Ditch The Barbecue Sauce: Bobby Flay's Easy Bourbon Glaze Tastes Expensive
Bobby Flay is a big believer in both bourbon and glazes, so it's no surprise that he's come up with a great mix of the two.
Flay prepares his glaze by simmering a couple of ounces of bourbon with honey, melding the two together and allowing the alcohol to cook off. This can be a bit tricky, as you want to strike the perfect balance of heat. Too much and your glaze over-reduces, making it burn easily and possibly a bit too potent. Too little and it's so runny that it won't stick to your food, robbing it of all that flavor. You want to aim for "nappe," meaning it coats the back of a spoon when warm.
This is an extremely versatile ingredient, perfect as one of several sauces that boost your steak meal or even just upgrading some zucchini. Honey always pairs well with fatty meats like classic barbecue cuts, and Flay loves it with bacon, but the bourbon adds tons of flavor to mild ingredients like root vegetables, roasted greens, or even sweet treats like French toast. No matter what you add it to, you'll want to expose it to just enough heat to evaporate any excess moisture, but not so much that the sugars start to burn.
Bourbon and honey pairings for Bobby Flay's glaze
Bobby Flay's bourbon and honey glaze is quite flavorful, but maximizing its taste with the right pairings makes it even better. You won't need outstandingly pricey ingredients to make it work, but certain combinations may yield better results than others, especially once you factor in the food that you're glazing.
If you're aiming for a barbecue sauce substitute, take some inspiration from the best whiskey to pair with barbecue: single malt scotch. Bourbon is typically on the sweeter side, but dry varieties are particularly good to use if, say, your rub already has plenty of sugar in it. The peppery, oak-forward bouquets can be truly unique additions to your meal, and there are plenty of value-first bourbons on liquor store shelves that fit this description. In particular, something with caramel notes works great with just about any type of honey and should still be flexible enough to pair with most meats and vegetables.
Honey is just as diverse as any liquor, whether you're talking light or dark, raw or wild, or filtered or unfiltered. This is where you can really customize your glaze to your liking. If you have a stronger bourbon or heavier protein, something light like orange blossom honey can really brighten things up. On the other hand, something on the darker end of the spectrum that is unfiltered, like buckwheat or Manuka, can make any vegetable more hearty. Just be sure to remove any solids like honeycomb that may burn and mess up your glaze.