Whiskey

The financier gives you a failproof moist cake that will stand through the rigors of pâtisserie de cuisine. It is simple to make, which is a good thing for us at Joe Beef, with our limited space and no real pastry chef, and for the home cook. Keep in mind that baking is a science, and although we include volume measures here, weighing the ingredients is recommended. We use ornate wax paper tartlet molds. If you don’t have them or can’t find them, you can just fill muffin cups half full and you’ll get the same result. Serve the cakes with ice cream and sweet wine.

This drink started as a vinaigrette for razor clams, and it still is. But with scotch, really cold, it’s awesome. If you have a juicer, it’s the best. If you don’t, a blender and a sieve will do. Chervil is one of those herbs that you can’t cook, and if you buzz it in syrup, for example, you will end up with something more akin to soup Florentine than a cocktail component. Serve in a lowball glass.

A few years ago, we had a server and a bartender who were in the middle of a “cleanse.” We tried their sordid-looking “drink” and decided to make our own, with booze, of course. Serve in a lowball glass.

When we're not drinking Manhattans, we'll take an Old Pal. Usually made with rye, we prefer it with bourbon (the higher the proof, the better).

This recipe is for the grill. Beef can also be cooked in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Use a meat thermometer: rare—115 to 120 degrees; medium rare—130 to 135 degrees; medium—140 to 145 degrees. Buy a whole tenderloin, about 4 1/2 to 5 pounds, and have the butcher remove the “silver” connective tissue.

PAT My brothers and I are all “bourbon men.” We take ours neat, or lacquered to our ribs. Enough said. GINA I can’t believe I ended up with a bourbon-and-ribs man. Growing up, we always had chicken, hot dogs, smoked sausages, and burgers, but for some reason the ribs were always center stage. The women in my family were often throwing some crazy ingredient or other into their rubs and sauces—and don’t you know that we kept bourbon as one of them. We always had bourbon around for “ailments,” and not just the cooking kind. So what do I do? I go and marry a rib-grilling bourbon lover—was my life being planned even then? To this day, ribs and bourbon are like the “main act” in my life! Remember: in all grilling, the sauce and the rub must work together, like a good marriage. And when smoking those ribs, Pat will remind you to keep the heat “low and slow.”

PAT Let’s see . . . the cocktail queen has delivered something frothy, minty-fresh, cool, and spiked with bourbon (I like Jack Daniel’s). Do I need to sell this any harder than that? Forget the Derby and those silly hats—cool down and get down for Memphis in May!

These cute shot glasses fit the bill perfectly. You can buy them in bulk at your local restaurant-supply store, or online for a discounted price. Get them engraved, or make labels with your wedding date, or write a note and tie it to the glass with a decorative ribbon. Serve these with small demitasse spoons—because guests will want every last bit of that rich chocolate. When you think about it, special occasions don’t come much bigger than this. So why not give them something to remember the occasion by?

Is there really anything else to say? The keywords are “bourbon,” “caramel,” “pecan”! Oh, and “ice cream sundae”! Done.

Here we go back to New Orleans again, with Bourbon Street flair. Southern bourbon-soaked brioche bread makes a hearty Creole-style dessert.

I substitute molasses for the usual corn syrup in this version of classic pecan pie. The filling is every bit as sticky as you’d expect, and the molasses and bourbon add a deep, almost smoky flavor. Serve with vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of eggnog.

These rustic half-moon pastries travel beautifully, making them one of my favorite picnic treats. Just wrap them in wax paper and you’re off!

When pineapple caramelizes, whether on the grill or in the oven, its bright, tart flavor mellows to something warm and sweet—a neat trick that has long been the calling card of traditional pineapple upside-down cake. My grandmother’s version, with its canned pineapple rings, was one of my dad’s all-time favorite sweets. It’s one of mine, too, but when I make it, I start with freshly grilled pineapple to double the caramelization effect and add a splash of bourbon to drive the point home.

The assertive flavors of coffee, molasses, and balsamic vinegar meld and mellow in this sophisticated dish that is just the thing for winter entertaining. It is best served with simple sides, such as Mess o’ Greens (page 245) and Sweet Potato Spoon Bread (page 214), that enhance rather than distract from the sweet, rich molasses flavor of the pork.

Now the official cocktail of New Orleans, this spicy, heady concoction was the creation of a Creole apothecary named Peychaud whose medicinal tinctures became after-hours cocktails with the addition of whiskey and sugar.

Thanks to the Kentucky Derby, mint juleps are the best known—and perhaps best loved—of all Southern cocktails. The details are much debated, but the basics are these: fresh spearmint, lightly bruised; smoky-sweet bourbon; cane sugar; and crushed ice. A combination so good, there isn’t much that can be done to improve it.

Two types of bitters give this drink its characteristic flavor.