Monday, December 8, 2008

Cooking with Liquor

The only thing better than drinking alcohol is cooking with alcohol. And my favorite liquor-friendly food blogger, Lisa of Show Me Vegan, has a knack for what alcohol goes best with what flavors. When I saw her recipe for Chipotle Bourbon Sweet Potato Quesadillas, I knew they'd be great. So I made them tonight:

And my suspicions were correct. This was a creative and tasty spin on the traditional vegan sweet potato/black bean quesadilla.

The sweet potatoes, which are baked for 30 minutes prior to combining the rest of the filling, are spiked with Wild Turkey. Though I typically hate whiskey and bourbon when drunk alone (it smells like vomit), its taste was the perfect complement to the sweetness of the potatoes and the spiciness of cloves. The recipe called for dried apricots, but I left them out because I forgot to buy them (oops!).

The baked, mashed potatoes are then mixed with black beans, corn, and chipotle powder (though I used a whole chipotle pepper). And then the filling is stuffed into a tortilla folded over and fried lightly in a skillet. I used the Food for Life Wheat-Free Brown Rice Tortillas for the first time and I absolutely loved them. They had a chewier texture than a traditional flour tortilla, and I'm a huge fan of chewy.

Served with a simple salad of field greens and Amy's Woodstock Dressing, Lisa's quesadillas were a quick, satisfying weeknight meal. I suggest you head over to her blog now and check out the recipe.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw these on Lisa's blog too - she always has the best ideas! I'm with you, if I can't drink it, at least let's cook with it (or both! gasp!).

Anonymous said...

Lisa's recipes always look fantastic. Those quesadillas look lovely.

jessy said...

these look great, Bianca! i saw Lisa's quesadillas and printed off the recipe - now i'm going to make them sometime soon (after reading your post)! we love bourbon/whiskey (old crow is my fav!) - and you're right, cooking with alcohol is awesome! i'm gonna have to check out those brown rice tortillas. i love chewy as well!

i wish i were having these for breakfast!

Anonymous said...

Look delicious!

Lisa (Show Me Vegan) said...

Bianca, I'm glad you liked the quesadillas! Thanks for trying the recipe. Your photo looks so good wtih the corn and beans peeking through.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Mmm, mmm, mmm!!

miss v said...

um, this sounds freaking fantastic!

The Chubby Vegetarian said...

We are going to have to talk about this. bourbon is the best, you just might not have tried some good ones. It is your duty as a southerner to give ol' bourbon another try. I treasure my bottle of hirsch, a rare 16 yr old bourbon with a perfect balance of sweet brown sugar and earthy oak flavors that are not akin to vomit in any way. When I heard that pritchard's was running out of their double barrel offering i bought every bottle i could get my hands on before the price went up, which was exactly three. It is a complex and beautiful whiskey made by aging it in charred oak barrels and then french-oak chardonnay barrels. The result is surprising and wonderful. If i were going to point someone in the direction of a bourbon that tastes like a bourbon should, i'd tell them to pick up a bottle of pappy van winkle's 12 yr old. it doesn't pull any punches. it is just great tasting single-barrel bourbon whiskey.

J said...

I remember how drool worthy I thought these were when I saw them on Lisa's blog. I never drink, so I never have any liquor around, but perhaps I could buy a small bottle of tequila or whiskey for Mexican cooking. I've been wanting to make drunken beans too.

Alicia said...

I should cook with booze more often, now that you mention it... because it looks so amazing!

nora said...

Yum! anything with sweet potatoes is okay by me :)
yeah, the savory oatmeal i make is delish! my fav has been with the apple curry fauxsage from have cake will travel. also, when's your cookbook coming out? do you have a vague idea? i just may be interested..haha jk OF COURSE i am!

Anonymous said...

Oh man, so true. My cooking motto is "Everything is better with booze."

thedalyn said...

I'm definitely going to have to try these quesadillas. Bourbon *insert object here* wrapped in a tortilla? Perfection.

thedalyn said...

By the way, I've got to go with Justin in regards to the bourbon. His recommendations are good, but Blanton's is definitely worth giving a try as well (just try to ignore the strange equestrian stopper).

Joanna said...

when you said "wild turkey," i was like- omg, is she serious??!

haha now i realized what an airhead i am and how inexperienced i am with all the different kinds of alcohol.

Mike K said...

I don't know why I haven't made these yet - they look so good, and a good excuse to pick up some bourbon. Cheers for more ideas on cooking with booze - "the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems." -Homer S.

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

WOOWEE! That sounds like a bit much for my taste, as I don't drink, but the quesadillas still sound good!

nora said...

great, i can't wait!
also, i'll be at home with A LOT of free time and a stocked vegan kitchen from dec 20th to about jan 20th...i've never done any testing before, but i've always wanted to, so if you have any recipes you want tested, maybe i could do a couple? i've been enthralled with all the recipes and ideas you've posted about, and I would seriously love to get a chance to help out (even if it's only a recipe or 2 in the month i'm back from college)..but idk, maybe there's some kind of special tester etiquette, and you're not supposed to just ask like this..haha i'm a newbie! anyways, keep up the 'dirty' cooking!

VeganCowGirl said...

I love it when I have the same dindin as another wicked cool blogger. I made sweet tater and b.bean quesadillas last night too!!! But mine didn't look quite as good as yours. I am soooo jealous of your selection of tortillas. I think I am just going to have to make my own! You are amazing.

urban vegan said...

Yum! This looks amazing.

You'll see a lot of liquor in my upcoming cookbook!

nora said...

yay! you have no idea how excited i am! you're going to pop my testing cherry..hahahahah sorry couldn't resist. but DON'T respond back to me on my blog, you promised that was your last comment, and i plan to hold you to that..haha jk..or am i?

Anonymous said...

How is your puppy dog? Any word on the biopsy? I hope all is well with him.

Krys

T said...

Oooh yum, what a cool combo! I can't drink bourbon either, but its great to cook with....