Kentucky Derby Day Special

Breakfast

Breakfast Pizza: For a 15-inch pizza pan: Get out your bread machine and make its recipe for pizza dough. (Mine takes an hour and a half to mix up a really good pizza dough.) Meanwhile, thaw 1 cup of frozen ‘southern style’ hash brown potatoes. Crumble and brown ½ pound of your favorite sausage with ¼ cup each minced onion and diced green pepper. Dice 6 slices bacon and cook until crisp. Spread the dough onto the pizza pan, working it so that it has a tall crust all the way around. Sprinkle the sausage, bacon and hash browns. Beat six eggs with ¼ cup milk and pour it over the toppings. Sprinkle with 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Bake in a 375 degree oven 30-45 minutes, until eggs are set. Let stand 10 minutes or so before cutting into wedges. Serve with a half grapefruit on the side.

Dinner
Horseshoes:

Make French fries: Peel 3 Yukon gold potatoes and cut into fries. Fry until hot oil, deep enough to keep them floating while they fry, until crisp and golden brown. Keep warm while you make the burgers and sauce. Cook four 1/3 lb. hamburger patties to desired doneness and keep warm. Sauce: Melt ¼ cup butter in a saucepan. Whisk in ¼ cup flour, ½ tsp each cayenne pepper and dry mustard and cook until smooth and bubbly. Whisk in ½ cup milk, ½ cup beer, 1 tsp Louisiana hot sauce, and 2 Tblsp Worcestershire sauce. Heat until thick and bubbling, whisking occasionally. Whisk in 1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese. Keep warm. Toast four slices thick, white bread. To assemble the Horseshoe: Place a slice of toast on a plate. Top with a burger, and a few grilled onion rings. Place a handful of fries on top of burger. Drizzle a generous amount of cheese sauce over all. (I’m told this is called a horseshoe because the fries are the “nails”) If preferred, use cooked chicken breasts instead of hamburgers.

Lunch: Red Velvet Cake:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line bottoms of three 9x2-inch round cake pans with parchment paper & coat with nonstick spray.

Sift together 1 ¾ cup each all-purpose flour and cake flour, ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tsp each baking soda, salt, & espresso powder in a bowl; set aside

Beat 2 ¼ cup sugar & 3 eggs on high speed until white, thick, & creamy, 5-7 minutes. With mixer on low speed, slowly drizzle in 2 ¼ cups vegetable oil OR melted butter, slightly cooled, until it is fully incorporated.

In another bowl, thoroughly whisk together 1 2/3 cup buttermilk, 1 oz liquid red food color, & 1 tsp vanilla.

Alternately add flour mixture & buttermilk mixture to batter, starting & ending with flour mixture, until smooth and creamy. Mix 1 Tblsp white vinegar into batter & immediately divide evenly between prepared pans. Bake cakes until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Transfer cakes to a rack to cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out of pans & cool on racks. Once cool, peel away the parchment. Frost and fill with White Chocolate Frosting.

White Chocolate Frosting: Whisk 2 cups whole milk & 1 ½ cup flour together in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until thick, paste-like, & no longer lumpy, about 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl, press plastic wrap over surface to prevent a skin from forming, & chill until cold.

Melt 4 oz white baking chocolate in a double boiler until smooth; cool slightly.

Cream 2 cups sugar & 2 sticks softened butter on high speed until light & fluffy, about 7 minutes. Add chilled milk mixture & melted chocolate & beat on high speed until light & fluffy, about 5 minutes more. Garnish with white chocolate curls, if desired.

Supper: Kentucky Burgoo
Tossed Salad (You know how to do this)
French bread
Mint Julep
Burgoo: Cube into bite sized pieces: 1 pork chop, 1 New York strip steak, 1 boneless chicken breast, 2 boneless chicken thighs, 2 small venison chops, 1 boneless turkey breast. Brown all meats and place in a great big stock pot. Saute: 2 medium rough chop Vidalia onions, 4 chopped stalks celery, 2 peeled and grated carrots, and 2 chopped green peppers until vegetables are limp. Add to meats in pot. Pour in 2 quarts beef stock. Add: 1 pound peeled carrots, cut into large pieces; about 1 ½ to 2 inches in length, 4 peeled potatoes, cut about the same size you made the carrot pieces, one 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, 2 cups shredded green cabbage, one can cannellini beans, one can great northern beans, (No need to drain the beans), one 15 oz. can tomato sauce. Add water to cover and season to taste with salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, Worcestershire sauce and Louisiana hot sauce. (Nellie uses about a Tblsp of each). Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for several hours, until the potatoes and carrots are nice and soft.



Mint Julep

Make simple syrup by boiling 1 ½ cup sugar with two cups water. Put a dozen or so spearmint leaves in the bottom of a jar and pour the boiling syrup over, Let stand in fridge for at least 2 days. To serve, measure one shot bourbon into highball glass, fill with ice and pour mint syrup over all. Sip slowly while watching the Derby. Post time is usually between 5 and 5:30 Central.