The Foodies Run for the Roses

The Foodies drawled and y'alled at our Kentucky Derby Day dinner -- we ate and drank well too!

The Foodies are a group of friends who love to cook, eat, drink, and laugh together at themed dinner parties. Our friends and family tell us they enjoy living vicariously through tales of our feasts so we’ll share the stories, pictures, and recipes here on the blog from time to time. Click here for previous Foodie Group posts, and here for the group’s origin story.

Sometimes the dinner party themes emerge naturally, spurred by a current event or, in this case, a date on the calendar. Once this dinner date was set (many months ago) the theme immediately revealed itself – the Kentucky Derby or Derby Day Dinner. Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

To set the mood as you read on, please enjoy the playlist which includes musicians and bands that are from Kentucky as well as horse- and racing-related songs. There’s a fair bit of country and bluegrass tunes plus a few surprises as well.

​Giddy-up and enjoy!

In addition to preparing sumptuous courses, per usual, our friends were asked to wear FABULOUS hats (all-caps intentionally deployed) and to pick their pony. Our group achieved the hats requirement with style and flair but no one predicted the winner.

Good thing none of us is pursuing a professional gambling career. Allegedly.

Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

So what was served? Here’s the menu:
​

• Drinks – Greg and Dan: The Carrot Stick and Run for the Roses cocktails; assorted Rosé wines (ahem, run for the rosés) and others with equestrian-inspired names
• Appetizers – Kathleen and Karen: Deviled Eggs; Benedictine Tea Sandwiches
• Main Course – Ilise and Ann: Hot Browns; Green Salad with Peaches, Pecans, and Bourbon Vinaigrette
• Dessert – Ellyn: Chocolate Pecan Pie with Bourbon Whipped Cream

Such a pretty color!

Now let’s dig a little deeper.

The Drinks. I fully expected we would be sipping classic mint juleps on Derby Day, but the guys surprised us once again, in the best possible way. Seeking to buck tradition, they created two cocktails from the horse’s perspective. So what do horses like? Carrots and apples.

​Cocktail #1 featured bourbon and carrot juice plus a few additional ingredients. Served in highball glasses with carrots as swizzle sticks, this was a tasty twist on a julep – naturally sweet from the carrot juice without being overly sugary. Delish!
​
Cocktail #2 was a sensation for the eyes as well as the taste buds. The flavors included apple, elderflower, and hibiscus tea which also contributed a beautiful crimson color to the glass. Greg added a red rose petal to each glass and dubbed the drink a Run for the Roses. I would gladly trot around the track for another one of these lovely tipples! Click the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

---

The Appetizers. When one thinks of Southern appetizers, deviled eggs come to mind – at least to mine, as I am a huge fan of the impish eggs. In keeping with the theme of the day, Karen and Kathleen mixed HORSE-radish into the egg filling. Thematically appropriate AND damn delicious!

Accompanying the deviled eggs was another tasty appetizer – Benedictine tea sandwiches, which are native to Kentucky and with quite a history behind this traditional Derby Day treat. Here’s an account from National Public Radio: 
​

​Cream cheese, cucumber juice and a touch of onion. That may sound like an unlikely combination, but Benedictine is a Kentucky favorite. […] [T]his creamy, cool cucumber spread has persisted in Kentucky ever since Jennie Benedict, a famous Louisville caterer, invented it around the turn of the 20th century. Benedict opened a tearoom on downtown Louisville's South Fourth Street in 1911.

[…] Susan Reigler, a former restaurant critic for Louisville's newspaper, The Courier-Journal […] says Benedict's role in the city's culinary history was huge and that the roots of many of the city's flavors can be traced back to her recipes.

[…] One source of contention among Louisville chefs is whether to include the two drops of green food coloring that Benedict used in her recipe. The dye lets people know that it's not just a plain cream cheese spread, but the practice is no longer popular with chefs.
​
[…] Some cooks serve Benedictine as a dip, others as tea sandwiches with the crusts cut off. However you serve it, Benedictine is best accompanied with another Kentucky signature: bourbon.

​Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

The Main Course. As hosts for the evening’s meal, we selected the theme and knew we would go with a classic interpretation of Kentucky Derby Day treats. (Sometimes our themes get a bit ‘out there’ but this provided a rare opportunity to take a straightforward approach.) A famous and beloved Kentucky delicacy is the Hot Brown sandwich, created by the cooks at The Brown Hotel in Louisville in the 1920s. As the story goes … well, let’s hear it straight from the horse’s mouth (so to speak):
​

Louisville's culinary legend, The Hot Brown: With so much to boast about —award-winning dining; breathtaking turn-of-the-century architecture; attentive, caring service—some may wonder: "Why the Hot Brown?" Here is the history behind this now legendary dish.
​
In the 1920's, The Brown Hotel drew over 1,200 guests each evening for its dinner dance. By the wee hours of the morning, guests would grow weary of dancing and make their way to the restaurant for a bite to eat. Sensing their desire for something more glamorous than traditional ham and eggs, Chef Fred Schmidt set out to create something new to tempt his guests' palates. His unique dish? An open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce. The Hot Brown was born!

The famous Kentucky Hot Brown (we added extra tomatoes to the plate)

For our version of the Hot Brown, we turned to chef Bobby Flay’s recipe, a slight variation on the original, which uses more cheese, less cream, and sears the tomatoes. Yum! We deviated even further by using a loaf of Pullman style bread for toast rather than the egg-dipped bread that Bobby uses. Still yum and a bit less work. Make that a day-yum! Here is Bobby’s recipe:

Print The Recipe- Kentucky Hot Brown
File Size:	262 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

Kentucky Hot Brown
Recipe source: Bobby Flay for Food Network

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 turkey breast, about 4 to 5 pounds
• 4 tablespoons unsalted soft butter
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups grated sharp white Cheddar
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the egg bread:

• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• Salt
• 8 (1/2-inch) thick slices good day old white bread (recommended: Pullman or Pain de mie)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

For assembly:

• Egg battered bread
• Roasted turkey breast, sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
• 3 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices and griddled until slightly charred and just cooked through
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp white Cheddar
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 16 thick slices slab bacon, cooked until crisp
• Finely chopped fresh chives
• Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Rub entire turkey breast with butter and season with salt and pepper. Place in a small roasting pan and roast for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 155 degrees F, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven, loosely tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.
• Melt butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk, bring to a boil and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and the flour has cooked out, about 4 to 5 minutes. Whisk in cheese and cook until the cheese has melted. Season with nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste.
• Whisk together the eggs, milk and salt in a medium bowl. Dip each slice of bread in the mixture and let sit about 30 seconds, or until completely soaked through.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook 4 slices of the bread at a time until golden brown on both sides. Remove and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining bread.

For assembly:

• Preheat broiler. Place the egg bread on a baking sheet, place under the broiler and heat on both sides for 20 seconds just to warm through.
• Top each slice of bread with 2 to 3 slices of turkey and 2 slices of tomato, ladle sauce over the top and divide the cheddar cheese and Parmesan over the top of each slice. Place under the broiler and cook until bubbly and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven, top each slice with 2 slices of bacon and sprinkle each slice with chives and parsley.

Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

The Dessert. I assumed that Ellyn would arrive with a traditional Derby Pie, and we all know what happens when one assumes. Believe me, no one was disappointed in the slightest with her Chocolate Pecan Pie with Bourbon Whipped Cream. Mmmmm! Dense, chocolatey filling chock full of flavorful pecans. Fluffy whipped cream scented with bourbon. What’s not to like, I ask you?! 

Chocolate Pecan Pie with Bourbon Whipped Cream -- ooh so good!

When the 2018 Kentucky Derby was run and done, the 3-year old colt Justify had persevered over rainy conditions and a muddy track. He went on to win the Preakness Stakes a few weeks later, and now looks forward to the Belmont Stakes and an attempt at the American Triple Crown.

However we Foodies were content to put our hooves up and store our party hats for another festive occasion. Our race to the finish line concluded with empty plates, full tummies, and Dan ‘resting his eyes’ on the couch. We were all winners that evening. 

​For more stories about the Foodies click here. 

Now let's get another look at that hat. Yes, those are mint sprigs tucked into the Makers Mark label!