Got Alcohol?

Now that we are in Level 3 of the lockdown in South Africa, and the alcohol ban is lifted, we can (finally) buy alcohol again! I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait to make some of my favourite recipes containing some kind of alcohol as an ingredient. Whether it is beer, wine, brandy or liqueur. At the top of my list are: Beef Bourguignonne, Coq Au Vin, Mushroom Risotto, Mussels In White Wine Sauce, Fish in Beer Batter, Tipsy Tart and Irish Coffee, to name a few … If you haven’t stocked up your liquor cabinet yet, the selection of recipes below is sure to provide you with the necessary motivation!

As promised, below are the recipes. Most of them has either red or white wine as an ingredient. In her book, “From Julia Child’s Kitchen”, Julia Child writes: “But whatever wine you use, be sure you taste it carefully first – if it is not good to drink, it will not be good to cook with!”. Wine can be used to deglaze, reduce, steam, or macerate. So whether you are using wine to enrich the steaming broth for a pot of mussels, to make a pan sauce for seared steak, to flavor a slow-cooking onion jam or to soak some strawberries for a quick and easy dessert, wine will take your food to a whole new level! I of course also had to include a few recipes with brandy, whiskey and even beer as an ingredient!

If any of these recipes look to daunting to try by yourself, just book a culinary lesson with me!