The Slaughtered Buffalo

Nice name for a cocktail? I’ve been having a play with different combinations of alcohol and other unusual things, and I wondered, what would happen if I topped a shot of Buffalo Trace Bourbon up with Beetroot juice, and before you recoil aghast, just try it. Beetroot juice is supposed to give super human stamina to those who imbibe, so this will surely make you feel like you can take on the world.

The earthy sweetness of the beetroot juice works in harmony with the vanilla flavours in the bourbon, to create something truly special.

Warning though it will probably make your wee turn pink……..

Smokin’ Hard Shake

A hard shake is basically an alco milkshake, a pleasure for us grown ups, with a bit of a cheeky kick, and you might be asking now what ingredients would I use in mine, well it wouldn’t take a genius to guess it may have chipotle chillies, chocolate and ummm bourbon. I used my favourite Buffalo Trace for this, but would be good with Jim Beam or Makers Mark.

Basically I soaked a chipotle chilli in a measure of bourbon until starting to soften, and blitzed this in a blender with a couple of scoops of chocolate ice cream, a scrape of seeds from a quarter of a vanilla pod and a small glass of whole milk until smooth.

As you’ve probably seen before on my blog this is a proven flavour combination and works great in this hard shake, give this a go as a grown up treat.

 

Chestnut pancakes with bourbon laced chocolate chipotle sauce

 

As much as a love a good pancake oozing with Jif lemon and sugar, that was my childhood pancake memory after all, I wanted to give you lovely people something a bit more in keeping this pancake day, so here is an outrageous Chestnut pancake with bourbon laced chocolate chipotle sauce, raspberries and cream. The chestnut flour adds a lovely sweet nuttiness to the pancakes, and the chocolate chipotle sauce is out of this world.

Make up a pancake batter, I used 30g chestnut flour, 100g plain flour in a jug, add an egg, and 300ml of whole milk, along with a pinch of fine sea salt. Whisk up until it forms a batter somewhere around double cream consistency. If there’s a few lumps strain the batter through a sieve, pushing the lumps through with a wooden spoon. Leave to sit for 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

In a glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt 100g dark chocolate, add a teaspoon of finely chopped dried chipotle chilli (minus seeds), and a good shot of your favourite bourbon whiskey, once just melted pour in 150ml double cream and sprinkle over 1 tbsp icing sugar, warm until combined and glossy and turn the heat off but keep the bowl over the water.

Warm a frying pan over a medium heat to make the pancakes, smear with a little rapeseed oil on a kitchen towel and pour in a ladle of pancake mix swirl around the pan, and cook until lightly brown, flip or toss and cook the other side.

Serve drizzled with the chocolate chipotle sauce, double cream and a few raspberries.