Catering Red Oak

When most people think of classic country cooking, they think of fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits, and pie for dessert. But beverages are an essential part of any southern meal. And just like there are staple southern cooking foods, there are also staple southern cooking beverages.

So what’s a southern cooking beverage staple? And how do you make one? Keep reading to find out!

Southern sweet iced tea

This drink goes well with a hot summer day, and there are plenty of those when you live in the southern United States. To make southern sweet iced tea, follow these directions:

-Place six regular tea bags into a large glass measuring cup and add 1/8 teaspoons of baking soda

-Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the tea bags, cover, then steep for 15 minutes

-Remove the tea bags but do not squeeze them

-Pour the tea/baking soda mixture into a large pitcher (i.e. two quarts) then add 2 cups of sugar

-Stir until all the sugar is dissolved, then add 6 cups of cold water

-Chill the mixture in the refrigerator and then serve over ice and enjoy!

With 2 cups of sugar, this glass can taste very sweet. Add or remove sugar as you wish.

Mint Julep

This one’s for the adults. With 4 ounces of good southern bourbon per serving, you may want to sip this one slow.

-Place 4 ounces of bourbon, 6 sprigs of mint, and 2 sugar cubes into the bottom of a cocktail shaker

-Muddle the concoction in order to dissolve the sugar and blend the mint leaves

-Let the mixture stand for one minute to absorb the flavor

-Add ice, shake the shaker to chill, then strain into a glass with ice and enjoy

New Orleans Café au Lait

They drink their coffee a little differently in New Orleans. Well, at least that’s what travel magazines will tell you. Here’s how to make New Orleans Café au Lait:

-Take 3 tablespoons of freshly ground coffee beans and mix with 1 tablespoon of ground roasted chicory. Ideally, the coffee beans will be dark-roasted Arabica, and they can be ground to a fineness appropriate for your coffee maker.

-Brew the coffee mixture with 1 ½ cups of water. If you have a manual drip coffee maker, heat the water to just before boiling

-Serve in 2 twelve ounce coffee cups or 3 eight ounce coffee cups

-Fill up the rest of the coffee cup with whipping cream. The ratio between coffee and cream should be 50/50. You can also substitute milk or half-and-half for this step.

Serve with sugar if desired. Otherwise, enjoy!

You know what goes well with these southern beverages?

Obviously, if you’re taking the time to make the beverages listed above, you might as well eat some southern country cooking while you’re at it. And if you don’t have any cooking skills, then don’t worry! Because Dallas is home to plenty of country cooking catering restaurants that can satisfy your need for southern comfort food.

Babe’s Chicken Dinner House is one such restaurant. With kitchens in Arlington, Frisco, Cedar Hill, Granbury, and other catering locations throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Babe’s wants to make sure anyone can have a taste of fine southern food catering Dallas. Learn more at BabesChicken.com