Cookin' with Booze

One of the things I've been struggling with on the bar is a glut of ancient liquor and liqueurs that The Partner and I have moved from place to place and have had since before we even knew each other.  You know the stuff-- those same bottles you’ve seen on your grandparents' bar or your parents' bar for as long as you've been able to form memories?  With about a year of barmanship and mixology under my belt now, I can see that there are certain bottles that will never go away unless they're thrown out.  But that's sacrilege in so many ways.  Denigrating the memories of the ancestors, waste, a crime against Dionysus.   That is until I had an inspiration when we were at Costco one day.

On a recent run to restock the staples we were cruising the meat case and I saw a pork loin that was in some horrid marinade (packaged, marinating meats are another crime against the gods in my book).  As I tossed it back into the case for some philistine to purchase one word on he label caught my eye: whiskey.  **DING**. Light bulb.  I instantly knew what I would do with all our ancient spirits!  After all, I cook with beer and tequila in chili and wine in all sorts of things all the time.  Why not whiskey?

So another permutation of the blog is born.  "Cookin' with Booze"! Here at two marinade recipes that I've concocted to cull the bar. Enjoy!
Note:  I tend to do palmfuls and fractions there of to measure dry ingredients and measure by eye with liquids.  So amounts here are approximate.  Taste and balance as you go (before adding the meat).

Whiskey Dijon Marinade
We have so many different kinds of whiskey, clearly holdovers from a time before Homo discovered vodka.  So this is the first use in cooking.  When cooked, the pork has a grilled & garlicky, sweet flavor.

1/4 c. Whiskey


Thanks to my neice, A. for this pic from her dad's grill.

1/4 c. Soy sauce

1/4 c. Dijon

1/4 c. Packed brown sugar

1/4 c. Finely chopped scallions

A couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Black pepper to taste

Red pepper flakes to taste



Whisk it all up.  Marinate meat for a couple hours.  Baste with extra marinade while grilling.  This is good with pork loin roast.  But I imagine this would go well with steak or chicken too.






SoCo Chicken Marinade
What the hell is Southern Comfort, anyway??  Having a taste, I understand why it’s so popular these days when tastes trend so sweet.  This marinade will taste differently in the bowl than it does on the cooked chicken.  When grilled the chicken has a bright sweetness, not at all cloying like SoCo itself.

SoCo Chicken

1/3 c. Southern Comfort
¼ c. water
1 ½ t. cider vinegar
3 T. canola oil
½ lime, juiced
2T. light brown sugar
2T. minced onion
3 cloves garlic
1 T. chili powder
1 ½ t. ground cumin
½ t. cumin seed
½ t. celery salt
½ t. onion powder

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl.  Add 6 chicken thighs and marinate for at least an hour.  Grill chicken on a hot grill and baste with additional marinade while grilling.