Fire and food… It’s a primal combination that stretches way back to the days of wearing loin-cloths and beating each other with clubs. Nowadays fire and food are only seen hand in hand as we sit around bonfires armed with marshmallows and pointy sticks.
Enter flambé, a technique that burns alcohol to create a burst of flames in a pan. Handling fire may seem intimidating but with a little booze and the right precautions, you can kill two birds with one stone by satisfying your fiery fix as well as having an awesome party trick up your sleeve.
There are lots of dessert recipes that call for flambéing such as bananas foster and cherries jubilee, but there’s something about a pan of fruit and sugar that leaves my inner caveman uninspired… Cue meat.
Any cut of meat you would normally cook by pan searing can be given an instant alcoholic facelift with a liquored glaze consisting of broth, butter, liquor (duh) and a robust herb like sage or rosemary.
Bourbon Glaze
Ingredients
Instructions
Sear meat to desired doneness and remove pan from heat. Add butter and herbs, allow butter to melt.
Add broth and bourbon to the pan and return to medium heat with a lighter or barbecue match ready.
Let pan sit on heat for five seconds then remove from heat. Light the side of the pan to make a tall flame burst out.
While holding the pan at a slight angle away from you, vigorously shake the pan to extinguish the flame.
#SpoonTip:Have a lid ready to cover the pan if shaking does not extinguish the flame.
Return pan to the heat once flame subsides and reduce liquid until it coats the back of a spoon. Serve meat with glaze spooned over top. Garnish with additional herbs and butter.