Tonight is Burns Night, and with festivities across New Zealand sadly cancelled, this year we're taking the celebrations indoors.
These three dishes come with a hearty dose of whisky (or whatever your favourite tipple).
Venison steaks with whisky and mustard pan sauce
Pan sauces are a super-quick way to jazz up any cut of meat or fish that has been sautéed. Whiskey and mustard make a perfect pairing with venison or beef.
Serves: 2
Ingredients
300 grams venison tri-tip steaks, at room temperature
sea salt and ground pepper
olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped parsley, to garnish
Sauce
2 tablespoons whiskey
1 tablespoon each soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and whole grain mustard
2 teaspoons brown sugar
½ small red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons butter
Directions
1. Sauce: Combine the whiskey, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and sugar in a bowl and set aside.
2. Season the steaks with salt and pepper.
3. Heat a sauté pan over a high heat with a dash of oil and, when hot, cook the steaks for 2-3 minutes each side. Transfer to a plate and rest, lightly covered, while you make the sauce. Don't wash the pan.
4. Add another dash of oil, the onion and garlic to the pan and cook for 5 minutes until soft, adding a splash of water if the pan is dry. Tip in the whiskey mixture and bring to the boil then simmer for 2 minutes until reduced. Stir in the butter and the meat resting juices.
5. Add the steaks back to the pan and spoon over the sauce. Garnish with parsley before serving.
Cook's note: Serve with a bowl of crispy sautéed potatoes, creamy mashed potatoes or polenta and a crisp salad or cooked greens.
- Recipe by Claire Aldous
Boozy barbecued stonefruit parcels
This recipe gives you the basic ingredients for making one parcel and it's quite a generous serving. I've used stone fruit, but use whatever fruit is in season and best on the day.
Ingredients
Fruit
1 peach
1 nectarine
2 apricots
2 plums
Parcels
3 gingernut biscuits, roughly broken
1 tablespoon whisky (or use your own favourite tipple)
1-2 tablespoons honey, depending on the ripeness of the fruit
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/3 piece vanilla bean, split with seeds scraped out or use ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons butter
Directions
1. Cut out a 20cm x 20cm piece each of baking paper and foil.
2. Halve and stone the fruit, cutting any larger pieces into quarters.
3. Place the baking paper over the foil and scatter over the biscuits. Arrange the fruit over the biscuits. Stir together the whisky, honey, zest and juice and vanilla bean seeds or extract and pour over the fruit. Nestle in the vanilla bean and dot over the butter. Bring the sides together and fold to seal tightly. Place on a heated barbecue and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the fruit is tender.
To serve: Open the parcel and serve with a scoop of ice cream, runny cream or yoghurt.
- Recipe by Claire Aldous
Fig and whisky chocolate truffles
This recipe is simple to make, if a little messy! It's important to remove the truffles from the fridge half an hour before serving to ensure the perfect smooth chocolate mouthful.
Ingredients
¾ cup finely chopped dried figs
¼ cup whisky
200 ml cream
400 grams dark chocolate, chopped roughly
1 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts
¼ cup cocoa powder
Directions
1. Mix the figs with the whisky and leave to macerate overnight in a sealed container.
2. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just simmering. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and leave to sit for 3 minutes then whisk to combine. If necessary return to the heat briefly, then whisk again until smooth.
3. Add the fig and whisky mixture and half of the walnuts and stir to combine. Pour into a container and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours.
4. Once set, use a spoon to scoop out the chocolate mixture and roll into small balls. Finish by either rolling in the remaining finely chopped walnuts or dark cocoa powder.
5. Refrigerate until half an hour before serving. Makes: 30
- Recipe by Sarah Tuck
Find more great recipes at dish.co.nz