Because I was adopted, there have always been a lot of questions about my medical history. Filling out that part of medical forms when seeing a new doctor has always caused a conflict. It’s simple and quick, because I can pretty much skip over that part of the new patient paperwork. All I have to do is make a note that I am adopted. Across the board, I generally do not know if any of the listed conditions should be of concern with my medical history. But on the other side of it….it’s a pain because I became health conscious in college and would really like to know this type of information about myself.
Whenever my husband, better known as “The Chef,” has wanted to cook with alcohol, he has always reassured me that there is no alcohol in the food after it has been cooked. “It all cooks out,” he would tell me, knowing my feelings about alcohol and the reasons behind them. Personally, I’ve never really had an interest in drinking alcohol. I was thankful of that when I studied for my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and learned of the genetic link to alcoholism. Again, not knowing my biological history, I had no idea if I had any predisposition to alcoholism, until I reconnected with my biological family my senior year in college. Because of what I learned after this reconnection I am glad that I have steered clear of alcohol. But that is a story for another day.
So when “The Chef” created the newest recipe served here at The Saturday Evening Pot, I figured it would not be a problem for me, except this time I had to consider our baby girl, since everything I eat goes through her system as well. When The Chef finished cooking the Peach and Sweet Tea Vodka Glazed Pork Tenderloin, I took a bite to taste-test it as I always get to do when he creates something new (lucky me!), and I then decided to do a little research before having it for lunch the following day (we had some leftovers that we did not want to go to waste that I decided to have for supper that night).
We were surprised to find information that contradicts the prevailing belief about this subject: that the alcohol cooks out of the food. The US Department of Agriculture studied how much alcohol is retained between various food preparation methods, and the information has been compiled in an Alcohol Burn-off Chart I found on About.com.
People avoid alcohol for a variety of reasons. I would generally be okay with eating food cooked with alcohol if I only had myself to consider. In my opinion, since there always seems to be “new research” coming out that contradicts previous research, I feel best steering clear of alcohol when my baby would be directly impacted if there were any negative effects of consuming any. Having read that caffeine can build up in a baby’s system, I take the same approach with caffeine. I just think better safe than sorry is the best route for me to take when it comes to how what I do affects her.
The About.com article I was reading that contains the link to the Alcohol Burn-off Chart also had some great information about why alcohol is used in cooking: Alcohol Substitutions and Cooking Tips: Why use alcohol in recipes?. For anyone who would rather avoid alcohol, for whatever reason, The Chef says you can substitute good ‘ole regular sweet tea in his recipe! But you may want to add a dash of red pepper flakes to keep the heat that the “firewater” gives to the recipe.Â
About the Author
Adopted at age 2, grew up in the Charlotte, NC area. Obtained Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Appalachian State University. Loves being a Mom of two and taste-testing Chef John's culinary creations and sharing them with readers.
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