Mint Juleps
10 fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 ounce bourbon whiskey, Pappy Van Winkle Special Reserve preferred

Combine fresh mint, water and sugar and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Allow mint simple syrup to cool.

Fill 4 glasses with crushed ice (Sonic sells crushed ice by the bag) then divide the Bourbon among the glasses. Add 1/8 cup of syrup to each glass. For the faint of heart you can add a splash of soda to tame it bit.

Curry Dip for Crudités
1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
3 tablespoons catsup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons grated onion
1 tablespoon curry powder
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco

Mix all ingredients well and chill.

Serve with blanched asparagus, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, blanched green beans, baby carrots, artichoke hearts, radishes with stems, and red, yellow, and orange bell pepper strips. Also serve with cooked, cooled, and quartered new potatoes and zucchini rounds.

Crawfish Cardinale Dip
2 pounds fresh or frozen crawfish tails
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
1/2 stick butter
24 ounces cream cheese
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons Tony Chachere original creole seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Thaw crawfish and reserve juice. In a saucepan, cook onions in butter. Add crawfish and cook until warmed through. Stir in cream cheese, garlic, creole seasoning, salt and pepper. If necessary, add the reserved liquid to thin the dip. Serve with toast cups.

Toast Cups
1 loaf white bread
1 stick of salted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Using a large biscuit cutter, cut bread rounds from the sliced bread. Brush both sides of the bread with the melted butter. Press each piece into a muffin cup and cook until they are completely dry throughout. If they do not get completely dry, they will not be crisp once they cool.

West Indies Crab Salad
1 medium onion
1 pound fresh jumbo lump crab meat
Salt and pepper
4 ounces vegetable oil
3 ounces cider vinegar
4 ounces ice water

Spread 1/2 the onion over the bottom of a large bowl. Cover with crab meat then the remaining onion. Season with salt and pepper. Pour oil, vinegar and ice water over it all. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 12 hours.

Toss lightly before serving. Serve in butter lettuce cups as a first course or with crostini as a dip.

Beef Tenderloin
1 5-6 pound trimmed beef tenderloin, room temperature
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
1 stick of butter, softened
2 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Pat tenderloin dry with a paper towel. Mix the butter, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic. Generously coat the tenderloin with mixture. Salt and pepper liberally. Place tenderloin on a rimmed baking sheet that has been covered with foil. Roast for 25 minutes for rare and 28 minutes for medium rare. Remove from oven and cover with foil. Allow tenderloin to rest for at least 10 to 15 minutes. The filet will continue to cook. Slice thin and mound on silver trays.

Horseradish Cream Sauce
1 cup sour cream
6 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
1teaspoon pepper
Combine well and refrigerate until ready to use.

Blue Cheese Biscuits
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon soda
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup blue cheese
1 tablespoon chives
3/4 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 450. Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter with your fingertips until it resembles coarse meal.

Add blue cheese and chives. With a fork, mix in the buttermilk until it comes together.
Roll dough into a ball and press into a flat disk on a flowered surface until it is 3/4-inch thick. Using a 1 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out rounds and transfer to a baking sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden. Yields 20 biscuits.