Joanna Brady Schmida's - "Keys Cuisine"
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Cooking With Vodka and Other Bizarre Notions

By Joanna Brady Schmida

The first time I ever had food cooked with vodka was a long time ago in a restaurant in Florence. The name of the dish was penne alla Russia and it was penne pasta in a zippy pink sauce and a topping of caviar. I never got the recipe but I detected traces of olive oil, a little garlic, parmesan, a hint of tomato for flavor and color, rich heavy cream and a generous shot of some kind of booze, presumably vodka -- since the name was associated with Russia. It was a kind of alcoholic version of alfredo.

I've since had it under other names, without the caviar but with the addition of prosciutto or Italian sausage and sometimes made spicy with the addition of crushed peppers. This creamy pink vodka sauce, such a novelty back then, is now a household name and is liberally poured over penne, ravioli, rigatoni, tortellini or ziti pasta, as well as on some poultry dishes and bruschetta appetizers.

Some say the recipe for vodka sauce was originally invented at a restaurant called Dante in Bologna, Italy. Others claim it can be traced to a chef from Naples who, while working at Orsini's restaurant in New York in the 1970s, threw a little vodka into his creamy tomato sauce to thin it. The Williams Sonoma Essentials of Italian cookbook says it was invented in the 1980s by a Roman chef for a vodka company that wanted to popularize its product in Italy.

Who knows the real story about these food innovations? Evidently, the dish was the rage in fashion-conscious Italian circles in the mid '70s, when the Italians were going through their nuova cucina (new cuisine) phase. But it is rarely seen anymore in Italy. However, Americans still like it and it appears in jars in the pasta section of supermarkets everywhere.

Vodka is a nearly colorless, nearly flavorless, nearly odorless distilled spirit, now one of the world's most popular alcoholic drinks. It was rarely consumed outside of Europe before the 1950s but by 1975, its sales in the United States overtook those of bourbon, previously the most popular hard liquor.

Chalk it up to the power of good marketing. In the second half of the 20th century, vodka owed its popularity in part to its reputation as an alcoholic beverage that "leaves you breathless," as one ad put it, since very little smell of liquor remains detectable on the breath.

Vodka's neutral flavor allowed it to be mixed into a wide variety of drinks, often replacing other spirits, notably gin, in the martini and highballs served with tonic. Mixed with orange juice it became the popular screwdriver. With tomato juice it morphed into a bloody Mary.

Some people even like to make liqueurs out of vodka. Just use crushed chunks of the fruit of your choice and add them to a few cups of vodka (orange peels, lemon peel, crushed pomegranate seeds, raspberries or other berries all work well). Add a little sugar syrup and seasonings; put it all in a container and leave for a couple of months. Strain and serve.

Vodka is really just water and ethyl alcohol, containing no fats, carbohydrates, protein, fibers, sugar or cholesterol. When you add heat (and especially if you flame it) there is even less flavor and odor. So, unlike spirits like rum, scotch, brandy, sherry or wine, vodka really doesn't impart a particular flavor to a dish. It just serves as a flavor enhancer, and sometimes that is what you want. It especially adds intensity to the flavor of certain vegetables in a dish, especially tomatoes, without adding yet a new flavor.

Reduce some red wine in a sauce and you'll get a rich-tasting, flavorful liquid with very little alcohol, if any, left in the sauce. But boil some vodka in a saucepan and the alcohol will totally disappear; so will the water -- and you'll end up with an empty saucepan and some expensive, tipsy-inducing air!

Vodka is an ingredient you want to add to a dish only at the end. And you should never offer such a dish to people who can't imbibe for any reason, since you won't have boiled the alcohol off.

If you prefer not to cook with vodka, you can always keep a bottle on hand to remove a bandage painlessly, clean the caulking around bathtubs and showers, clean your eyeglasses, spray on wine stains or kill bees and wasps. Freeze it for a slushy cold pack on aches and pains. Add it to shampoo for shiny hair, use as an astringent, dab it on to soothe a toothache, jellyfish or poison ivy sting. (Yes, I'm serious.)

Here are a few recipes for cooking with vodka, including two shrimp recipes:

Easy Penne alla Vodka

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

2 shallots, finely chopped

1/4 cup vodka

2 cups prepared spaghetti sauce (your own or bottled)

hot red pepper flakes to taste

1 bay leaf

1 container (15 ounces) ricotta cheese (or use half ricotta and half cream)

2 to 3 sprigs fresh Italian parsley, minced

1 package (18 ounces) penne or ziti

In medium skillet over medium heat, heat butter and oil. Add shallots, sauté 5 minutes. Add spaghetti sauce, hot pepper flakes and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes, remove bay leaf. Add the vodka. Stir in warmed ricotta and parsley; remove from heat and keep warm.

Meanwhile, cook pasta, following package directions; drain and serve with sauce. Makes six servings.

White Vodka Gazpacho

3 medium cucumbers

2 cups sour cream

1 cup yogurt

2 cups chicken broth or stock

4 cloves garlic, crushed

juice of 1-1/2 lemons

1/2 cup chopped scallions, including tops

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup parsley

splash of vinegar

1/2 cup vodka

salt and pepper to taste

Purée cucumbers with a little of the sour cream and yogurt in a food processor. Pour into big bowl. Chop the remaining ingredients. Combine them with the liquid in the bowl, blending them with a whisk and adding the remaining sour cream and yogurt, vinegar and vodka. Chill before serving. Serves eight to 10.

Easy Chicken and Almonds

8 chicken breast halves

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup vodka

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cheese soup

1 large onion, sliced

Soak raisins in vodka. Sauté almonds in butter until lightly brown; remove. Put chicken in skillet; season with salt and pepper and brown. Arrange chicken in 13-inch-by-9-inch baking dish. Blend soups and pour over chicken. Put onion slices and raisins on top. Cover and bake at 375° for 30 minutes; uncover, add almonds and bake 20 minutes longer.

Shrimp Vodka

(This dish is better made ahead, left to marinate and reheated later)

1 pound shrimp (about 20) in their shells

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp bottled hot sauce

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 tsp salt

vodka to deglaze pan

1 tbsp vodka

Over high heat, sauté shrimp in butter for 5 minutes.

Deglaze with seasoned vodka (recipe follows), add chicken broth and salt. Cook together for 10 minutes. Add 1 tbsp vodka mixture and bring to a boil again. Refrigerate a few hours to intensify flavor.

At serving time, reheat. Serve shrimp in the sauce or on sticks to dip in sauce. Shrimp can also be eaten with the fingers. Makes four servings.

Seasoned Vodka

1 bottle vodka

peel of 1 orange

peel of 1 lemon

1 sliced onion

3 whole cloves garlic

6 peppercorns

sprig of rosemary

1 bay leaf

1 dried red pepper

Peel an orange and a lemon without breaking the peel. Put it in the bottle. Add sliced onion, garlic, red pepper and peppercorns, bay leaf and a rosemary. Keep on hand for add flavor and flambéeing dishes or adding to salad dressings over tomatoes.

Spicy Drunken Shrimp

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 medium garlic cloves thinly sliced

2 large jalapeño peppers thinly sliced on the bias

2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tbsp olive oil

4 tsp granulated sugar

12 jumbo shrimp shelled and deveined

1/4 cup vodka

Place soy sauce, garlic, jalapeños, cilantro, lime juice, oil and sugar in a shallow pan and stir to combine. Add shrimp and stir to coat. Let marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature.

Heat a large frying pan over high heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Add shrimp mixture and cook until shrimp are bright pink, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully add vodka. Return the pan to high heat and cook for one minute more or until the alcohol smell has dissipated. Serve shrimp over steamed rice.

Tipsy CheesecakeCrust

1-1/4 cups pecan shortbread cookie crumbs, from about 11 cookies

1/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

2 pounds ricotta cheese, room temperature (or use cream cheese)

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp orange zest

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp salt

Topping:

1/2 cup orange marmalade, apricot preserves or cherry jam

1/3 cup vodka

To make the crust, heat the oven to 350° and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat a 9-inch spring form pan with butter. Place cookie crumbs and melted butter in a medium bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Place crumb mixture in the pan and press evenly into the bottom with fingers. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, place ricotta or cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. Add sugar and flour and pulse until well incorporated, about 10 (1-second) pulses, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the processor running, add eggs and egg yolks one at a time until well incorporated. Add vanilla, orange zest and salt, blend until just mixed. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until the center of the cheesecake is set and the edges are golden brown, about one hour.

Remove to a wire rack and let cool.

For the topping, place marmalade or jam and vodka in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer a couple of minutes. Cool slightly (about five minutes) and pour over the cooled cake.

Refrigerate to chill. Serves 8 to 10.