Cooking with Bourbon: Do Try This at Home
BY TOM YATES
The 2010 Kentucky Bourbon Festival wraps up this weekend with The Great Kentucky Bourbon Tasting and Gala. It’s a grand event that will start off with bourbon samplings from eight of Kentucky’s finest distilleries. After the tasting, a toast with 1792 Ridgemont Reserve Small Batch Bourbon will be offered followed by a gourmet Kentucky meal and special dessert prepared with Blanton’s Bourbon.
If you can’t make it to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival to enjoy the fun and festivities, bring a little taste of it home and cook with bourbon! This simple steak marinade is a great example of the ease of cooking with bourbon.
Depending on price point and desire, any bourbon and any cut of steak can be used. The subtle oak charcoal fruity undertones of Maker’s Mark would sing over an open flame with sizzling steak juice dripping into the fire.
The first year that I taught the Bourbon Cooking school, I chose Booker’s Bourbon. It had a rich smoky charcoal aroma with intense fruity tobacco undertones that paired beautifully with open-flamed chargrilled beef tenderloin.
With its woody charred vanilla nose, Woodford Reserve would pair nicely with any cut of meat. Buffalo Trace could offer a great flavored marinade at a very good price point with its vanilla mint molasses aroma and oaky dark toffee undertones.
Any and all bourbons would work with this recipe. Choose your bourbon, choose your steak, and bring a bit of The Kentucky Bourbon Festival right into your own back yard.Bookers Bourbon Marinated Chargrilled Beef Tenderloin
Serves 8
1 cup Bookers Bourbon (or choice of bourbon)
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup good quailty soy sauce
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 T worcestershire sauce
2 cup water (or beef stock)
1 5 lb beef tenderloin (or choice of steak) * pork tenderloin would be fantastic
Method: Combine all the marinade ingredients thoroughly to dissolve the brown sugar and pour over the beef tenderloin. Cover and refrigerate 8-12 hours or overnight, turning occasionally. Grill whole tenderloin for 30 -45 minutes for rare or longer for desired temperature.
If using individual smaller cuts of steak, use the same method and grill to desired temperature.
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