Not every celebration of the Kentucky Derby is a Brunch, oftentimes a luncheon is more
appropriate.  A few dishes remain the same, the Traditional Horse Racing Pie and Mint
Juleps are requisite for Derby Day or any celebration around that time of the year.

The Menu:


Kaleidoscope Appetizer
Prospect Cheese Grits Casserole
Asparagus Mousse on a bed of Bibb Lettuce
Kentucky Burgoo
Kentucky Country Ham on Beaten Biscuits
Horse Racing Pie
My Old Kentucky Home Mint Julep




The Recipes:




Kaleidoscope Appetizer

1 8 oz. can button mushrooms, drained
1 14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained
1 16 oz. can pitted black olives, drained
1 9 oz. jar stuffed olives, drained
1/2 C celery chopped
1/4 C green pepper, chopped
1/4 C yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 4 oz. can chopped green chiles, drained
1 4 oz. can chopped pimentoes, drained
3/4 C balsamic vinegar
3/4 C extra virgin olive oil
1/4 C minced onion
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
dash cayene pepper
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp. Mrs. Dash
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cracked black pepper

Finely chop the mushrooms, artichokes, olives, celery and peppers. Combine remaining
ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Pour over chopped vegetables and put in a
large jar with a tight fitting lid. Refrigerate for 3 days, shaking jar several times each day.
In a glass bowl, arrange kale leaves or bibb lettuce around side, fill with mixture. Place
bowl in center of a tray. Arrange wheat thins and assorted crackers around. Provide
small slotted spoon so diners can spoon appetizer onto crackers.
Serves 10-15.





Prospect Cheese Grits Casserole
1 pound shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 C butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp. salt
Dash of tabasco sauce
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 C grits, cooked in six cups of water
1 tsp. paprika

Combine cheese, eggs, butter, garlic,  salt, tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce with cooked
grits and stir until the butter is melted. Pour into a lightly greased 2 quart casserole.
Sprinkle with paprika.
Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from fridge 15 minutes before baking. Bake
uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Serves 10.




Cold Asparagus Mousse

1 can cut green asparagus, drained
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
salt and cayenne pepper
1 envelope gelatin
1/3 C reserved asparagus liquid

Soften the gelatin in the asparagus liuqiud and dissolve over very hot water. When
cool, combine with other ingredients. Chill in an oiled mold. To serve, unmold on bed
of Kentucky bibb lettuce and garnish with cherry tomatoes.
Serves 10.




Kentucky Burgoo, Waters Fashion
1-2 beef marrow bones (2 1/2-3 lbs)
2 pounds chuck roast (or venison)
2 pounds breast of lamb
2 pounds breast of veal
1 4-5 lb. chicken
1 tender, young rabbit, ready to cook
(1 squirrel, dressed out)
2 onions
2 bay leaves
1 whole pod red pepper
a handful of parsley
8-10 quarts water
4 1/2 cups chopped onions (about 1 1/2 lbs)
4 1/2 cups peeled and cubed potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
1 bunch carrots (peeled and diced)
2 green bell peppers (cored, seeded, and slivered)
2 red bell peppers (cored, seeded, and slivered)
2 cups  fresh (or frozen) lima beans
kernels cut from and milk scraped from 4-6 ears of corn 
(about 2 cups)
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped cabbage
1 medium turnip, diced
2 quarts tomatoes, pureed in their own juice
2 cups fresh okra,sliced
1/2 lemon, seeded
1 T worcestershire sauce
1 T tabasco sauce
1 T freshly ground black pepper
1/4 C 100 proof KENTUCKY bourbon

1 cup diced fresh parsley

The Day Before

Put the meats, whole onion, bay leaves, handful of parsley, red pepper, and water in a
large kettle. Boil for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove chicken and rabbit, and cook rest for
another 4 hours or until meat pulls easily from the bones. Bone and reserve meat in
refrigerator. Remove onion, bay leaves, and pepper. Refrigerate stock overnight.

Early the next day, remove congealed fat from the top of stock and discard fat. Add
chopped onions, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, lima beans, corn, celery, cabbage, turnip,
and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for about 2 hours until vegetables
are tender.

Add okra, lemon, worcestershire sauce, tabasco sauce, whiskey, and pepper. Simmer
uncovered in a 300 degree oven for 2 1/2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove and
discard lemon, add reserved meat and simmer in oven for another hour, stirring
occasionally. Burgoo should be very thick.  Stir in 1 cup diced fresh parsley and serve
with cornbread and cole slaw.
 Serves 10-15




Kentucky Country Ham
1 Kentucky country ham, 2-3 years old
water
1 cup vinegar
1 1/2 C dark brown sugar, divided
whole cloves
1/4 C dry mustard
1/2 C dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp. corn meal
1 small can sliced pineapple drained
1 small jar maraschino cherries, drained and cut in half

     Three days before serving, place ham in a large roaster with room to cover with
water. Cover with cold water and let soak overnight. 
    The next morning, remove the ham, dump the water and wash the pan. Scrub the
ham thoroughly under running water, taking care to remove all debris. Replace ham in
roaster. Cover with water, add vinegar and 1 cup of brown sugar. Bring to a boil and
reduce heat to low. Simmer 30 minutes per pound or until the haitch bone and other
hock bones can be pulled out with the fingers. Cool in cooking water overnight.
     Place cooked ham on a rack to drain and trim to about 1/2" depth of fat. Score and
stud with cloves. Mix brown sugar with bread crumbs, dry mustard, and brown sugar.
Press onto outside of ham. Bake for 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Remove cloves
and arrange pineapple slices atop ham. Put a cherry half in the center of each pineapple
slice. Bake for another 15 minutes at 375 and serve, OR let cool on rack and slice paper
thin on regular or beaten biscuits.
Beaten Biscuits
3 1/2 C  all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 C  lard
3/4 C half and half (very cold)
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together and, with a pastry blender, cut in
the lard until the mixture is the consistency of coarse meal. Add the cream and knead it
into a cohesive ball. Seal the dough in a ziploc bag and set aside for two hours. To make
up the biscuits, divide the dough in half. and put first one half and then the other into
the food processor with the steel blade in place and process each half for 2 1/2 minutes.
Recombine the dough and roll it out to a thickness of about 1/2 inch, fold over and
repeat this rolling and folding until dough is smooth and silky. Cut with a two-inch
biscuit cutter and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Prick each one 3-4 times with a
fork. Place in a preheated 325 degree oven on the bottom rack and bake for five minutes.
Then move to the middle rack and bake for 24 minutes. Remove one biscuit to check for
done in the middle. Biscuts should be smooth and lightly tanned and pretty hard on the
outside, but flaky like pastry inside. Hold in an airtight tin and serve warm or cold.





Not too far from downtown Louisville is a motel and restaurant called The Melrose
Inn. At this restaurant, Derby Pie was developed for the first time and the recipe was
COPYRIGHTED.
If you are really lucky, you will be able to serve a Derby Pie purchased from the Melrose
Inn. If not, you can try this recipe which is similar, but of course not the real thing!
Every Louisville hostess has her own way of making this wonderful dessert. Each recipe
is just a bit different and while everyone does anyhow, no one but the Melrose Inn may
legally call it Derby Pie.

Traditional Horse Racing Pie

2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 C sugar
1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1/2 C chopped English walnuts *
1/2 C chopped black walnuts *
1 6 oz. pkg. chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon 100 proof Kentucky Bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 unbaked 9" pie shell

* May substitute 1 Cup of chopped pecans

Mix the first nine ingredients together and pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees F. for
45 minutes, or until filling is set.
Cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.





Mint Juleps for Derby Day
Crushed Ice
2 jiggers Kentucky 100 Proof Sour Mash Bourbon
1 jigger minted simple syrup (below)
cutting of fresh mint, rinsed


   Fill sterling silver julep cup or old-fashioned glass with crushed ice. Pour bourbon
over ice and then syrup. Belabor somewhat with a swizzle stick until the glass begins to
frost. Slip a sprig of mint and a straw into the glass and serve. This is a sipping drink and
quite powerful, so proceed with caution.

Minted Simple Syrup

1 cup cold "branch water"
2 cups sugar
6 healthy stalks of mint, fresh from the garden

     On the night before serving, bring water and sugar to a boil. Boil, stirring, until sugar
is completely dissolved. Cool to room temperature and add leaves from the mint,
stirring in, bruising the leaves ever so gently. Cover and leave on counter overnight.
Strain through cheesecloth and use in juleps, above.