Southern Cocktails - SouthernAccents.com

by Dawn P. Cannon
Photos by Robert M. Peacock

Southern Cocktails

Author Denise Gee dishes about her favorite cocktail recipes and will help you prepare a party-friendly bar

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

This is a Southern twist on the parchment paper-lined cups of french fries so popular these days. The feather-light beer batter gives the mild-mannered green beans more definition (while still letting their color peek through), and the rémoulade sauce ramps up the flavor and balances cool with hot.

I like to serve Beer-Battered String Beans with Righteous Rémoulade Sauce in a bistro glass with the sauce in the bottom. That way you can just pull one out and enjoy.

BEER-BATTERED STRING BEANS
WITH RIGHTEOUS RÉMOULADE SAUCE

1 pound green beans
1 cup beer (not dark)
1 teaspoon salt
Juice of 1 lime
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups vegetable oil
Righteous Rémoulade Sauce
2 limes, cut into wedges, for serving

Clip off and discard the stalk ends of the green beans; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the beer, salt, and lime juice into the flour until smooth (The mixture will foam slightly).

Dredge the beans in the batter to coat.

In a deep skillet, heat the oil to 375 degrees F.

Working in batches, gently place about 10 battered beans into the hot oil and let cook for about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried beans to a paper bag or paper towel-lined plate to drain and cool. Repeat the process until the remaining beans are cooked. Yield: 4 to 6

Righteous Rémoulade Sauce

1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Creole or whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish sauce
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon hot sauce

Whisk together all ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Serve with Beer-Battered String Beans. Yield: 1 2/3 cups

For more information on Denise Gee and her new book, Southern Cocktails: Dixie Drinks, Party Potions & Classic Libations (Chronicle Books, 2007), visit www.chroniclebooks.com.

( http://southernaccents.com/accents/entertaining/parties/article/0,14743,1653349,00.html )