Stokes Sauces: Boozy Bites for Summer Nights

Cooking with wine and cider, yum

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/traditional-condiments

The article on Beer Marinades last month was so popular we thought we'd take 'boozy bites' a step further.

Researching the 'science' of cooking with alcohol rather than simply the fun of adding it - one for the pot, one for me - we discovered that booze works in two ways ... through evaporation and molecular bonding.

Alcohol evaporates quickly and in so doing lifts the natural flavours of your cooking ingredients with it.

Our sense of smell is a crucial factor in intensifying 'taste'. This is why Stokes sauces taste so good, because they smell good too.

Alcohol bonds with fat as well as water molecules bridging the gap between our aroma receptors (which respond only to molecules that can be dissolved in fat) and food (which consists primarily of water).

Aromatics like garlic, herbs, or other seasonings dissolve only in fat. (i.e., they are fat-soluble). Water-soluble flavour compounds include sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Because alcohol bonds with both, a booze-based marinade allows all of these flavours to penetrate the meat.

I'm with the late, great Keith Floyd though - a quick slurp or two whilst cooking improves my own molecular compounds !

Boozy bites

Sangria Chicken

You'll need:

2 glasses of red wine
1 glass of orange juice
A good handful of olives
1 orange, cut into juicy strips
1 lemon, ditto
4 tbsp of olive oil
3 tbsp of Stokes Bloody Mary Tomato Ketchup
2 garlic cloves, grated
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp of fresh thyme leaves
1 thigh / leg joint of chicken each

http://www.stokessauces.co.uk/page/sauces/ketchup-and-sauces

Here's how:

In a large bowl mix everything before adding the chicken pieces and season it all well.

Make sure the chicken is well coated in its own bath of sangria, letting it enjoy the soak overnight.

Bring it back to room temperature ready to cook. Lay the chicken skin side up in a roasting tin, cover with the marinade and bake for 50 minutes or so at 180°C/gas mark 5.

Baste the chicken from time to time and make sure it is cooked through before serving.

Sausage & Potato Bake

You'll need:

2 onions, sliced
2 red peppers, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, grated
1 tbsp of thyme leaves, chopped
2 tbsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard
500 g of new potatoes, halved
A butcher's dozen of pork sausages
2 glasses of white wine

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7. Without the wine, combine all the ingredients well with the potatoes and the sausages in a large bowl.

Spread everything from the bowl into a roasting tin, making sure the sausages are sitting on the top.

Roast for about 30 minutes or so. Take the tray out of the oven, turn the sausages over, add the wine and roast for a further 20 minutes.

As an easy one-pot supper this is a winner.

Scrummy Scrumpy Pork

You'll need:

A pork cutlet each
1 fennel bulb, cored and sliced
1 apple, ditto
1 red onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, grated
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp of Stokes Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp of Stokes Cider & Horseradish Mustard
1 glass of good cider

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 5.

In a large roasting tin arrange the fennel, apple, onion, garlic and thyme and cover with the olive oil. It's best to get your hands in there to coat it all well. Put this in the oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pan, fry the pork joints in a knob of butter, cooking them for 2 minutes on each side. Pour in the cider, add the mustard and simmer for 3 minutes or so.