COOKING WITH ALCOHOL
It’s great fun to have a dinner party with friends, especially if you choose a theme that ties all the food together. Now you could decide to cook only mexican or french cuisine, but another fun way to get all the meals to match and excite your guests when they hear the names is to choose all alcoholic recipes. There are so many out there, but here I’ll give you some of my favourites.
ENTREES
TEQUILA PRAWN COCKTAIL
Serving prawns in a fancy cocktail glass now makes sense. Cooking with tequila and lime brings out the flavours of the prawns and will go great with a spicy cocktail sauce.
MEZCAL GAZPACHO
Healthy and delicious! Mezcal, an alcohol similar to tequila, tastes amazing mixed with tomatoes and herbs as a soup. A part-Mexican part-Spanish delight.
BEER STUFFED MUSHROOMS
Forget about oil and instead pour some beer in the pan to fry your onions before mixing with some breadcrumbs, cheese and spices and stuffing into a hollowed out mushroom.
MAINS
CIDER CHICKEN ROAST
Cook leek, bacon and garlic until soft, then add your chicken to the dish and pour over some dry cider and add some herbs. After the chicken is fully roasted you can also use the cider mix to make a sauce by adding cream and mustard and simmering for a few minutes.
BEEF BOURGUIGNON
This recipe calls for a full bottle of red wine as well as cognac, and if you want it to taste extra special then you should use the slow cooker. The better the wine the better it will taste, so don’t be stingy and get a nice french dry red.
GUINNESS PIE
Who needs beef stock when you can use Guinness? A very hearty Irish dish that is excellent on a cold winter’s night or for eating while watching the footy.
DESSERTS
BAILEYS PAVLOVA
We all love pavlova, and I too never thought it needed any special addition but well one thing we love as much as pavlova is Baileys so it’s a match made in heaven. Mix it in with the cream and vanilla and instead of fruit drizzle melted chocolate on top, and if you’re really creative some chocolate swirls.
RED WINE VELVET
Ever wondered why this cake was red? Well, it’s just colouring and adds nothing to the flavour, so it really could be any colour and still taste the same. However if you add some red wine, more chocolate than is normally used and cinnamon this cake becomes a winner for adult parties everywhere.
WHISKEY APPLE PIE
In this recipe, the idea is to add whiskey to the pastry mix to make it a richer taste and to go even further to make this a standout dish then add caramel to the apple mix as the sweetener. A family favourite now is something just for the grown-ups.
Do you have another idea for cooking with alcohol? Share your ideas below
