Any Time Bourbon Glaze
Glaze it up!
I’m not sure that I’ve ever been more thrilled about a poll result than when I saw that bourbon won last week’s poll. This excited me for a number of reasons.
1) I already have bourbon. I always have bourbon. So I didn’t have to go to the booze barn.
2) I very regularly sneak bourbon into all kinds of stuff because I find it delicious. Cakes, scones, sauces, whatever. Put bourbon in it.
Instead of giving you a single recipe for a bourbon thing, I decided to give you a recipe that you can use on dozens of things. When I say this is an all-purpose, any time glaze, I mean it.
Put it on chicken, pork, beef, or even grilled tofu. It’ll be great.
All-Purpose Bourbon Glaze
Yield: 1 Cup glaze
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup bourbon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Braggs (or worcestershire sauce)
1/2 lemon, juice only
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Big pinch of salt and pepperDirections:
1) Combine all the glaze ingredients into a small pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
2) Simmer, stirring regularly for about 20-25 minutes until the glaze reduces to about 1/3 of it's original volume.
3) Remove the glaze and let it cool slightly.
4) Put it on anything!
It’s all proportions
The key to any good glaze is nailing the proportions. You want a good base flavor which, in this case, is bourbon obviously. You need something that will give the sauce some body (ketchup). You want something sweet and something sour (sugar/vinegar). You want some acids as well.
Because this is mainly going on meat, you also want to make sure you give the glaze some savory flavor. You could add soy sauce or worcestershire sauce to get the savory flavor, but I chose to use some Braggs which is a fairly recent discovery for me. I’m finding that it’s delicious on many things and it worked great in this glaze.
All good flavors.
This glaze is not hard to make and yet another piece of evidence for why you have no need for store-bought sauces.
Basically, you just throw everything together in a small pan.
Starting out...
A cup of bourbon might seem like a lot, but remember that the alcohol will cook off and the flavors will reduce so it’s good to start with a nice amount of it.
Honestly, you could even use more than a cup if you wanted, but that gets the job done.
Heavy on the bourbon!
Just bring this all to a simmer over medium heat and let it simmer until it reduces down to about a third of its original volume. Stir it regularly so the sugars don’t burn.
It’ll make your kitchen smell like a distillery which is just fine in my book.
Don’t rush the reduction process, just let it do its thing and eventually you’ll be left with this slightly thick, glossy sauce that will knock your socks off.
Way reduced.
Glaze the world!
I’m almost positive that you could slap this stuff on pretty much anything and it will be good. Put it on some grilled chicken or a pork chop. Add a light coat of it to salmon or pork tenderloin.
If you’re cooking any kind of roast, just slather it on.
I happened to have something interesting to try put it on this time around…
What up moose?
Yep. You read that right. Moose roast! My dad always brings me all kinds of various goodies when he visits (like Alaskan salmon) or in this case a moose roast.
I think I’ve only had moose once or twice so I was excited to try it and I figured it would be good to put a bunch of bourbon glaze on it also.
You, of course, do not have to go hunt down a moose to make this glaze.
I also decided to prep some good roast veggies to go with the moose. These are just some fingerling potatoes and carrots tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried thyme.
Always good roast veggies.
To cook the roast (you could do the same with a beef roast), I seared it well on high heat and then surrounded it with the veggies.
Then I just inserted my digital probe thermometer and stuck it in a 350 degree oven.
Never start a roast without a good thermometer!
My target temp for the roast was 145 degrees, but starting at about 100 degrees, I began slathering on the glaze every 15 minutes or so.
It’s hard to go wrong really.
Get the glaze on.
To be completely honest, I didn’t love the moose roast. It was a bit too gamey for me.
But that’s neither here nor there.
The important part is that the glaze is really delicious and wonderful. I found myself sneaking spoonfuls of it while my roast cooked.
If you’re grilling or roasting something soon, give this glaze a shot! If you have questions on whether or not it would be good on something, leave a comment!
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Nick, that looks really delish. Could you tell us a little about Bragg amino liquids? Never heard of it. Thanks
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Nick replied: — January 26th, 2012 @ 7:42 am
You can find it in health food stores. It’s basically just amino acids distilled from soy protein (organic non-GMO). It has very little sodium, but tastes like a cross between soy sauce and worcestershire sauce.
Traditionally, I think it’s used a lot in things like beef jerky, but I’m learning that it’s a great flavor booster for stir-fries and sauces also.
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Nick replied: — January 26th, 2012 @ 7:42 am
Oh also… here’s some more info on it: http://www.bragg.com/products/la.html
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Karen replied: — January 26th, 2012 @ 2:29 pm
thanks for the info, I am finding the GMO information very helpful too. I will def be looking for the product and giving it a try
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I’ve heard that if you soak the meat in milk for a few hours (or overnight) it gets rid of most of the gamey taste or at least smooth it out. For this type of roast I would say overnight would be best.
We don’t mind the flavor I guess because we get a lot of venison because my husband and his brothers (and my little brother) all love to hunt, and there’s only so much deer jerky one can consume. ;-) If you use ground game, grind it with pork to make sausage/burger, it’ll intersperse some fat in it and help with the gamey flavor–you’ll have to decide what ratio you prefer.
And FTR, I would LOVE to see more recipes that you can come up with to make game interesting and flavorful. :-)
[Reply]
Nick replied: — January 26th, 2012 @ 7:43 am
Great tip on the milk soak. Now that I read that, I’ve definitely heard about that before but forgot about it.
I have some other game in my freezer right now so I’ll see what I can come up with. ;)
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Haha I imagine the “booze barn” as an actual barn behind your house that is just full of booze.
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(That soak-it-in-milk trick is something Italians do to pork roasts and it’s wonderful.)
I love bourbon and thank my Alabama-born husband for turning me on to it. I’ll bet you could make a sweet version of the glaze by omitting the ketchup and worcestershire and maybe fooling around a little with it. Are you up for that, Nick? I can taste it on dulce de leche ice cream.
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Nick replied: — January 26th, 2012 @ 8:12 am
Oh definitely. Nix the savory stuff (ketchup/braggs). Bump up the sugar a bit more and maybe add a pinch of cinnamon and some vanilla extract. Bourbon ice cream sauce!
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[In a high pitched, flying squirrel voice] “Hey Natasha and Boris, what have you two done with Bullwinkle this time? I can’t find him anywhere!”
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Hi Nick,
I would like to say I recognize the pot you made the bourbon glaze in. I used to have the whole set of pots like that one. But after years of cooking in them, the handles eventually broke off and the porcelain coating cracked and came off. So that meant we had to get new pots and pans. As of this Jan. my husband and I have been married for 37 years.
But since neither one of us is much of a an alcohol drinker, we do not keep whiskey in the house. Wine is another story since my daughter likes to cook with it.
The glaze does sound like it would be good on a nice sirloin steak.
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Bourbon glaze sounds like a recipe I could befriend quickly!
Also, I haven’t heard of using Braggs for Worchestershire before, I’ve heard it called for to replace soy sauce, but not Worchestershire. Looks like I can break out that bottle more often!
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looks like a great glaze! I’m very excited to find more uses for Braggs and even more so, bourbon. I also love how you said “You, of course, do not have to go hunt down a moose to make this glaze.”…but if you want to make it from scratch, you do! haha. thanks, will definitely try this one!
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About how much sauce does this recipe make? We’re doing a pig in a pig box for the Super Bowl and I know I want a couple of sauces for dipping, and drizzling and this sounds A. Ma. Zing.
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Nick replied: — January 27th, 2012 @ 7:31 am
Makes about a cup to 1 1/2 cups… Very easy to double or triple though. :)
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Absolutlly delicious on pork ribs. Thanks Nick.
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