Saturday is the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby, so get your hats, your seersucker, and silver tumblers ready to watch the ponies race around the famous Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky.
For the past decade, my husband and I and couple of friends host our own Kentucky Derby party. We go all out with the clothes, the atmosphere, and most importantly the food. This year, I’m taking a hiatus with the party, and I’m kind of sad not to be polishing the silver and planning the flowers for the big race. I’m already thinking about next year.
Most years, it takes me several weeks to come up with a menu, always trying to stick to an authentic Kentucky Derby theme. So of course, there are Kentucky Browns, Kentucky Derby tarts, and of course, the mint juleps.
Now for those of you who have never enjoyed a mint julep, they are an acquired taste. One I have yet to acquire, but serving mint juleps are tradition. Personally, I think they taste similar to antiseptic, but to each his own, right?
I found this mint julep sweet tea recipe that knocks that bourbon burn right out. It’s sweet tea with a kick.
Mint Julep Sweet Tea
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
5 to 6 mint leaves
2 family-sized tea bags
3 cups water
3/4 to 1 cup bourbon
Crushed ice
Lemon slices
Mint sprigs
Bring 2 cups water, sugar, and mint leaves to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and add tea bags. Steep for about 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and add 3 cups cold water. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Add bourbon to tea mixture. Fill glasses with crushed ice. Add tea mixture and garnish with lemon and mint. Squeeze lemon into drink if desired.
The Kentucky Brown Sandwich is another famous taste of the Kentucky Derby. Created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Ky., in 1926, this turkey sandwich is a must have while visiting the heart of Bluegrass Country. For my Derby parties, I like easy to eat fares, so I made Hot Brown Bruschetta, and they were a hit!
Hot Brown Bruschetta
4 slices bacon
1 French Baguette
1 1/2 cups roast turkey chopped
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes oil packed, drained - finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk
Bag of Sargento Savory Garlic & Herb Jack Snack Bites
Sliced scallions for garnish
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Chop the bacon into one-inch wide slices. Place in hot skillet over med-high heat, and render the fat. Remove from burner, and scoop out bacon. Drain bacon bits on paper towel and reserve the rendered fat.
Slice the baguette into slices about 1/3 inch wide. Arrange on a baking sheet, then lightly baste one side with bacon fat. Flip that side down. Mix together chopped turkey and sun-dried tomatoes. Arrange on tops of bread slices. No need to be fussy, just try and get most of the mixture on the bread and evenly distributed.
Drop butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Once melted add the flour, stir then immediately add milk. Whisk briskly until smooth and sauce has a gravy like consistency. Add the Sargento Snack Bites, and stir until fully dissolved.
Ladle the sauce over the bread and turkey. Top with the bacon.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, until edges and bits of the cheese sauce are starting to nicely brown.
Garnish with scallions.
I always have to have a little green on my table, and wrapped asparagus is one of the most popular dishes I’ve ever served. Within a few minutes, the platter is empty.
Wrapped Asparagus
6 ounces sliced prosciutto, halved horizontally
1 pound asparagus, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Working one at a time, wrap halved prosciutto slice on each asparagus spear at an angle, covering the entire length of the spear. Repeat with remaining prosciutto and asparagus. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add asparagus and cook until prosciutto is crisp and asparagus is tender, about 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately.
Kentucky Pie is one of my favorite desserts from my time at Ole Miss. The trick is, if you choose to add bourbon, use it sparingly.
Kentucky Pie Bars
For the crust
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup corn starch
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into teaspoon sized pieces
For the filling
¾ cup unsalted butter
¾ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons good quality bourbon (optional)
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
3 cups coarsely chopped pecans
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips, divided
To prepare the crust, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a nine-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil with enough overhang on each side to easily remove the bars from the pan once baked. Spray with cooking spray and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, stir together the flour, corn starch, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or the backs of two forks, cut the diced butter into the dry ingredients until it becomes a coarse meal consistency with pea-sized clumps. Press the mixture evenly into the square pan and then chill for 5-10 minutes in the fridge. Then, bake in the preheat oven for about 15 minutes, or until the crust is set and then edges have just started to turn golden. Do not overbake. Set aside the cooked crust while you prepare the filling.
To prepare the filling, combine the butter, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, and optional bourbon in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until the butter and sugar have dissolved. Once melted and no graininess from the sugar exists any longer, increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil, boiling for 3 minutes. After three minutes have passed, remove the pan from the heat. Add the chopped pecans and heavy cream to a medium sized bowl and stir in the butter/brown sugar mixture until evenly combined.
Sprinkle ½ cup of the mini chocolate chips over the cooked crust. Spread the warm filling over top of the chocolate chips and smooth out. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the edges and parts of the center are bubbling and the bars have turned caramel in color. Allow the bars to cool completely prior to removing from the pan (you can speed this process up in the fridge). Remove from pan by pulling out the foil liner. Melt the remaining chocolate chips in a microwave on low heat in 15 second increments or over a double boiler. Drizzle bars with chocolate and allow to set. Cut into 16 bars and serve at room temp.
