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scotch whiskey


torakris

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Also, since Bourbon was brought up in this thread, how is it different from Scotch?

Bourbon is uniquely American.

Bourbon is a whiskey. However in order to be classified as a bourbon, the whiskey must be made according to a specific formula. It is made form a mash consisting of at least 51 percent, but no mor than 79 percent, corn. If more than 79 percent of corn is used, the product must be classified as a corn whiskey. Bourbon is a straight whiskey and according to law, it must be distilled at 160 proof or less and aged a minimum of two years in charred oak barrels. Usually most bourbon is aged for 4 years or longer. Since it is a straight whiskey, it is not blended and there are no additives, with the exception of water to reduce the proof. Most are 80 proof. However there some boutique, small batch, single barrel and barrel proof ones with much higher alcohol content.

By law, bourbon can be distilled anywhere in the U.S. but the majoirity is produced in Kentucky, where it must be distilled and warehoused for at least one year in order to carry the "Kentucky Bourbon" designation on the label.

As for the scotch used in an recipe, I've done a similar steak sauce (deglaze pan and add cream), but with Jack Daniels, but why wouldn't scotch work too?

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I used to marinate chopped peaches in jack daniels and then stir them into muffin batter. I think it was a variation on a Ken Haedrich recipe.

The oatmeal dessert/breakfast angle is one of the best.

One of my favourite trifle recipes has scotch and coffee in the custard. Raspberries and bananas for the fruit.

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Is a weka a bird/ I thought it was one of those giant cricket things?

Balic,

A weka is a diurnal, day loving, bird similarly shaped to a kiwi, but actually a rail not a ratite. Other ratites are the emu, rhea, ostrich and moa, which the Maori polished off at too many lunches and it is now sadly extinct.

Found this in of all places a the Hingham Journal hailing from Massachusetts on 27 Feb this year:

"The Weka and the Takahe are both flightless birds in the rail family that includes coots and gallinules. Most rails are very secretive and seldom seen. The New Zealand Weka, by contrast, does not shy away from people. It can swim and has feet strong enough to kill rats and stoats."

Very apt. The weka like many NZ birds has no qualms about shouting its name, in this case, in your face. The last one I saw diligently worked at putting its beak through my pink plastic water bottle. Meanwhile a week earlier one had shattered my Milford Sound hotel's dining room picture window with its beak. I guess, it just couldn't understand why it couldn't get to its placesetting and wished to file a formal complaint with the maitre d'.

The weta, note the "t", on the other hand, is your giant cricket.

http://www.wwf.org.nz/earthsaver/es_17.cfm includes the following description and a great close-up.

"Wetas

Wetas are only found in New Zealand. They have out lived the dinosaurs and have changed very little over the last 190 million years.

Wetas are very large by insect standards - only the African Goliath beetle is bigger. They look quite fearsome, with heavily spined legs and large jaws. However they only bite if they feel threatened.

Wetas are mostly nocturnal and they live in lots of places including burrows, inside caves and in tunnels in trees.

The Giant weta species on Little Barrier Island is called wetapunga and one pregnant female weighed in at 71 grams, which is bigger than a garden bird.

Many of the giant species now only survive on protected land or offshore islands and are endangered."

http://www.wwf.org.nz/earthsaver/earthsave...images/weta.jpg

Although I like to do macro photography of such beasties when I can convince my companions to hold them, I don't hope to share too many characteristics with them. They would make great B film monsters, I think.

- Weka

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."

- Goethe

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I don't like alcohol, any kind, it just doesn't taste good to me.

What I don't like is that alcohol taste, I have no problems with it in sauces, glazes, etc where there is no alcohol taste.

In instances where it is barely cooked or not at all (in a lot of desserts) I can't touch it. I think I will give some sauces a try , or else just invite my fil back over again! :biggrin:

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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Is a weka a bird/ I thought it was one of those giant cricket things?

Balic,

A weka is a diurnal, day loving, bird similarly shaped to a kiwi, but actually a rail not a ratite. Other ratites are the emu, rhea, ostrich and moa, which the Maori polished off at too many lunches and it is now sadly extinct.

Found this in of all places a the Hingham Journal hailing from Massachusetts on 27 Feb this year:

"The Weka and the Takahe are both flightless birds in the rail family that includes coots and gallinules. Most rails are very secretive and seldom seen. The New Zealand Weka, by contrast, does not shy away from people. It can swim and has feet strong enough to kill rats and stoats."

Very apt. The weka like many NZ birds has no qualms about shouting its name, in this case, in your face. The last one I saw diligently worked at putting its beak through my pink plastic water bottle. Meanwhile a week earlier one had shattered my Milford Sound hotel's dining room picture window with its beak. I guess, it just couldn't understand why it couldn't get to its placesetting and wished to file a formal complaint with the maitre d'.

The weta, note the "t", on the other hand, is your giant cricket.

http://www.wwf.org.nz/earthsaver/es_17.cfm includes the following description and a great close-up.

"Wetas

Wetas are only found in New Zealand. They have out lived the dinosaurs and have changed very little over the last 190 million years.

Wetas are very large by insect standards - only the African Goliath beetle is bigger. They look quite fearsome, with heavily spined legs and large jaws. However they only bite if they feel threatened.

Wetas are mostly nocturnal and they live in lots of places including burrows, inside caves and in tunnels in trees.

The Giant weta species on Little Barrier Island is called wetapunga and one pregnant female weighed in at 71 grams, which is bigger than a garden bird.

Many of the giant species now only survive on protected land or offshore islands and are endangered."

http://www.wwf.org.nz/earthsaver/earthsave...images/weta.jpg

Although I like to do macro photography of such beasties when I can convince my companions to hold them, I don't hope to share too many characteristics with them. They would make great B film monsters, I think.

- Weka

Weka - thank you for the information. New Zealand full of weirdness isn't it? Pity about the cricket team though. :biggrin: . The first Polynesians to settle, must have gone through a process of 'what the hell is that! I wonder what it tastes like?'.

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Yep, I think they did and they liked to shove all of it in the ground together and steam it, yum! Hungi! Some tribes even tried eating each other :wacko: As I recall some Maori brought and raised dogs specifically for eating, as well. That dog breed is also, now, sadly extinct.

Sad about the cricket, but I am more bummed about the Hurricanes, Wellington's rugby, losing in the semis.

- Weka

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."

- Goethe

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Back in my bachelor days I rented a country house with two friends and our "specialty" was pasta sauce with Scotch and beer. I honestly cannot remember proportions but seem to recall that between the 3 guys and the pot, a 26 ounce bottle was fully consumed. I remember using lots of meat, tomatoes, onions, peppers, beer, several ounces of Scotch and various herbs and spices. It was pretty good...no indigestion but often a very serious hangover....

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I beleive on last year's season of A Cooks Tour, Bourdain ate at the Cawdor estate in Scotland, and the estate chef prepared him a salmon dish with some sort of a cream sauce using Scotch whiskey in it..

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I beleive on last year's season of A Cooks Tour, Bourdain ate at the Cawdor estate in Scotland, and the estate chef prepared him a salmon dish with some sort of a  cream sauce using Scotch whiskey in it..

Yep, and a rerun of which just aired this past Friday; in the same episode, Tony eats a deep-fried Mars bar and sez he likes it.

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"Hurricanes" Huh? Good name for a Wellington team. When I was there I certainly noticed a great deal of wind.

Dogs eaten to extinction or some other reason for their demise?

Eaten to extinction, Balic. And for torakris I will drop any sports comments. However, I managed to lose the entire froth section off the top of a cappucino in Wellington, just lifted up in the wind and flew off.

- Weka

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."

- Goethe

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But back on the subject of scotch whiskey, what type of beer went well with it in that pasta dish? I never thought of mixing those two together, eat2much.

- Weka

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."

- Goethe

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Oh also, regarding those dogs. Some of them just interbred with the dogs the pakehas, white settlers brought, too. The breed doesn't exist in its pure form anymore so far's I know.

- Weka

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."

- Goethe

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weka, if memory serves, we used Molson or Labatt (Canadien beers rule, eh?) along with either Cutty Sark or J&B. These days I drink better Scotch but no longer use it in my cooking..... :blink:

Found myself drizzling a little Oban in something the other day!...maybe it is time to have a few cheaper blended's on hand. For that matter it is time to settle down and reconstruct the liquor cabinet contents that I gave away to all my friends when I went abroad in '94. Somehow, I don't think any of those bottles are still in service. Shame... Anyone leaving for Europe and need to lose their liquor collection because the movers won't pack it?

Thanks for the beer-whiskey recall, eat2much. Still can't get my head around whether I would like such a combo with pasta. But then the first time I did a rigatoni al vodka, I had reservations as well and they were unfounded.

- Weka

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."

- Goethe

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I can't honestly say whether I'd enjoy eating the sauce again either. Bear in mind that each of the 3 cooks drank about 6 or 7 ounces of Scotch during the cooking stage so our taste buds were quite pickled.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just stumbled across this (cooking with scotch). It looks interesting, with such recipes as malt and honey roasted chicken with barley risotto and scotch medallions of lamb with red onion fennel marmalade.

edit: punctuation

Edited by JAZ (log)
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