Southern Spoonful: Marvelous Mocktails

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The story below is from our January/February 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you! 

Ring in the New Year and stick to your new year’s resolutions with these fun fabulous mocktails!

Editor's Note: Becky is bringing her recipes to life in our new cooking videos on our YouTube page! Watch her MOCKTAIL RECIPES video below!

The new year brings many fresh perspectives and some of us are taking this opportunity to abstain or take a little break from alcohol. But, that does not mean that we can’t enjoy fun fabulous non-alcoholic drinks during “Dry January.”

Enjoy celebrating the new year with my flavorful mocktail recipes. My Flirty Shirley mocktail is a zero-proof play on the popular Dirty Shirley (Shirley Temple made with vodka) and my Lemon Drop Martini mocktail has a secret ingredient – lemon curd!

Cheers to the new year!

Flirty Shirley

  • 2 ounces pomegranate juice
  • 3 ounces Boylan Shirley Temple
  • Ginger Beer
  • Amarena cherry for garnish

Place pomegranate juice in a 6-ounce chilled champagne flute. Top with Boylan Shirley Temple and a couple of splashes of ginger beer. Garnish with Amarena cherry.

Mock Lemon Drop Martini

Makes one mocktail

  • Lemon wedge
  • Fine sugar
  • 1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1½ tablespoons lemon curd, chilled
  • 2 ounces Belvoir Fruit Farms Elderflower Rose Lemonade, chilled
  • 1 ounce Sprite, chilled
  • Handful of ice
  • Garnish: lemon peel twist

Rim a martini glass with fine sugar. Place fine sugar on a small plate. Rub the lemon wedge around the rim of the cocktail glass. Dip and roll the rim of the glass in the sugar until the entire rim is coated with sugar. Place martini glass in freezer to chill while you are making your mocktail.

To make the mocktail: Place lemon juice and lemon curd in a cocktail shaker. Stir to “melt” the curd into the lemon juice.

Add the elderflower rose lemonade, Sprite and ice.

Cover shaker and vigorously shake. Strain into chilled martini glass.

Garnish with lemon peel twist.

Note: Fine sugar is available to purchase at grocery stores or you can make your own. To make fine sugar simply place sugar in a blender and blend at medium speed for approximately one minute, or until the sugar is the texture of fine sand.

Enjoy these warm winter recipes as you sip on your mocktails…

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Yield: 4 servings

  • 6 slices precooked bacon, chopped into very small pieces
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • ¼ cup finely chopped onion
  • 15 cremini mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
  • 1 teaspoon Spicewalla Herbs de Provence
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 roasted red pepper (from a jar), chopped fine
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 5.2-ounce package Shallot and Chive Boursin Cheese (cut into 6 pieces)
  • 1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
  • Garnish: finely chopped fresh dill and dollops of sour cream

Place butter in a large stock pot or Dutch oven. Heat over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Add bacon and onion and cook until onions are translucent and beginning to brown. Add mushrooms and stir. Continue heating over medium-low heat until mushrooms are thoroughly cooked, approximately 10 minutes.

Add Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper and roasted red pepper. Stir to combine.

Pour in vegetable broth and stir. Reduce heat to low and stir in pieces of Boursin cheese. Use a whisk to incorporate the Boursin cheese into the soup. Add Hungarian paprika and dill. Serve warm, garnished with fresh dill and sour cream. 

Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Yield: 4 servings

  • 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
  • 8 slices precooked bacon, finely chopped
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon Spicewalla Tuscan Seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons Clark and Hopkins Chesapeake Bay Artisan Pepper Sauce
  • 3 cups Cheeze-It Snap’d Thin and Crispy Double Cheddar Crackers, crushed (To crush the crackers, place them in a plastic storage bag, let the air out of the bag and seal. Roll a rolling pin over the bag to crush the crackers.)
  • 1 tsp Peg’s Pink Salt
  • 1 cup Tillamook thick cut sharp cheddar cheese
  • ½ pound ground beef
  • ½ pound ground pork 
  • ¼ cup Hidden Valley Ranch spicy ranch salad dressing 
  • 8 thin slices tomato
  • 6 thin slices red onion

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a meatloaf pan with aluminum foil and very lightly spray the foil with vegetable spray. In a mixing bowl, combine celery, onion, bacon, egg and pepper sauce. Stir to combine. Add crushed crackers and salt. Stir to combine. 

Add cheddar cheese, ground beef and ground pork. With clean hands, knead the mixture to combine all of the ingredients. Once the beef mixture is thoroughly mixed, form the mixture into a loaf and place it in the meatloaf pan. Spread the spicy ranch salad dressing evenly over the meatloaf. Place tomato slices and red onion slices alternately on top of the meatloaf. 

Place the meatloaf pan on a baking sheet. Place in oven and bake for one hour and 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Remove meatloaf from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Cut into slices for service. 

Little Gem Wedge Salads

Little gem lettuce is the perfect lettuce. Not only is its name adorable, it has the soft leaves of Bibb lettuce and the crunch of romaine lettuce. 

Yield: 4 salads

  • 1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Restaurant-style dressing – made as per package directions with 1 cup buttermilk and 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 little gem lettuces
  • 8 slices precooked bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
  • 16 cherry tomatoes, cut into slices
  • 2 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and chopped
  • 8 radishes, thinly sliced
  • ½ cup Tillamook thick cut cheddar cheese blend or blue cheese crumbles
  • Garnish: fresh chopped chives and your favorite hot sauce (optional)
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Prepare ranch dressing in small bowl, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut little gem lettuces in half lengthwise and place each half on a chilled salad plate. 

Sprinkle crumbled bacon, cherry tomato slices, hardboiled egg, radish slices and cheddar cheese (or blue cheese) over lettuce halves. Drizzle lettuces with ranch dressing and garnish with chopped chives and a few drops of hot sauce. Sprinkle with black pepper. 

*Boylan Shirley Temple and Amarena cherries are available at Wine Gourmet. Spicewalla seasonings are available at Yard Bull Meats and Wine Gourmet.Peg’s Pink Salt and Clark and Hopkins Chesapeake Bay Artisan Pepper Sauce are available at Wine Gourmet. Belvoir Fruit Farms Elderflower Rose Lemonade and fine sugar are available at Fresh Market.*

The story below is from our January/February 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!