balls on a tray and cover. Refrigerate until firm (for about two hours).
c) Snack away as you watch your favourite show. - BEER BREAD RECIPE
Ingredients
• Cooking spray
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• Salt
• 250ml beer
• Olive oil
Method
a) Preheat oven to 2000 degrees Celsius. Coat an 8-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
b) In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center. Pour in beer and olive oil and mix until just blended.
c) Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown.
d) Serve with hot tea or coffee for breakfast or four o’clock tea.
