As the week ends, I’m still offering you cookbook reviews from the series A Savor the South Cookbook. A very talented team at the University of North Carolina Press has created an impressive list of single-topic books, each filled with flavor and charm.
This review is for Bourbon by Kathleen Purvis.
Easy to review, right? You drink it. And, yes, the first chapter here is entitled Bourbon Cocktails and Other Imbibe-ables. Before these very sip-able recipes, you learn the ins and outs of bourbon. That knowledge should help you enjoy beverages like:
Smoked Bourbon
Bacon-Infused Bourbon
Sazerac
Whiskey Sour [the original, real one]
Real Eggnog [egg and dairy luxury]
Three other chapters prove you don’t just drink bourbon. You use it, the same as any other ingredient, to fashion Appetizers, Main Dishes and Sides, and of course Desserts and Other Sweet Things.
For a cocktail party, centered perhaps on Mint Juleps and Whiskey Sours, your appetizers could include:
Bourbon and Bacon Chicken Liver Pate
Bleu-Bourbon Spread
Bourbon Dogs
Jezebel Sauce [pineapple preserves, apple jelly, horseradish, mustard]
That Jezebel Sauce, offered with cream cheese on crackers, will have you mixing another round of beverages. It sizzles.
When you approach the table, the main dishes and sides can all benefit from that appropriate application of bourbon:
Bourbon Chicken Stroganoff
Pork Tenderloin with Mango-Bourbon Sauce
Bourbon Baked Beans
Bourbon Glazed Carrots
Bourbon Peaches
Yeah, the alcohol may burn off but that distinct, sharp bourbon bite lingers on. It’s there to accent every bite in these lovely dishes. Consider the Bourbon Glazed Carrots for your Thanksgiving Table. This is how vegetables can finally earn a good name.
And then comes Desserts and Other Sweet Things. This is my favorite chapter in the book, for it displays diversity and creativity that can only make you smile:
Salted Bourbon Caramels
Bourbon Coffee Brûlée
Bourbon Fudge Pie
Maple Bourbon Ice Cream
And there is the famous Lane Cake. No, you never heard of it, probably, but you’ve seen it, smelled it. A soft vanilla cake of egg whites is filled with an egg custard replete with coconut, raisins and pecans. There is a final coating of boiled white icing that bears the hint of bourbon. That filling has a full 1/3 cup.
Bourbon is a book any of can happily use. You may not bake, but you surely must imbibe. And if you don’t drink, you can still sample some Bourbon Fudge Pie. Only a little bourbon in the whole pie. And you aren’t going to eat the whole pie, are you?