Cork and Knife

We are beyond excited to announce our first cookbook —Cork and Knife! We’ve put together seventy-five delicious and easy-to-follow recipes, each using a little splash of something that you probably already have in your liquor cabinet. Learn how to use wine, beer, tequila, bourbon and more to make your dishes pop with flavor! We have dishes for appetizers, entrees, desserts and party favorites, and every recipe has a mouth-watering full-page photo.

From the back cover of the book:

“Alcohol isn’t just an accompaniment to a great meal, but the secret ingredient to make dishes pop with flavor, added depth and complexity. Emily and Matt Clifton, founders of the blog Nerds with Knives, show you how to use vodka to make extra crispy batter in Ultra-Crispy Fish with Vodka and Beer Batter, heighten the aroma of the spicy, garlicky sauce in the Tequila and Lime Scampi and bring perfect balance to dishes like Vermouth-Braised Leeks or Classic Chicken Piccata just by adding white wine.

Through their knowledge of booze cooking science, you’ll make classic dishes that pack a delicious punch. So put on your apron, pop a cork, raise your glass and get ready to cook.”

From the Introduction:

“Our path to these recipes was a long and winding one that ran through many pubs, bars, restaurants and our own tiny kitchens. We gained a keen appreciation of beer, wine and spirits before we even knew we wanted to write a book about cooking with them. (And frankly, if we’d known a book was in our future, we would have expensed those boozy evenings a lot sooner.) We’re enthusiastic and proud home cooks, not professional chefs, and over the last few years of running Nerds with Knives, our cooking blog, we’ve gradually developed and refined the kinds of food we love to cook and eat. Each of us has a different background in culinary matters: Emily grew up on the Upper West Side of New York, and she loved the flavors she found in the kitchens of her Korean and Puerto Rican friends. Matt brings a love of sweet desserts and warm comfort dishes from his native Britain.

When we looked back over our favorite recipes, we realized that many of them had one thing in common: booze. Our favorite barbecue sauce? Bourbon. Our favorite pasta sauce? Vodka. Our favorite cheesecake? Rum. You get the idea. We started to really look at why alcohol plays such an important role in developing flavor. We’re not talking about getting drunk off your pan sauce (although we won’t judge, if that’s your thing), but about layering flavors to add complexity and depth to dishes.”