A splash of bourbon can do wonders for so many different sauces. It can take your homemade steak sauce to the next level, create a delicious meal of savory meatballs in bourbon cream sauce, or be turned into a decadent boozy bourbon butter ice cream topping. To help you perfect your creamy bourbon sauces, we spoke to executive chef Matthew Stowe (@chefmatthewstowe on Instagram) of Joey Restaurants, who follows a two-step process to create a balanced flavor.
“What I like to do a lot of times in those types of sauces is I’ll deglaze the pan with bourbon, then you burn off the alcohol, right? And then right at the end, before you serve it, add a few more drops,” he said. “You’ll get a little bit more aroma from it and you get [a] little bit better flavor. I’ve done that before with a Marsala sauce, as an example. I’ll use Marsala at the beginning, but then I’ll also add a few drops at the end to kind of intensify that flavor that you’re looking for.”
Chef Stowe also follows this method for dessert sauces. “In the sweeter applications, you definitely want to add a little bit at the end, so you get a little bit of that kind of raw, if you will, bourbon flavor to your caramel sauce or something like that,” he said. If you’re worried about choosing the best bourbon brands, you can relax. Chef Stowe’s advice is to use whatever you already have.
Don’t break the bank with a high-end bourbon
When it comes to choosing a bourbon for the sauce, top quality isn’t essential. “I think that it’s different than sipping it, where in my opinion, you’re not going to necessarily appreciate all of the nuances and characteristics of different bourbons, so I wouldn’t break the bank, so to speak, with a super high-end one,” Chef Stowe said. “I think using whatever you have on hand that you, again, would drink, but you’re using such a little amount oftentimes that it may not make sense to have in your bar or pantry, like a drinking bourbon and then a cooking bourbon … it’s probably better to just have the one.”
With around 34 locations and a new restaurant, Joey Valley Fair, on the way, Chef Stowe needs to think about menu descriptions, but you probably don’t. “Sometimes on menus, it sounds better to use a brand name, you see it oftentimes like ‘Jack Daniel’s barbecue sauce with ribs,’ but only if you’re wanting to sell the product, so to speak,” he said. “Otherwise, brand wise, I wouldn’t worry too much … Even if you wanted to finish the sauce with it, you’re not going to necessarily pick up whether it’s a Jack Daniel’s or a lower end brand or a higher end brand.”
The one time you might want to pay more attention is for a sweet bourbon sauce. “You don’t oftentimes see a rye butterscotch sauce where you see a bourbon butter,” Chef Stowe said. In this case, think about the flavor profile you want and try using a bourbon with “a little bit more refinement to it.” For more pointers, check out these 12 must-know tips for making bourbon sauces.
