Fennel and Juniper Pork Tenderloin with Bourbon Mustard Sauce

The aromatic combination of fennel and juniper with the sweet richness of the bourbon mustard sauce works really well with pork. Try to avoid overcooking the lean pork tenderloin as it can dry out. Great as an entrée served with your starch and veg of choice, but leftovers (if there are any) also makes fantastic faux Cuban sandwich on crusty bread with mustard and pickles.

Ok so this isn’t my typical recipe post but that’s how it goes. I was tasked with making treats for a co-worker’s birthday celebration and since pork and sweets, in most people’s minds, don’t usually go together (not I of course), the obvious choice was bourbon. This recipe for Bourbon Sour Cherry Dark Chocolate Brownies is extremely easy and well, just damn good.

Shopping list

• 1/2 cup dried sour cherries
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 2 sticks of butter (plus a little more for greasing baking dish)
• 6 oz. of dark unsweetened chocolate (I used Scharffenberger 99% cacao unsweetened chocolate baking bar)
• 2 cups of granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tbs of pure vanilla
• 4 x-large eggs
• 1 3/4 cup AP flour (plus a little more for dusting greased baking dish)
• confectioners sugar for dusting

Equipment

• 9×13″ baking dish
• double boiler set up (a large stainless bowl over a pot of boiling water works)
• powered hand mixer is nice to have
• flour sifter or a very fine mesh strainer

What to do

1. soak the cherries in the bourbon for 1 1/2 hours
2. strain and save the bourbon
3. lightly chop the cherries
4. preheat oven to 350° F
5. lightly grease and dust the baking dish with butter and  flour
6. chop the chocolate into smaller 1 inch-ish chunks
7. in a double boiler, melt the butter and chocolate together lightly stirring constantly until incorporated and there are no chunks.
8. remove from heat
9. whisk in sugar and vanilla and make sure to combine completely. I suggest using a hand mixer on a lower setting. The mixture might be slightly grainy at this point
10. once the mixture is cool enough to not cook the eggs, whisk eggs into the mixture until combined and smooth and shiny.
11. stir in the reserved bourbon
12. sift in the flour while combining with the mixture. Don’t go nuts mixing away at this point
13. fold in the chopped cherries
14. pour into the greased and flour dusted baking dish
15. bake uncovered at 350° for 45 mins or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
16. dust with confectioners (powdered) sugar
17. let cool then slice into however monstrous sized brownies you’d like.
18. serve and enjoy, with a big glass of milk or a nice glass of bourbon

September is Buffalo Trace Antique collection 2012 release month. Really looking forward to getting my hands on a number of these. I’ve tried a few but have missed out on the Stagg, WLW and Sazerac. From the Press Release:

Eagle Rare 17 Year Old

The previous edition of this bourbon was honored with a Gold Medal at the 2012 International Wine and Spirits Competition. The 2012 edition was distilled in the spring of 1993 and has been aging on the 2nd, 3rd and 6th floors of Warehouses I and K.  After nearly two decades of aging under its belt, it has been described as dry and delicate, with hints of leather, almonds and tobacco.

George T. Stagg

The 2011 release of this perennial favorite was named the “Number One Spirit in the World” by F. Paul Pacult in the 2012 Spirit Journal for the second year in a row, as well as the “Second Finest Whiskey in the World” in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.  The 2012 George T. Stagg was found in Warehouses H, I, K and L. This uncut, unfiltered bourbon was distilled back in the spring of 1995 and weighs in at 142.8 proof—some strong stuff! This whiskey tastes of rich dark chocolate, coffee and vanilla.

Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old

Last year’s release won a double gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.  This 2012 rye whiskey release was aged in Warehouses K and is described as intense spice with underlying sweetness and dry finish.

Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye

Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye is an uncut and unfiltered straight rye whiskey. The 2011 edition was once again named “Rye Whiskey of the Year” in Jim Murray’sWhisky Bible. This year’s Handy was distilled in the spring of 2006, aged on the fifth floor of Warehouse O and weighs in at 132.4 proof. The flavor has been described as cinnamon, dark fruit, allspice, lingering.

William Larue Weller

William Larue Weller is the Antique Collection’s uncut, unfiltered, wheated recipe bourbon. The previous edition was the recipient of a double gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.  The 2012 offering was distilled in the spring of 2000 and aged on the second and fourth floors of Warehouses I and P. This William Larue Weller release registers in at 130 proof.  It tastes of dark vanilla, almond and plum.

The Antique Collection was introduced more than a decade ago and has become a cult favorite among whiskey connoisseurs. Since 2000 these whiskeys have garnered numerous awards from such notable publications as Whisky Advocate Magazine, Spirit Journal and Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.

“Every year the excitement and anticipation of these whiskeys grows,” said Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley. “We’re excited as well to finally be able to share them, and look forward to seeing what critics and consumers alike think about them.”

These Antique Collection whiskeys will be available in limited quantities starting in late September.  Suggested retail price is $70 each.

Keep your eyeballs peeled.

Nelson’s Greenbrier Tennessee Whiskey was a pre-prohibition whiskey distilled in Nashville, TN (technically nearby Greenbrier) by German immigrant Charles Nelson. Making the trek to America in 1850 Nelson founded the Nelson’s Greenbrier Distillery some years later and by 1885 was producing 380,000 gallons of whiskey that year (compared to Jack Daniels’ 23,000 gallons at the time) distributing as far as San Francisco and Paris.  Nelson died in 1891 and due to prohibition starting in TN in 1909 the distillery closed. Flash forward to 2008 where grandsons of Charles Nelson, Andy and Charlie Nelson took a trip to Greenbrier, TN and happened upon the site of their family’s distilling heritage and decided then and there to revive their distilling tradition. Their current product Belle Meade Bourbon is distilled elsewhere while they plan their distillery, a common practice among smaller new spirit producers. Belle Meade Bourbon is small batch coming from just 4 barrels each release, aged between 5 1/2 to 7 1/2 years and with a high rye mash-bill hand-picked by the Nelson brothers. interesting history on the label, from their website:

The horses on the front label have a history that goes back to the days of the famous Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville, Tenn. The horse on the right-hand side of the label is Bonnie Scotland, one of Belle Meade’s leading sires. Some of Bonnie Scotland’s descendants include War Admiral, Man O’ War, Seabiscuit and Secretariat, along with most of the horses that run in the Kentucky Derby today. Appropriately enough, one of Bonnie Scotland’s fillies was named Bourbon Belle. The horse on the left-hand side of the label is Brown Dick, whose great-great grand sire was simply named Whiskey.

Aroma: Slight Spice, honey, Sandalwood, clove and anise with some citrus

Flavor: Rye comes through with expected spice, slight honey sweetness, vanilla

Finish:  cinnamon, spice, dried fruit, medium finish

I really would rather be reviewing the product that these two whiskey entrepreneurs will eventually have for us from their own distilling efforts, but today all we have is what they’ve bottled from other’s whiskey stock. I don’t have a problem with it, I just like the idea of drinking what someone produces themself from start to finish. I know this is a common tactic (there are a lot of bourbons sold this way) and I’m not taking away anything from what it takes to get a small distillery going I just would rather know the provenance to the product. That being said I’m a picky asshole a lot of the time and this is pretty good sipping bourbon.

90.4 proof Worth Trying

Hirsch Selection Small Batch Reserve is a lower priced offering in the Hirsch line of ultra high-end Bourbons. Some of the other offerings include a 16-year-old Reserve that goes anywhere from $400.00-$600.00 a 25-year-old that goes north of $200.00 and a few ryes that are well over $100.00, so the $35.00 for the Small Batch Reserve would be a more reasonable and not a stunningly dumbfounding price. Unlike its higher priced family members, the Hirsch Selection Small Batch Reserve has no age statement. Anchor Distilling distributes this bourbon but the label says it was bottled by Hirsch distillers in Bardstown, KY but does not say where it was distilled. Because “Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey” is on the label it has to have come from KY and aged more than 4 years in new charred oak barrels and has no additives other than good old H2O. Having said that, being labeled KSBW it’s also safe to say this whiskey is not from the famed Michter’s Distillery in Schaefferstown Pennsylvania where the much higher priced and older Hirsch whiskies were distilled, but I can’t find any info on this bottle’s origin. Anyway… While the bourbon isn’t bad by any stretch, I found it hard to really take to it. There is this overly nutty note that kept giving me the feeling of eating peanut butter that I just couldn’t escape. Not so bad that it ruined the whiskey, but enough that I’m not sure I’d spend $35.00 on this over another similarly priced bourbon. It mixes fairly well if you’re into that. I made a decent Old fashioned from it so it would have a place at a lower price. Seems somewhat obvious that this bottling is out there purely to draw those in who are aware of it’s higher priced and sought after cousins.

Aroma: clean, a little nuttyness, some caramel

Taste: nutty, young, burnt sugar, some dried fruit, more nutty nuttiness and some slight saltiness

Finish: medium somewhat hot finish

46% ABV Worth a try but not recommended at this price.

Bourbon, Bacon, Mustard Potato Salad

Bourbon? Yes. Bacon? Yes. Kick ass Mustard? yes.  This potato salad is easy quick and will cause all sorts of mama slapping when you serve it.

Shopping List

• 4 lbs of new potatoes, quartered
• 4 strips thick bacon, sliced into lardons. Use a good quality smokey bacon. I like Benton’s bacon
• 1 medium red onion, medium dice
• 1 large shallot, medium dice
• two cloves of garlic, smashed and fine diced
• 2-3 green scallions, thinly sliced green parts
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup bourbon I used Old Grand-Dad Bonded
• two heaping spoonfuls (ok fine let’s say about 3 tbs.) of quality whole grain or coarse ground mustard such as Lusty Monk Original Sin
• 1 large handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper

What To Do

1. In a large sauté pan over low heat render the bacon lardons. Once all the fat is rendered remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve on a paper towel covered plate. Remove pan from heat.
2. In a large pot, cover potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook until a knife easily slides into a potato.
3. Drain and return to pot to keep warm
4. Add the bacon fat pan back to medium-low heat
5. add the shallots, onion and garlic to the bacon fat. Saute until just translucent. 3-5 mins
6. slowly pour in the vinegar and bourbon into the pan. Be careful of splattering.
7. increase heat to medium
8. reduce the mixture for 2-3 mins
9. whisk in the mustard
10. reduce another 4-5 mins or until slightly thickened
11. move potatoes to serving bowl or large mixing bowl
12. add sauce, bacon lardons, green onions and chopped parsley to the warm potatoes
13. Fold bacon, bourbon onion mixture into potatoes
14. season with salt and pepper

Serving

You can serve it warm right away or pop it in the fridge and serve it later. I would let it come to room temp before serving if you choose to wait.