There’s something about pairing the perfect drink with your meal that just intensifies the whole experience. There’s no denying that. But what happens if you skip the middleman and just cook food with alcohol?
We know some of you guys haven’t cooked anything more than Hungry-Man TV dinners and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. We also know that some of you men out there are tried and true gourmet chefs in your own right, and for that, you get a gold star. Because, after all, providing delicious foods for others sort of goes hand-in-hand with the age-old testament of being manly. No?
We want to dive deeper into the culinary arts and expose our readers to even more manly recipes by cooking food with alcohol. Bourbon steak. Beer can chicken.
You see, cooking in itself is a bit of a science. Add a bit of alcohol to the equation and you’ve got yourself a full-blown, deliciously badass experiment. Here are three manly recipes for food with alcohol fit for a king. Give them a try, gourmet chef or not, and let us know how your meals turned out. Hell, let us know what your ladies even think of them. And if you have any manly recipes of your own, feel free to share.
Steak is probably one of the easiest and manliest foods to cook. There’s nothing like taking a nice, hearty slab of beef, throwing it on a grill and grilling it to your exact specifications.
But what makes a great steak? Often times, it’s the marinade.
Difficulty: Easiest
Serves: 1
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Ingredients:
– ½ cup of soy sauce
– ¼ cup of bourbon
– 1 clove of garlic, pressed or minced
– ¼ teaspoon of grated ginger
– ¼ cup of water
– 1 steak (roughly ½” thick)
Directions:
1. Combine everything in a shallow dish.
2. Unless it’s already a high quality steak, tenderize it by beating the hell out of it, and marinate it for at least two hours.
3. Grill the steak over a charcoal fire.
Source: Bourbon Steak on food.com
This one’s a bit tricky, but definitely worth a try. Steam the inside of your chicken with spiced beer. It’ll be filled with juices delectable enough to make your mouth water.
Plus, doesn’t it look kind of fun?
Difficulty: Medium
Serves: 10
Prep: 1 hour
Cook: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Ingredients:
– ½ cup of dark brown sugar
– ½ cup of kosher salt
– ½ cup paprika
– 4 tablespoons of fresh ground pepper
– 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
– 2 cups of cherry or hickory wood chips (available in the charcoal aisle)
– 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
– 2 three to four pound whole chickens
– 2 cans of beer (Again. Any kind. Experiment with different flavors.)
Directions:
1. Preheat an outdoor grill for indirect medium grilling. Soak the cherry wood chips in a bowl of water for at least 60 minutes. Put the soaked wood chips over the coals once the chicken is ready to be cooked.
2. Combine the brown sugar, salt, paprika, black pepper and cayenne into a dry rub.
3. Clean out the chicken’s cavities and wash the chickens with cold water. Pat them dry with a paper towel and rub them each with two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Rub the dry rub spice mixture inside and outside of the chickens. Make sure to cover the entire bird, including the creases between the wings. Save roughly two teaspoons for the next part.
4. Take each can of beer and pour out (or drink) half of the can. Using a can opener, poke two extra holes in the top of the beer cans. Slowly pour one teaspoon of extra dry rub into each of the cans, being careful as they may foam up and out of the can.
5. Place the beer cans in the chicken’s cavities and use their legs to make a tripod. The beer and spices will steam up into the chicken, keeping it moist.
6. Make sure to use indirect grilling. In other words, don’t put the chicken directly over the coals or flames. They will burn. If they start to get too dark, loosely cover the top of the chickens with a piece of aluminum foil.
7. Chickens should be ready in an hour and half or when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 180 F. Delicious juices will be running off the bottom of the chickens.
8. Don’t open the grill too often. Try opening the grill once after every hour and then every fifteen minutes afterwards. Don’t let too much heat escape.
Source: Beer Can Chicken on mantestedrecipes.com
Perfect for cool autumn nights, this beef and dark beer chili may be a bit hard to put together, but the end result is truly amazing.
Throw it on your hot dogs or engorge solo. Delicious.
Difficulty: Hard
Serves: 10-12
Prep: 47 minutes
Cook: N/A
Ingredients:
– 1 ½ tablespoons of ground cumin
– 1 tablespoon of ground coriander
– 5 pounds of ground chuck (cut of beef extending from neck to ribs, includes shoulderblade)
– 2 tablespoons of canola oil
– 2 ½ pounds of chopped onions
– 1 ½ pounds of red bell peppers, seeded, cut into ½ inch pieces
– 1 ½ pounds of yellow bell peppers, seeded, cut into ½ inch pieces
– 2 large jalapeno chiles with seeds, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
– 7 tablespoons of chili powder
– 2 teaspoons of minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
– 2 28 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
– 2 15 ounce cans of kidney beans, drained
– 1 12 ounce bottle of dark beer, you know… some sort of stout
– Sour cream
– Chopped green onions
– Grated cheddar cheese
Directions:
1. Toast cumin and coriander in a skillet over medium heat for about four minutes until dark and beginning to smoke. Let it cool.
2. Saute chuck (beef) in a heavy large pot for about eight minutes over medium-high heat until it’s no longer pink. Break it up with a spoon.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, bell peppers and jalapenos. Saute vegetables for about fifteen minutes until they begin to soften. Add this mixture to the pot with the meat and mix in the aforementioned toasted spices as well as chili powder and chipotle chiles.
4. Add the crushed tomatoes, beans and beer, and bring the chili to a boil, stirring occasionally.
5. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.
6. Season with salt and pepper and serve with sour cream, green onions and cheese.
Source: Beef and Dark Beer Chili on epicurious.com