March 2015 - Cooking with Rum

by ,

Hello, my name is Susan Whitley, I am passionate about great foods and beverages. I love finding recipes that incorporate my favorite ingredients and sharing the results with my friends and family.

Through this monthly column I will do my best to inspire you to incorporate the spirit of the tropics into your everyday cooking.

Sue@gotrum.com

The Basics of Cooking with Rum

As you already know by now, all rums are different. Some are aged, some have a very low level of congeners, some have added flavors, etc.

I like to think of cooking with rum as “kitchen mixology,” a form of balancing act that includes rum’s character as an additional ingredient. Using a sweet rum, for example, we can create a reduction that can be used to quickly infuse and caramelize a pork cutlet. We can then add a splash of rum on top of the cutlet (or fruits soaked in the rum) to add the flavor of the rum evaporated during the reduction. The sky is the limit, so let ’s get started with a couple of simple recipes.

Steak and a Splash of Rum

For those of you looking to impress your guests this Mardi Gras season, here is a quick and easy-to-scale recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 Sirloin Steak, 1-1/2 to 2 lbs. about 1 inch thick

• 4 Tbsp. Butter

• 1 Medium Onion, chopped fine

• ¼- ½ C. Rum

Directions:

In your kitchen, cut your uncooked steak diagonally into 8 strips, about a half inch in width. At the table, in the chafing dish, cook the onions in the butter until the onions are soft. Add the strips of steak and sauté until they are done to your liking. Remove the strips of steaks from chafing dish and place on a warm platter. Now, pour the rum into the pan and ignite; swirl the pan around to loosen all the brown particles and when the flame dies out, pour the sauce over the meat and serve immediately. Serves 4.

Now that you have impressed your guests with your skills with the chafing dish, here is a dessert dish so you can continue to entertain your guests.

Flaming Bananas & Rum Delight

Ingredients:

• 6 Ripe Bananas, sliced lengthwise

• Juice of ½ a Lemon

• ¼ C. Brown Sugar

• 3 Dashes of Cinnamon

• ¼ C. Rum, use a Dark or Spiced Rum

• Ice cream, of your choice of flavor. I recommend rum raisin ice cream!

Directions:

Brush peeled bananas with the lemon juice and set aside. Melt butter in a chafing dish, add brown sugar and cinnamon. When sugar is dissolved, add the bananas and cook until tender (about 3 to 5 minutes). Warm the rum in a ladle, light it and pour over the bananas. When the flame dies down, serve two banana slices on each side of a scoop of ice cream and spoon sauce over each serving. Serves 6.