Southern Fare, 'Boathouse'-Style

Richard Stoney, Owner Of Famed Eatery, Shares Recipes From New Book

(CBS)  When South Carolinians talk about the "low country," they mean Charleston, a historic city with a long tradition of interesting food.

Richard Stoney owns some of Charleston's top restaurants, including the famous "Boathouse."

He shares his hometown passions in the new cookbook, "The Boathouse: Tales and Recipes From a Southern Kitchen," on which he collaborated with Douglas W. Bostick and Jason R. Davidson.

The book has more than just recipes; it contains some amazing details about the cultural and food history of the low country and western North Carolina mountains.

Stoney stopped by The Early Show Tuesday.

To read excerpts of the book, click here.

RECIPES

ST. CECILIA PUNCH

A great social tradition of Charleston has its roots in a minstrel group founded in 1726 to promote concerts and music in the city. Named for St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, the St. Cecilia Society was responsible for the first symphony orchestra in Charleston. Later, the society sponsored several annual balls and dinners.

The annual St. Cecilia Ball is now held the third Thursday of January, and is still the most elegant dinner on the social calendar. One of the last traces of old Charleston society, membership in St. Cecilia passes through the males of the family. The formal dinner and ball is held at Hibernian Hall, located on Meeting Street in Charleston.

The famed "St. Cecilia Punch," offered at the ball, was a delicious blend of brandy, green tea, rum, and champagne. Serving a punch at these elegant outings was the tradition, as opposed to today's style of ordering "a drink" at the bar. Receipts reflect the large number of guests who would be nourished at these balls. The "Charleston Light Dragoon Punch," a delicious recipe including grenadine, curacao and raspberry syrups, rye whiskey, rum, tea leaves, cherries, pineapple, oranges, and lemons, provided for 350 servings. Another champagne punch noted in a Charleston lady's receipt book of the 1890s yielded 650 servings, likely sufficient to quench the thirsts of even those with a filled dance card.

FISH HOUSE PUNCH
Makes 4 gallons

3 cups lemon juice
1 cup simple syrup
6 cups brandy
2 cups peach schnapps
2 cups light rum
2 cups strong tea
4 cups club soda
2 cups sliced fresh peaches

Mix together all ingredients except fresh peaches and chill. Pour over peaches in a glass pitcher or tall glasses to serve.

For more recipes, go to Page 2.