Recipe Roundup :: Cooking with Bourbon

Happy holidays! I've been busy enjoying one of my favorite seasons, and I'm excited to share with you some of my recent culinary adventures soon. In the meantime, bourbon, my spirit of choice. I enjoy cooking with it just as much as I enjoy drinking it. It's one of those liquors that compliments hearty meat dishes but adds a unique flavor to baked goods and other sweet treats. I've rounded up a few recipes for cooking with bourbon that I'm anxious to try as well as one from the Chasing Crumbs archives. Enjoy!

Braised Brisket with Bourbon-Peach Glaze
In 2013, I had the pleasure of dining at one of Edward Lee's restaurants in Louisville. He combines ingredients in ways that will continually surprise your tastebuds. Thus, I was excited to find this recipe in Bon Appétit for his braised brisket. His seasoning calls for a bath of stout, bourbon and soy sauce -- three of my favorite ingredients. Finished off with a bourbon-spiked peach jam glaze, needless to say this brisket is one of the recipes at the top of my list to try in 2015.

Apple Bourbon Bundt Cake
There are some specialty tools in my pantry that rarely see the light, but my bundt cake pan is not one of them. It's oft-used for everything from dark chocolate pound cake to hopefully this apple bourbon bundt cake in the near future. This recipe embraces all the flavors that reminds me of fall and the holidays -- cinnamon, vanilla, apples and toasted pecans. The cake is soaked in a bourbon glaze as it cools. We'll see if I tackle this one before we even reach 2015.

Bourbon-Brown Butter Pecan Pie
I've always liked the idea of playing with my favorite recipes, taking one ingredient and changing it up. Sometime it's a terrible experiment, other times I'm delighted to turn a favorite recipe into two favorites. Pecan pie is one of my favorite treats, and I think the clever change to brown butter in the filling is worth a try.

Bourbon Peach Crumble
This crumble is quick to prepare and the perfect use for those slightly bruised fruits you'll find at farmers markets. When I trek to the local farm in the spring, I usually come home with way more than I can eat before they'll over-ripen and this is my go-to recipe for using up what's left.