Sip your spirits – and eat them, too in this new cookbook’s recipes

Emily Clifton edits movies and TV shows; her husband Matt runs an IT consultancy. Together they create recipes in their Hudson Valley kitchen for Nerds with Knives, the popular food blog they started in 2013. They gather inspiration from their backyard garden and the pubs, bars and restaurants they frequent in New York and beyond. As their eclectic recipe collection grew, they noticed a pattern: most of their favorites contained some type of booze — from the brandy in the cream sauce on the steak au poivre they shared on their first “fancy date,” to the wheat beer for steaming freshly caught clams from their local farmers market.

They dug deeper into the science of each spirit so they could better understand how to take advantage of their unique properties. You'll find the results of their tasty research in "Cork and Knife: Build Complex Flavors with Bourbon, Wine, Beer and More," with recipes categorized in 10 chapters according to the dominant spirit in each.

Among their revelations: beer lightens batter for fried seafood; an extra splash of vodka ensures the crust will be even crunchier because it evaporates so quickly. Rye whisky can elevate refrigerator bread-and-butter pickles with an extra layer of complex spice. The floral, citrus and spicy notes of silver tequila add a “poolside feeling” and “sophisticated edge” to parfaits that layer graham cracker crumbs with key lime custard.