#

Back

Veggie ’Tails

Veggie ’Tails

by | Jan 23, 2024 | Eat, February 2024

The fruits of cocktail labor have long rested on, well, fruits. Until now. Giving that nectar the squeeze, see a garden variety of veggies cropping up on cocktail menus aplenty—think carrots, beets, cukes, pumpkins and peppers. Essentially, savory produce is the fuel—and flavor—we need now. Bonus, if you resolved to up your veggie intake in 2024, the ’tail trend promises to help you take your shot. We’re rooting for you.

Get to the Root, Willco
Dance to the ~beet~ of your own drum with this fan-fave earthy-meets-sweet, tangy and tart ’tail blending beet, carrot, piloncillo and lime with dealer’s choice mezcal or tequila for a fresh clean finish that harvests those health goals. @willcobar

Carrot Top, Dram & Draught
Counter the 19% ABV blur effect and see everything more clearly with this eye-popping carrot-hued Cardinal barrel-rested gin-based cocktail showcasing green Chartreuse, pineapple, lemon, aquafaba, carrot simple syrup and soda.@dramanddraughtraleigh

Meet Your Beet, The Green Light
Make like MJ and just, beet, it over to one of the world’s best speakeasies (yes, really) for this rum and Cointreau-soaked salad—er, spirit—feat. beet, ginger, lemon and egg white. You’ll be feeling like a “pretty young thing” indeed. @greenlightbar

Freak on a Leash, The Longleaf Lounge
Throwing (night)shade, Ancho Reyes poblano stars alongside gin, Alley Twenty Six orgeat, Pernod rinse, lime and fennel in this savory vegetal spirit that’s at once spicy and refreshing. Only mildly ironic the band Korn (get it?) made the phrase famous with their same-named 1998 banger. @thelongleaflounge

What’s Up Doc, Wye Hill
Apeeling (had to) to the eyes and the senses, this dealer’s choice crowd fave can be consumed as a power-packed mocktail with pure carrot juice, apple cider, cinnamon, turmeric and homemade ginger syrup—or spiked with some spirited gin or green Chartreuse—and garnished with a big bushel of mint for that healthful cherry, er, carrot on top. @wyehill 

Hey Pumpkin! | Dram & Draught
Carve out some time for yourself at Dram for some plant-based perfection a la this gourd-geous sweet, autumnal, velvety Hennessy sipper feat. amaretto, pumpkin puree, aquafaba, Angostura bitters and nitro-charged whipped cream. It’s giving Drake on a diet. @dramanddraughtraleigh

Wabbit Season | Whiskey Kitchen
For some hare-raising sips—“I bet you say that to all the wabbits!”—toast to rabbit season via this tantalizing tequila tipple with carrot aqua fresca, sweet potato syrup, chiles, lime and black lava salt. ’Scuse us while we drown our winter sorrows. @whiskey.kitchen

Eat Your Collard Greens

Eat Your Collard Greens

by | Feb 2, 2016 | Eat, February 2016

If you’ve been served a pile of green mush that tastes strongly of sulfur, you may be wondering how anyone eats collards. But collards can be sweet and tender, if you don’t cook them into oblivion. So don’t cross them off your list; just try a different preparation.

ThinkstockPhotos-78368328Collards are excellent after a few winter frosts. The natural sugars are concentrated in the leaves, making them extra tasty. Be sure to remove the fibrous stems from the leaves when preparing them. This is easily done by hand. Grasp the cut end of the stem in one hand. Using your other hand, grasp the same end of the stem between your fingers and pull the stem through your fingers. The leaf comes right off, leaving the tough stem behind. No knife needed! To shred, try a chiffonade. Stack and roll the leaves, then slice perpendicular to the roll. – Paige Luck

A Southern Stack

Cooking time: 30 min

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

½ c. country ham, 2 oz., diced

1 small onion, chopped

½ large bunch collards, de-stemmed and shredded

3 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon butter

4 eggs

Chopped pickled red pepper or chow chow

Store-bought sweet cornbread or cornbread pancake

Place one large square of cornbread on each plate.

Add 1 tablespoon butter to 12-inch non-stick sauté pan over medium heat. Once melted, add onion and ham. Cook for 2 min while stirring. Add collards to pan. Use tongs to rotate the collards top to bottom, incorporating the ham and onions. Sauté until wilted. Add water to pan and cover. Steam for 2 min. Remove lid. Add black pepper and apple cider, stirring to combine. Put collards in a bowl and cover to keep warm. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel.

Reduce heat to medium low. Add 1 tablespoon butter to the cleaned pan. Once melted, crack eggs directly into pan. Cook until most of the white is set. Flip eggs, if desired. Remove from heat.

Place a generous helping of collards on top of the cornbread. Top with one egg. Sprinkle with chopped red pepper or a spoonful of chow chow.

Paige Luck, Food Scientist

Paige Luck, Food Scientist at NC State

Paige Luck is a food scientist at North Carolina State University with 15 years of research and teaching experience. Her passion for cooking, chemistry and feeding people lead her to create a culinary science class at NCSU, a bit like Alton Brown’s show Good Eats, but with tests. Recipe development happens in her kitchen, and she is excited to share that with others.