Pasta with Whiskey Cream Sauce

I know it’s not exactly the fall yet, and while I don’t want to rush into the colder weather, I do want to ease into the idea of it. So, what better way than by “feeding” myself the idea of fall weather.

Whiskey is one of those spirits that warms the belly and makes one feel nice and cozy. Pasta pretty much does the same thing. So, I figured why not combine the two and throw a thick dry-aged rib-eye steak into the mix. I got the tasty idea when I saw a whiskey-soaked dry-aged rib eye at Whole Foods.

Although I may have had a sip during the cooking process, I didn’t drink whiskey with the meal. Instead, I enjoyed the lovely and organic Malbec recommended for our Wine Wednesday. Although preparing this meal was a good amount of work, I had a lot of fun making it!

One of my “little buddies” sat at the kitchen table making a Playdough gallery of food and animals, and we chatted about food and the new school year.

After this meal, I think we were all a little bit better prepared for the change of seasons, and maybe even looking forward to it.

Whiskey Cream Sauce

Ingredients

3 Strips of thick cut bacon
1/5 Cup of whiskey
3 Garlic cloves (minced)
3/4 Cup of chicken or beef stock
1 Cup of milk
4 Tablespoons of butter
1/2 Cup of mascarpone cheese
1/4 Cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Cook the bacon in a decent sized pan. Once nice and crisp, remove bacon from pan but leave the fat. Crumble bacon and save for later.
Saute the minced garlic in the bacon fat. Add a little bit of the whiskey for deglazing purposes.
Add remaining whiskey, butter, milk, and broth. Let simmer until slightly reduced.
Once you are about ready to make your pasta, add cheese and mascarpone.
Lower the heat, depending on consistency. If you need to, feel free to add any of the ingredients to create your desired flavor and/or consistency.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Linguine

Make the pasta dough before anything else. That way you can let it chill while you make the rest of the goodies.

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups of flour (You’ll need a little more for when you stretch the pasta). I used semolina flour this time. I think this is better if you plan to dry the pasta, as it makes a thicker dough.)
3 Egg yolks
1 Egg
1/2 Tablespoon of milk
3/4 Teaspoons olive oil

Instructions

If you’re using an electric mixer, remove the bowl and put in the flour.
Make a hole in the middle of the flour and add the egg yolks, egg, milk, and oil.
Without yet incorporating the flour, mix the eggs in the middle. You can use a whisk, fork, or even your finger.
Slowly start to mix the flour from the sides.
Once you have a ball of dough, you can use the mixer or do it by hand.
When the dough can be stretched without falling apart, roll it into a ball, wrap, and put into the refrigerator.
Remove dough from freezer.
Start a pot of boiling water, with a substantial amount of salt.
Flour your workspace to avoid the dough sticking.
Either with a pasta rolling machine or rolling pin, start to stretch the dough into a long rectangular shape.
Keep stretching the dough until the desired thickness.
If you’re using a pasta machine, switch the attachments for linguine. If you’re doing it by hand, start cutting!
Gently place the cut linguine into the boiling water.
After about three minutes, carefully scoop out of the water.
Toss with olive oil then mix in with whiskey cream sauce.
Top with bacon bits. Feel free to throw parmesan cheese on top too!

Rib Eye with Whiskey Sauce

Ingredients

Whiskey dry-aged ribeye
Course sea salt
2 Tablespoons of butter
3 Tablespoons of raw or brown sugar
1/4 cup of whiskey

Instructions

Salt and pepper the steak using coarse sea salt. Let the steak come to room temperature before grilling. The salt should start to melt as it gets absorbed into the steak.
In a bowl, mix whiskey and brown sugar. Put a little bit over the steak before grilling.
In a small saucepan, add the whiskey/sugar mixture and butter. Cook on low until it gets a little thick and carmely. Watch closely so it doesn’t burn!
Make sure your grill is nice and hot! Grill the steak for about 5 minutes on each side for medium. Depending on the thickness and how you like your steak, it may be a little longer/shorter. While I love a filet rare, I like to see the gristle on my rib eye a little crunchy.
Remove the steak, and let it sit before cutting.
Top with brown whiskey sauce and serve with pasta!