Whiskey Beef and Mushroom Sauce

We have had some bizarre weather recently.

It has rained.  It has snowed.   It has been sunny.  Sometimes all in the same day.  It has been so cold we used our oven for heat and it has been a balmy 61°.

The only thing that has been constant is that we are still cooking and we are still cooking our winter-time meals.

The recipes below started as mistakes, but have since been honed to our liking that we now make them with intent.  In fact, we have made this recipe or variations of it, so many times now that we went out and bought a nice big cheap handle of whiskey so we could stop using our Jameson and use the new whiskey guilt-free (don’t worry CK, we never used the Bushmills in this recipe!).

Originally we were trying to do two things: 1) re-make our Whiskey, Wine and Mushroom Pasta (originally a la The Pioneer Woman) and 2) make some kind of meat with whiskey that would be a nice pairing with said pasta.  What we have now — we have documented below to share.

The meat is stupidly easy, although it should be noted that you should leave yourself about two hours of waiting time.  Here goes:

Whiskey Beef
(Serves 3-4)

1 ½ lb flank steak
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp butter (+ 1 tbsp)
2 tbsp olive oil

½ onion (sliced into thin strips and then halved)
1 cup of sweet vermouth
½ cup of whisky
1 more tbsp butter
Water to fill (we added 1 cup)

Start by putting the butter and olive oil in a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pan. Melt over medium heat.  When it gets frothy then add the salt and pepper.  Turn up the heat and sear/brown the steak on each side.  We had to cut the meat into thirds and repeat this process to make sure that all the meat got browned.

Remove the steak and add in the onions, whiskey, vermouth, and the last tbsp of butter.  Turn the heat down to low, let the onions soften for about 3 minutes and then add the beef back in and fill with water so that the beef is completely submerged.  Cover and let simmer for about an hour.

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Remove the cover, turn up to medium-high heat, and let the liquid slowly boil off.  Leave about an inch of thick, cooked-down whiskey sauce on the bottom.

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Serve with anything, though we recommend trying it with this:

Booze-y Mushroom Cream Sauce

2 lbs portabella mushrooms (we got the giant caps)
1 tsp fresh grated pepper + ½ tsp for onions later
½ tsp salt for roasting, ¼ tsp for onions later
3 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp for onions later
1 tbsp butter
½ onion
½ c veggie broth
¾ c whiskey

1 ½ c sweet vermouth
1 cup of heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 375°.  Slice the mushrooms into ½ in thick slices and then into 1 in rectangles.

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Toss the mushrooms with 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp fresh grated black pepper, and ½ tsp of salt, lay on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes.

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While that bakes, slice the onion into thin strips.

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Melt 1 tbsp of butter and olive oil in a dutch oven over low heat.  Toss in the onions, ½ tsp black pepper and ¼ tsp salt and let the onions soften for about two minutes.  Pour in the veggie broth, whiskey, and vermouth, and then add the mushrooms.  Let it cook over low heat uncovered until it thickens (about 45 minutes) and then add the cream.  Let it cook a little longer if, like us, you like thick sauce and then serve over pasta with or without some fresh parmesan on top.

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The thing we like about this meal is that the meat and the mushrooms are hearty and flavorful and both vegetarian and meat-eater go to bed satisfied.