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| Southern Cocktails |
| Author Denise Gee dishes about her favorite cocktail recipes and will help you prepare a party-friendly bar |
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"There was a time when I would never serve a
blue cocktail, but the fact that the Blueberry Martini has fresh
blueberries in it makes a difference," says Denise Gee.
(Photo: Robert M. Peacock) |
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Plan ahead for the Fig Preserve Martini; it takes
at least a week to infuse the vodka with fig flavor.
(Photo: Robert M. Peacock) |
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by Dawn P. Cannon
Photos by Robert M. Peacock
Natchez, Mississippi, native Denise Gee knows a thing
or two about mixing a cocktail. Her latest book, Southern Cocktails: Dixie
Drinks, Party Potions & Classic Libations (Chronicle Books, 2007,
$14.95), celebrates the Southern penchant for happy hour and storytelling.
This little book may just become your favorite hostess gift and handbook.
Having a hard time coming up with a toast? "Toast Points" lets
you borrow from the best. Gee's favorite is a Welsh proverb: "To
health and prosperity for our enemies' enemies." "That one
really gets people laughing because everyone can relate to it," she
says. Setting up a bar for the first time? Gee offers this
practical advice: "Don't rush out and buy all this stuff at
once," she says. "Just build on the basics." Handy
Starter Kit and Next Level checklists give you a place to start.
So what are you waiting for? Pull out your martini
glasses, and sample some Southern cocktails of your own.
Berries are the gems of childhood. For me, they evoke
memories of U-pick farms, or of squirreling away a few stray ones to nibble
on while Nannie made fried berry pies. I'm sure that's why berry drinks
bring out the kid in us all -- as they do for cousins Pearce and Ann
Bailey, who own and operate Bailey's Berry Patch outside of Dallas (and
shared this recipe with me).
| BLUEBERRY MARTINI |
Handful of fresh, washed blueberries (about 20 small)
1 1/2 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce blue curaçao liqueur
1/3 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to
taste
Garnish: Several berries skewered on a cocktail pick
Muddle the blueberries in a cocktail shaker. Add the
vodka, curaçao, and lemon juice. Fill the shaker with ice. Shake
vigorously to help the blueberries release more color and flavor. Strain
through a fine-mesh sieve into a chilled martini glass. Add the garnish. Yield: 1 |
I recently experienced a fig martini not in the Deep
South, but deep in the heart of San Francisco's Russian Hill district, at a
magnificent bar and eatery called Street. I began researching fig martini
recipes online and couldn't find one -- they tend to be well-guarded
secrets. Well, fig fans, after much trial and error, I did it. Here's my
creation that truly reflects a taste of the South: fig preserves. Just as
in the preserves, ample orange overtones make it mesmerizing.
| FIG PRESERVE MARTINI |
2 ounces Fig-Infused Vodka
11/2 ounces freshly squeezed orange juice
Garnish: orange curl
Combine the vodka and orange juice in a cocktail
shaker filled with ice. Shake until well combined. Strain into a chiled
martini glass. Add garnish. Yield: 1
Fig-Infused Vodka
2 cups orange juice or water
1 pound dried figs (preferably Turkish or Calimyrna),
chopped and pitted
2 cups vodka
Bring the liquid to a boil and remove from the heat.
Prick the figs with a fork and add to the liquid. Cover and let the figs
plump in the hot liquid for about 10 minutes. Drain.
Let the figs steep in the vodka in a clean container
for a week or two (the longer the better), shaking occasionally.
Using a fine-mesh strainer, coffee filter, or clean
T-shirt, strain the infused vodka into a clean container, leaving the small
seeds behind. Keep refrigerated for several months. Yield: about 2 1/2 cups |
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