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