Milwaukee Avenue or Bourbon Street?

I was recently invited to a "bourbon tasting dinner." I was quite intrigued and my husband and I accepted. I've been a bourbon taster for several years. I do like a nice bourbon manhattan cocktail. The thought of going to a dinner where bourbon was used as an ingredient in several courses and then also getting to taste several bourbons to compare and learn about sounded right up my alley. Most often these are themed dinners that revolve around some kind of wine tasting. Doing it with bourbon sounded much more unique.

Well, to cut to the chase, it didn't go like I thought it would. First off, I thought this was going to be run or supervised by a distributor of some sort so they'd be bringing several bourbons and even doing short lectures to tell us about each one and explaining the nuances from one bourbon to the other. Instead it was put on by one brand, so everything had the same bourbon in it. Instead of a "tasting" of several bourbons they offered a cocktail with each course; each one made with the same bourbon.

The featured bourbon was Knob Creek. Knob Creek is made in Kentucky and is branded as small batch bourbon. Aged 9 years. It may still be "classified" as small batch, but Knob Creek has become immensely popular so there's tons of it made now instead of small batches. I guess they can still call it small batch because of the size of keg it's processed in. The Beam family started making bourbon in 1795. They have 4 brands of bourbon under their ownership. I would have thought they'd have brought at least all 4, but instead, the only personnel there were connected to Knob Creek.

Technically, to be true bourbon, the bourbon has to be made in Kentucky. It's sort of like Champagne has to be made in the Champagne region in France or it is instead called "sparkling wine." I have heard of bourbon now being made in New York. Not sure how they are pulling that off and calling it bourbon. Even Jack Daniels, which is made in Tennessee, is called Tennessee Sipping Whiskey. Not bourbon. They know the rules.

Speaking of rules, did you know that there is one liquor that Congress designated the "official" liquor of the United States? Yep, it's bourbon.

One day my husband and I were in the bourbon aisle at one of the world's largest liquor distributors near our Chicago home. The place is called Sam's. (Now don't mix this up with Sam's of the Wal-Mart heritage. These are completely different owners). Sam's is massive. Imagine a whole super-sized grocery aisle that is almost all bourbon and then multiply that by each liquor made, each beer made and at least one full aisle for each country that makes wine. Some of the most rare wines from France are kept in stock at Sam's. The place is unbelievable. You can spend an entire afternoon in Sam's sipping wines, tasting cheeses and reading labels. It feels like a huge library for the so-inclined.

Back to the bourbon aisle. A man stepped up to my husband and me while we were reading bourbon labels. There's always a bottle or two, or twelve that we've never seen before, and there's such a difference in taste in bourbons it's kind of like going from a Cabernet to a Pinot Gris in wine. Quite the variances, so label reading is in order. Then, you guess, buy a bottle and hope you like it. The man who sidled up to us is one of Sam's bourbon experts. I got more of an education on small batch bourbon from that man in 10 minutes than I did the whole night at the bourbon tasting dinner.

By the way. The dinner was not bad. There were two appetizers to go with a bourbon-based cocktail. Dinner was a bourbon-marinated steak with a bourbon peppercorn sauce and the most delightful au gratin potatoes. The desserts were decadent, made with bourbon and very small. After everything else, all you needed was a taste of dessert; not a whole one!

One of the desserts came with a bourbon crème anglaise. Now, when I see crème anglaise listed on a dessert menu I start to quietly moan. This is my most favorite dessert sauce on the planet. Crème anglaise in its pure form is vanilla-flavored, but you can vary from there. I've made Bailey's crème anglaise, orange-flavored crème anglaise and more.

For you, today, I've made up a bourbon-flavored crème anglaise. (If you don't drink spirits have no fear. You can make this crème anglaise and leave out the bourbon or you can flavor yours with artificial sweeteners. Just a couple of teaspoons of rum flavoring, or orange flavoring and you have yourself a flavored crème anglaise. The orange one would go well with a "white dessert"-a cheesecake or an angel food cake, that sort of thing. The bourbon one I suggest you serve with my Chocolate Cookie Tart. I've published this recipe before but for your convenience I'm putting it here again and the Bourbon Crème Anglaise is new. Check out my website for inspirations of other desserts you can serve with crème anglaise. There are plenty of them at www.dinnerwithzola.com. And don't forget; if you want to write to me directly send your comments/questions to dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.

Bourbon Crème Anglaise

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk (non skim)
6 Tbl white sugar
6 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup of your favorite bourbon

Scald half of the cream and half of the milk in a saucepan. (This means I heat it just until I see the tiny bubbles forming on the rim of the pan).

In a bowl, whisk the sugar and the egg yolks together. Slowly (and I mean SLOWLY) whisk the scalded cream into the egg yolk mixture. (If you add the egg faster than in a slow stream you'll end up with scrambled eggs. Big yuk. So take your time). Now you are going to return the entire mixture back into the saucepan and start to heat it. You do need to cook it, but slowly. Cook over low heat (do not boil), until the mixture thickens. I stir with a spoon the whole time, very slowly. I can start to feel it thicken and when it coats the back of the METAL spoon without running off I know it's done. This takes about five minutes. This is really a guess because it depends on what size of burner you have it on but this is a guide.

Take it off the heat. You can strain it now if you want to. I don't do this unless I see any lumps appear. Then add your vanilla and bourbon and stir again. Let it cool down some and then store it in your refrigerator until ready to serve. I take it out of the refrigerator while I am clearing the dinner dishes just so it warms up a tad. It will still be cool but bringing it up from refrigerator temperature makes the taste stand out even more.

When you go to serve this you put a "pool" of it on your dessert plate and serve the dessert on top, or put the dessert on the plate and drizzle it around the dessert. It will always be a puddle so don't expect it to be too controllable. You can put leftovers in the refrigerator or serve them in a gravy boat with the dessert. Be sure to serve this dessert with a spoon AND a fork. You need the spoon to get every last drop.

Chocolate Cookie Tart

1 tube of prepared chocolate chip cookie dough
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, diced (Ghirardelli is one brand)
4 oz whipping cream

Take your tube of cookie dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter for about 30 minutes. You don't HAVE to do this but it makes the process easier if the dough isn't quite so cold. You'll need a 10-inch fluted tart pan or a springform pan. Slice the cookie dough open all the way across the top with a sharp knife so you can take out the whole roll of dough in one piece. Place it in the center of your tart pan. If you want to keep your hands clean, place a piece of plastic wrap about the size of the pan over the dough. Now start to squish the dough toward the outsides of the pan. You're flattening it out so it spreads across the whole bottom of the pan, making a crust. Pretend you're back in kindergarten playing with Play-Doh. Squish it to the edges and up the sides. You'll have just enough dough to make a rim. Remove the plastic wrap and make your final squishes, checking to see if you have the dough pretty evenly squished so it's not too thin in any parts and there are no holes.

Bake the cookie dough according to the directions on the package: 350 degrees for about 12 minutes should do it. You basically want a lightly golden, giant cookie.

Remove the pan from the oven and get out a regular teaspoon. Gently run the back of that teaspoon around the inner rim of the dough along the bottom of the pan, just lightly squishing the dough down so the tart rim becomes a little better defined. Then let your cookie start to cool. While the tart is still slightly warm, carefully push it out from the pan and place it on a serving platter.

While the cookie is baking or cooling, you can start your filling. You are making a French ganache--a very simple version. Chop the chocolate finely; the size of small dice is fine. Put this chocolate in a heatproof glass bowl. Heat your cream in a small saucepan just to the boiling point. This isn't much cream, so keep an eye on it. When it starts to bubble around the edges, you are getting very close. You don't want it to boil over, but you want the cream to be very hot. Pour the cream over your chocolate and immediately take a whisk and stir. The hot cream is intended to melt the chocolate. Keep stirring until all of the chocolate is melted and you have a glossy, smooth mixture. If your cream cools too quickly or your chocolate chunks are too large, they won't all melt. If this happens you can put the bowl in your microwave and heat on Medium High for about 15 seconds. Don't do it very long or you'll burn your chocolate. Try not to use the microwave at all unless absolutely necessary.

Even if your cookie is not completely cool yet, you can proceed. Pour your filling into the cookie crust. Spread it evenly across the bottom of the tart. It will only be about a quarter of an inch thick, maybe a little less. Don't worry. This is one rich dessert!

Now, you have two options. If you want your tart to stay bright and glossy, let it sit somewhere on the counter to "firm up." This will take 5 to 6 hours at room temperature. Keep it out of the sun. When you serve it, the texture will be creamy and wonderful.

Option two is to put your tart in the refrigerator. When you do this, the chocolate will firm up more like a candy bar but you'll be amazed at how rich the candy bar taste will be. The glossiness goes away with the cold, however. Another advantage to the colder version is, if you are serving this on a buffet, when the tart is cold, you can slice it into really narrow slices and they will hold together perfectly. This allows you to have little narrow pieces that people can pick up and just pop into their mouths.

Anytime you have it stored in your refrigerator, you can always take it out ahead of time (a couple of hours) and let it soften up. Be sure to store the leftovers in the refrigerator to keep it fresh. It will last for several days in the refrigerator and you can just keep nibbling at it.

Try it plain the first time and then you judge whether you want to doctor it up. With just three ingredients, you'll have a beautiful dessert that qualifies for the most fancy of dinner parties.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola