Bourbon

Southerners are especially clever about using up breads, raisins, and other dried fruits going stale. This frugal bread pudding—elegant enough for a party—is a case in point. The bread to use is firm-textured white bread (a.k.a. farm-style bread). I think raisin bread would be equally delicious though I've never tried it. And if I do, I'll omit the raisins or use half the amount called for. Tip: Only top-quality bourbon or sour mash whiskey will do for the sauce. Cheap brands lack flavor.

Epicurious member Eileen La Mendola tells us that her husband’s family preferred their sweet potatoes roasted and topped with melted marshmallows. But it was her husband who inspired this revamped version of the family classic featuring bourbon and pecans. It’s been a hit ever since.

Bourbon puts a distinctively American spin on this classic French hors d’oeuvre. The booze also helps balance the rich and unctuous chicken livers, which are sautéed in a heady mix of onion, garlic, and herbs. While it needs to be chilled only for two hours before you can dig in, wait a day or two and you’ll give the flavors a chance to really develop. For holiday celebrations, serve this pâté in a terrine. Alternatively, divide it among ramekins to create unique and indulgent hostess gifts.

This flavorful ham is glazed with orange juice, bourbon, brown sugar, and apple jelly that's spiced with cloves, allspice, and ginger.

The complex, bittersweet syrup for these roasted sweet potatoes is inspired by Southern redeye gravy.

This tart is a tradition-forming mix of caramel, crunchy pecans, and melted chocolate. Be sure to let it rest for 30 minutes before serving.

Editor's note: This recipe is part of a special Thanksgiving menu created by chefs Allison Vines-Rushing and Slade Rushing of MiLa restaurant in New Orleans. Pecan pralines are one of the most celebrated candies of the South. They are made with pecans, sugar, and cream, which results in a unique crystallized and cloudy caramel that melts in your mouth. The European praline, however, is made simply with sugar and nuts, which results in a shiny hard-crack bitter-and-sweet candy. This Italian-style semifreddo (half frozen) uses the latter, which holds up well when frozen. However, we still use cream, but in a soft, fluffy base that cradles the crispy praline.

This crumble-topped pie stars the flavors of an Old Fashioned cocktail. Our secret weapon: jarred sour cherries (just think of all those cherries you won't have to pit!). We like Trader Joe's Dark Morello Cherries, but other brands work well, too.

Stew fruit in parcels to infuse it with vanilla and bourbon, then serve it with a dollop of Greek yogurt (or ice cream).

Matt Wallace, bartender at Harvard & Stone in Los Angeles, created this potent fruit-filled punch for our story Spring Cocktails Perfect for Brunch. The combination of pineapple, orange, and lemon plus the crisp, dry bubbles from the Champagne really wake up your palate after a long winter, he says. The citrus and sugar base is called oleo-saccharum, and is common in older punch recipes. Wallace says it's an excellent way to add a subtle citrusy perfume to the final drink, and requires time but very little labor.

I love alcohol-flavored gelato because the alcohol cuts the richness of the dairy and also allows the gelato to get super-cold. But because alcohol doesn’t freeze, if you add too much to the gelato it won’t freeze at all. After making many versions with varying amounts of booze, we determined that the recipe below contains the maximum amount of alcohol that will freeze in a home ice cream maker. If it’s still not boozy enough for you, do as I do: drizzle a few drops of bourbon over the top.

Like the original, our julep features bourbon infused with mint. But this drink’s signature sweetness is tempered by the tartness of blackberries, which also tint it a gorgeous shade of purple. Another twist: Our cocktail is blended with—rather than served over—ice, creating a slushy texture.

If you prefer to omit the bourbon, simply double the amount of hot water.

The clafoutis was invented in Limousin, France, to showcase that region’s famous cherries. Some compare the eggy consistency of clafoutis to flan, as it’s neither cake nor custard. To me, it’s more like an extra-thick crêpe dotted with fruit. Clafoutis puffs beautifully as it bakes, and hot out of the oven, it’s crisp on the outside and airy in the middle. When chilled, however, it collapses, becoming dense and custardlike. I love it both ways. One of the great aspects of clafoutis is its versatility. Once you know how to make the batter, you can make great desserts with it year-round. At Lucques, we’ve made clafoutis with sautéed apples in the winter and with berries in the summer. For the fall, I like a clafoutis featuring that indigenous American jewel, the cranberry. This dessert is delicious as is, but if you want to gild the lily, serve it with a dollop of bourbon-spiked whipped cream.

Peaches and bourbon is about as Southern as you can get. Drying the fruit before steeping is key—the flavors are concentrated and yield a strong, clean peach essence; fresh fruit, on the other hand, releases its water into the liquid and dilutes the infusion. The only problem with dried peaches is that they will soak up some of the bourbon, resulting in some loss, but it is worth it. Today, high-quality dried peaches are available in most supermarkets, which greatly simplifies the process. When the infused bourbon is tasted straight, the fruit flavor may seem subdued, but mixing it with sugar or sweetened ingredients awakens the peachiness. We created this infusion for our Pêche Bourbon cocktail (page 46).

Inspiration for the Quiet Storm comes from hot, steamy New York City summer days. EO bartender Milos Zica wanted to find a refreshing bourbon cocktail that would transcend age and gender. His journey began by creating an infusion using T Salon’s Silence tea, made from rooibos or South African red bush tea with roses, vanilla, orange, and almonds—ingredients all known for their soothing properties. He steeped it in bianco or sweet white vermouth to help retain the softer flavors while showcasing the terra-cotta hue of the tea. Finished with ginger beer, lemon juice, and simple syrup, this drink lives up to its intended purpose as an elegant yet simple refreshing whiskey cocktail. The name hints at the Silence tea moniker while also hinting at the ginger beer found in a Dark and Stormy (page 120).

This Mint Julep is the quintessential American cocktail, so regal that it sits at the summit of cocktail Olympus next to classics like the Martini, the Manhattan, and the Sazerac. It hails from Kentucky and Virginia and is enjoyed throughout the South. We know for sure it was consumed as early as 1790, particularly in the summertime. A particular type of spearmint, Kentucky Colonel, is best suited for the preparation of this cocktail, commonly served in a silver or pewter cup to keep it chilled longer. Since 1938, it has been the official drink of the Kentucky Derby, where up to 120,000 mint juleps are served over the period of two days. There are many historical and regional versions: some use bourbon, others brandy; some only tap the mint, others pulverize it into a paste. We favor a bourbon recipe in which fresh spearmint is bruised with a ladle, then sugar, bitters, and bourbon are added; the mixture is chilled overnight so the mint releases all the flavors and essential oils into the whiskey, then strained the following day for final julep preparation. To simplify this process so the julep can be made to order, we use our own homemade Mint Syrup.

The Millionaire Cocktail is not as romanticized as the South Side or as revered as a Whiskey Sour. Little is known about this Prohibition-era cocktail except that it was a popular name for cocktails of that time. We have found five different cocktails carrying the moniker, with recipes varying from whiskey to rum to gin. Even Harry Craddock, author of The Savoy Cocktail Book, listed two completely unrelated recipes as Millionaire Cocktail No. 1 and Millionaire Cocktail No. 2. The first consists of Jamaican rum, apricot brandy, sloe gin, lime juice, and grenadine; the second has anisette, egg white, gin, and absinthe. We have provided the Millionaire recipe from The How and When cocktail book by Hyman Gale and Gerald F. Marco, first printed in 1938. Although it inspired the name for our Billionaire Cocktail (page 64), we have made some slight adjustments to the proportions and added lemon juice for balance.