Kentucky Bourbon Trail

The Bourbon Tasting shrine in Kentucky is the Kentucky Bourbon House located at the Chapeze Mansion, “Kentucky’s Home for Bourbon” in Bardstown, Kentucky. Chapeze Mansion, built in 1787, is a beautiful Federalist mansion and one of the great historic places for Bourbon Tasting in Kentucky.

 

Kentucky Colonel Michael and Margaret Sue Masters, the proprietors of the Kentucky Bourbon House, are famous Kentucky personalities well known for their ultra-premium Bourbon Tastings and exquisite dinners at the Kentucky Bourbon House located in the Chapeze Mansion, “Kentucky’s Home for Bourbon.”

 

A tour of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail is not complete until you have made a reservation to Drink Kentucky Bourbon with The Colonel and Dine upon a dinner prepared by Margaret Sue at the Kentucky Bourbon House located at the Chapeze Mansion, ”Kentucky’s Home for Bourbon.” Call for reservations 502-507-8338

                                               

 

The Kentucky Bourbon House is at its essence a tavern and dinner house.  My wife Margaret Sue and Colonel Rosemary are incomparable Southern cooks. Margaret Sue’s cookbook Kentucky Cooking and Entertaining at the Kentucky Bourbon House articulates the many great foods our kitchen cooks throughout the year.

 We cook each night primarily for guests touring the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. We grill a marinated two inch center cut loin pork chop. We simmer cook green beans for four hours with just a country ham hock salt and pepper, which is the Kentucky way. We have corn on the cob in season coated in butter and the herb rosemary. We often also have baked apples and a zucchini squash sauté with fresh yellow onion and butter. Our salad is of our own creation-mixed lettuce greens with a raspberry, garlic, Bermuda onion vinaigrette. The dessert is often bread pudding with Bourbon hard sauce or chocolate cake with my chocolate sauce.

Prior to the dinner each night we have our famous cocktail hour featuring  single barrel, small batch, rare and cask strength Kentucky Bourbons. We also stock gin, vodka, beer and a good selection of wines.

Margaret Sue and Kentucky Bourbon House are also renowned caterers. Over fifty weddings and receptions are hosted each year at the Kentucky Bourbon House along with bridesmaid luncheons, afternoon teas, rehearsal dinners and cocktail parties.

Contact: Kentucky Bourbon House
                www.kentuckybourbonhouse.com
                502-507-8338

Kentucky Bourbon University
Recently I held a Bourbon University at the Kentucky Bourbon House. Along with my trusty assistant Colonel Rosemary we took our class through the various taste profiles of Kentucky Bourbon, Rye whiskey, Tennessee whiskey and white dog. We sampled several of the prominent Single Barrel and Small Batch Bourbons. We took care to sample old, rare and cask strength Bourbon.  Along the way I told stories about the origin of the brands we sampled along with anecdotes about the Kentucky Bourbon barons and master distillers I have known.

We stopped for lunch at the midway point. Colonel Rosemary served a delicious repast that included Bourbon cheese made in our kitchen and crackers for the appetizer; and a country ham sandwich and a bowl of homemade Kentucky Burgoo for the lunch, Kentucky fare at its very best.

After lunch we resumed the Kentucky Bourbon University. We made the famous Kentucky Bourbon cocktails that included the Mint Julep, Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Bourbon Sour and a drink of Colonel Rosemary’s concoction the Chapeze-tini-Bourbon, ginger ale, orange juice, orange bitters and Maraschino cherry juice.

Our guests reported that the Kentucky Bourbon University was the best time they have had while touring the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

Sunday Afternoon Lunch at the Kentucky Bourbon House

Sunday Afternoon Lunch
Sunday, the Kentucky Bourbon House hosted a wonderful afternoon party for a group of lovely ladies from Bardstown. Our kitchen prepared three-tiered trays of savory foods. We prepared cucumber, tomato sandwiches on bread rounds spread with Benedictine. We put fresh made chicken salad made sweet with cut red grapes in baked filo cups. We cut the crust off bread slices and spread the slices with Benedictine; we cut the sandwiches diagonally.  Beautiful plump red strawberries were rinsed. We baked baking powder biscuits and stuffed them with center cut country ham. Sweet cantaloupe was sliced thin. All of these delectable foods were attractively arranged on the three-tiered trays, each plate set for four guests as there are four guests at each table.

Our guests arrived at one o’ clock. Mimosa cocktail, made from a recipe of Margaret Sue’s mother, was served in fluted classes.

The Kentucky Bourbon House dining room tables were beautifully set. Our guests were seated. Tomato-basil soup made with tomato juice, heavy cream, diced tomatoes and seasoned with basil, celery seed, salt and pepper was served in heated warm bowls. After the soup was finished, the bowls were removed and the three-tier trays brought and set in the middle of the table. When our guests had finished with the savory foods the three-tier trays were removed and fresh made cherry cobbler crisp with ice cream was served.

A fine time was had at Sunday Afternoon Lunch.

Low Country Boil Hosted at the Kentucky Bourbon House

Low Country Boil

The Kentucky Bourbon House hosted a Low Country Boil last week. Our house captain Kentucky Colonel Rosemary Lewis born and raised in Beaufort, South Carolina cooked the feast for our fifty guests, all friends who came to the Kentucky Bourbon House to celebrate the birthday of my wife Margaret Sue. I am telling you certain the Low Country Boil was a huge hit.

Colonel Rosemary lightly cooked homemade sausage in garlic and butter until they were brown and crispy on the ends. She then washed the wild caught shell- on prawn sized shrimp in salt water. Colonel Rosemary took great care in shucking twenty five ears of corn; she then cut the ears of corn in half making them the perfect size for the boil.  She then quartered fifty red skin potatoes.

Instead of flavoring the boil with Old Bay seasoning she made her own seasoning learned from her dear mother who has cooked for extended family for sixty years with the ocean’s bounty brought to her by the menfolk who fished and net caught oysters, shrimp, scallops and mussels each day. Colonel Rosemary seasoned the boil with a blend of garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, salt and pepper. She tasted the blend several times, adding a little bit of this and that until it was perfect to her palette.

Colonel Rosemary brought a huge pot of water to a rapid boil and added her seasoning. She then added the potatoes, corn, sausage and shell-on shrimp to the pot in that order. She placed a lid on the pot telling me that the steamy froth rising from the boiling pot and pressing against the lid would cook the shrimp perfectly. Man O’ Man was she right.

After about ten minutes on the boil she removed the pot from the heat and drained the water.

We held the boil inside the Kentucky Bourbon House as the weather outside was cold and raining. That was just fine with Colonel Rosemary. She set the tables for five guests each. She then placed platters of the boil on each table.

Our bartender at Kentucky Bourbon House, Billi Jo was busy pouring drinks. Her sister, Sharonda, was busy seating our guests, making certain they had everything they needed to enjoy this incredible meal.
Colonel Michael Masters, Kentucky Bourbon Master

Contact: Colonel Michael Masters, Kentucky Bourbon Master
                 Kentucky Bourbon House
                 Bardstown, Kentucky
                 www.kentuckybourbonhouse

Derby Day

Derby Day

The Kentucky Derby has been run in Louisville at Churchill Downs since 1875 on the first Saturday in May. Derby Day is a time when men and women with Kentucky blood or in that absence a Kentucky kissin’ kinship celebrate their Kentucky roots and affinity.  The running of the Kentucky Derby, broadcast all over the world as the “greatest two minutes in sport,” allows us to remember our Kentucky home, the Kentucky folks we grew up with, have left behind or have lost.

 

When we hear the words and melody of the plantation ballad, My Old Kentucky Home, written by the bard Stephen Foster, we grow nostalgic for our Kentucky past. At the Federal Hill estate in Bardstown resides My Old Kentucky Home is a place that symbolizes our Kentucky heritage, our genteel way of life, our common ancestry. Every man, woman and child in the Commonwealth knows that My Old Kentucky Home is owned by the people of Kentucky and that knowledge is a point of fierce pride. For every Kentuckian knows that as long as My Old Kentucky Home stands, every Kentuckian, no matter how humble their station in life, owns a Kentucky mansion and a Kentucky home.

 

By the Saints that I appeal to and the Lord that created me, I am charmed by horse racing in Kentucky. Horses are Kentucky’s largest agricultural product employing thousands of our citizens. My wife, Margaret Sue and I could afford a seat in the clubhouse at Keeneland and Churchill Downs on most any day. Our preference,  however,  is to be out amongst the horse racing element rubbing shoulders with jockeys, farriers, groomsmen, trainers, owners, betters and bums. In other words we like to visit the race track backside, the horse barns, the paddock and the track rail at race time.

 

We also like to commune with horse racing in all the other ways too. When Margaret Sue and I go to Keeneland Race Course and Churchill Downs we often go with a small group or hook up with our Lexington and Louisville friends at the track. Several trips to the track will be to dine in their respective dining rooms, watching the racing panorama from the balcony of the clubhouse, eating rare roast beef and sampling their stock of liquor. Several trips will be to join the crowd in the grandstand, supping on homemade burgoo purchased at the track, drinking strong coffee and pouring Kentucky Bourbon sequestered discreetly in the side vent of my blazer.

 

There is no horse racing experience like the Kentucky Derby. Going to Churchill Downs on Friday Oaks Day or on Saturday for the Kentucky Derby is a treat almost without comparison. The alternative Kentucky Derby party at home is also a great experience. A Kentuckian convenes a Derby Day party with family and friends, wherever they might be. If alone in the world or surrounded by hostile forces, a Kentuckian takes a moment on Derby Day to salute Kentucky, dreaming of the day they might come home.

 

I like this Kentucky Derby weekend for the horses, no question. There are also other reasons.

 

Women look great on Derby Day, dressed in spring attire, adorned in broad brimmed hats and feeling the glamour of the occasion. I like the Derby pools where everyone pitches in a few dollars to take a chance on winning the pot when the horse they drew wins the race. I look forward to Kentucky Derby Day foods, the kind of food that has given Kentucky a world wide reputation for hospitality-Benedictine Spread, Pimento Cheese on Crackers, Country Ham on Yeast Rolls, Kentucky Bourbon in a glass come to mind.

 

Make a Mint Julep or pour a glass of sweet ice tea on Derby Day, no matter where you are in the world, no matter what circumstance you find yourself in. Raise a toast to Kentucky. Ask the Lord to bless your people with good fortune. Forgive a friend you have fallen out with. Make a promise to come back to Kentucky to visit your family and “the old folks back home.” Watch the Kentucky Derby, the greatest two minutes in sport, singing the plantation ballad, My Old Kentucky Home, just before the race whilst holding the hand of your sweetheart.

 

On Derby Day I feel a kinship with all Kentuckians, on Derby Day we are all cousins in our affection for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. All of this is part and parcel of the Kentucky Derby experience. I do love it so.

Colonel Michael Masters

Kentucky Hospitality Recipe

Kentucky Hospitality Recipe

Kentucky is known for its hospitality. It is said around the world that Kentucky is famous for fast horses, beautiful women, chivalrous men, good food and fine aged Bourbon. Kentucky is also known for courteous people who have a wonderful gift for storytelling. The aforementioned are the foundation elements of Kentucky hospitality known by those who have lived in Kentucky or who have traveled to Kentucky from all across America and from around the world.

 

Kentucky looks forward to the first Saturday in May when the best three year old Thoroughbred horses in the world gather at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby, a horse race that is the fastest, “two minutes in sports.” Those going to the track will experience the great equine pageantry that is the Kentucky Derby.  In the club house and in the stands so many of the Derby patrons will wear the latest fashions. Men will wear a sharp blazer and a crisp silk necktie; the women will wear colorful spring dresses and broad brimmed hats decorated with exotic feathers and flowers. In the infield there will be thousands of young people dressed in survival mode, blue jeans, polo shirts straw hats and billed caps; carrying a blanket to sit upon or lay upon. If enjoying the Kentucky Derby at home a party is often held and a fine time is had by all. Whether enjoying the Kentucky Derby high style or low style, the crowd, with only a few exceptions, will be courteous and well mannered.

 

The food in Kentucky is world renowned.

 

We like good pulled pork barbeque, and beef brisket smoked for fourteen hours, or until each are 210 degrees on the meat thermometer. We like both a spicy vinegar based sauce and a sweet, brown sugar-molasses-tomato based sauce to flavor our barbeque.  We complement our barbeque with Cole-slaw and potato salad with a thick slice of yellow onion, dill pickle spear and bread on the side.

 

We are in high praise of our appetizer tradition. We like pimento cheese, Benedictine spread made with cream cheese and the juice of onions and cucumber, artichoke dip and beer cheese both made from cherished recipes handed down to us from our mothers and grandmothers.

 

We never get tired of dining upon a good club sandwich made with fresh turkey, bacon, lettuce cheese and ham. We like the Hot Brown made with fresh turkey and bacon on toast covered with a good cheese sauce. We like to build sandwiches of Benedictine and bacon with locally grown cucumber and tomato slices. Our churches and men’s clubs host the big fish fry at Lent and throughout the spring, summer and fall. Everyone favors grilling big steaks, big pork chops and big hamburgers on the grill.

 

The vegetable and fruit dishes are from heaven. We love baked cheese grits, broccoli casserole, corn pudding, baked apples, cold marinated asparagus, stuffed eggplant. We relish a fruit compote of cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon.

 

The homemade desserts truly make you shut your mouth in anticipation of great eating. Chess pie, apple pie, blackberry cobbler, racehorse pie are beyond good. Bread pudding with a Bourbon hard sauce, chocolate cake with chocolate sauce, Bourbon cake with Bourbon pudding sauce will send you to the moon. Strawberry shortcake with fresh strawberries and fresh baked biscuits covered with smashed strawberries are the best.

 

Kentucky people have given Kentucky hospitality to the world. Kentucky hospitality is our gift and being a highly intelligent people we never forget to find a way to throw into the hospitality mix beautiful women, chivalrous men and fine aged Kentucky Bourbon. Most everyone appears to look forward to visiting with those three.

Colonel Michael Masters