Alton Brown's Eggnog

Ingredients
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pint whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 egg whites*

Directions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Add the milk, cream, bourbon and nutmeg and stir to combine.
2. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat to soft peaks. With the mixer still running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. Whisk the egg whites into the mixture. Chill and serve.

 Cook's Note: For cooked eggnog, follow procedure below.

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, over high heat, combine the milk, heavy cream and nutmeg and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and gradually temper the hot mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Then return everything to the pot and cook until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F. Remove from the heat, stir in the bourbon, pour into a medium mixing bowl, and set in the refrigerator to chill.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. With the mixer running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Whisk the egg whites into the chilled mixture.

 Results:
So much better than store bought, you'll wonder what you've been doing all these years. Play around with the proportions of milk to cream, or replace the cream with half and half, add more spices, use rum instead of bourbon (or in addition to bourbon)--it's a pretty elastic recipe.

* Egg whites are a really poor medium to grow bacteria, so it's not alarming that these egg whites aren't cooked, especially if they're fresh and you washed the outsides of the eggs. However, if you're worried about it, what I think you can do is beat the egg whites into peaks, gently mix it with the yolk and milk and then bring that to 160 degrees. Alton did that on TV the other day when he made wassail. I would think it might be less fluffy, is all. If anyone tries this, let me know!