"American Feasts - The Best of American Regional Cooking" - Kentucky Burgoo (Stew)

Date I made this recipe: May 1, 2010 (Kentucky Derby)

American Feasts – The Best of American Regional Cooking by Sallie Y. Williams
Published by: William Morrow and Company, Inc.
ISBN: 0-688-05707-1
Recipe: Kentucky Burgoo – p. 100

People, timing is everything. I purchased this cookbook at Arc’s Value Village for a big old buck ninety nine two weeks before the Kentucky Derby. As I was leafing through the book, I saw the recipe for Kentucky Burgoo and that was that!

Kentucky Burgoo is basically a meat stew – “meat” with a capital “M.” Pork, beef, veal and chicken all go into this dish. It’s like we went to sleep and woke up in a butcher shop. And just for good measure, vegetables are added at the last minute saving this dish from being a featured item on a South Beach diet plan!

And speaking of flavor, the only “spice” in this dish is Worcestershire sauce and a scant amount at that so be sure to salt and pepper accordingly.

As to the Derby, I didn’t watch it as I had things to do but did recall a hilarious moment from one of my favorite movies, My Fair Lady. In the movie, Audrey Hepburn, a grubby, Cockneyed-accented flower salesperson turned lady, goes to the horse races and momentarily forgets herself by yelling at the horse, Dover, to “Move your bloomin’ arse!” (“Arse” is how the English pronounced “ass.”). Her fellow race-goers were not amused.

After eating all this meat, you may not be able to move your bloomin’ arse, but it is a pretty good dish overall and one that is pretty easy to make. Enjoy!

Kentucky Burgoo – 12 servings (you will definitely want to cut this recipe in half if not quarters)
1 pound boneless pork
2 pounds boneless beef chuck
1 pound breast of veal (since veal can be hard to find, I doubled up on the pork)
1 small frying chicken (I used 3 boneless chicken breasts)
Water
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, scraped and chopped
½ green pepper, diced
¼ head of cabbage, chopped
3 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 cup corn (fresh if possible)
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cayenne

Place the meats in a heavy kettle and cover with water. Boil until tender (check after a half an hour to see if the meat is done). Drain and reserve the liquid (Or—do what I did and remove the meat, cut it into cubes and then return it to the liquid to which I had already added the vegetables). Add the vegetables, parsley, Worcestershire and seasonings to taste. Simmer the mixture until thick. Serve.

"Out of Kentucky Kitchens" - Hot Brown Sandwich

Date I made this recipe: May 3, 2009

Out of Kentucky Kitchens by Marion Flexner; introduction by Duncan Hines
Published by: Bramhall House
© 1949
Recipe: Hot Brown Sandwich – p. 31-32

“And they’re off. They’re coming down the stretch….”

Saturday was (Kentucky) Derby Day in Louisville, Kentucky, home of the famous Churchill Downs and so in honor of that occasion, I made a version of the famous Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwich.

The cookbook didn’t go into the details of how this sandwich came to be famous, except to say it was created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, so I Googled it and found that it was created as an alternative to late-night ham and egg sandwiches. I’ve also read that the sandwich was concocted from leftovers on hand in the kitchen. Either way, it’s an interesting sandwich, one that I’d say is along the line of southern comfort food (bacon + cheese sauce!), and one that might be darned good after a night in a bar to absorb all the alcohol. (Not that I made it for that purpose).

I also think that the dish is probably best experienced in its “native” environment (i.e. a Louisville restaurant) as the results were good but not great. The cheese sauce never got a chance to really bubble before the broiler started scorching my bacon and the parmesan cheese never really melted, either. A kitchen salamander ( a professional broiler) would probably kick this dish up a notch, allowing everything to melt at just the right time and temperature, but alas, I do not have one at home!

Still, the lack of a broiler should not dissuade you from making this dish as it is pretty simple to assemble and tasty even if it could have stood a bit more heating time as well as placement on a lower oven rack. I say make the dish, mix yourself a mint julep or two...or more... and sit back and watch the annual Run for the Roses (as the horse race is often referred to).

Speaking of horse races, one of the funniest episodes of the TV show, M*A*S*H was titled The Trial of Henry Blake (Season 2 – aired in 1973). In this episode, Henry got in trouble with the Army brass for allowing, among other things, the camp’s version of the Kentucky Derby. To this day, all I have to do is say “It’s Bouncing Betty, Bouncing Betty in the lead…” and people know of what I speak. Check it out if you have a chance.

Hot Brown Sandwich – serves 4
4 slices of toast
4 slices baked chicken or turkey (cut from the breast) about ¼ inch thick
¼ c. American cheese, grated
8 strips bacon, fried crisp
4 T. grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cream sauce (Note: this recipe didn’t have one so I got one off the internet. I guess back then, they just thought everyone knew how to make a cream sauce!)

Cream sauce
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

In a small, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over low heat. Blend 2 tablespoons of flour into the melted butter. Add ¼ teaspoon of salt.

Slowly add 1 cup of milk, stirring constantly. Continue cooking slowly until smooth and thickened.

Blend yellow cheese with cream sauce until cheese has melted. Place a piece of chicken on each piece of toast, and cover with ¼ cup of sauce. Place 2 strips of bacon (previously cooked) on each sandwich, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese. Place sandwiches in a pan under the flame until the cheese melts and becomes golden brown (in other words, broil the sandwiches until the cheese melts.) Serve at once.

PS—In case you didn’t know, Duncan Hines was a real person way before his name ended up on a cake mix box!