Kentucky Derby Day

If you’ve ever thought that you’d like to throw a yearly party on a day that doesn’t conflict with major holidays, the first Saturday of May is pretty much a perfect choice. To start, there’s a built in theme that comes with an official drink and flower. And there’s just the right amount of entertainment – The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.

Pre-pandemic, we threw a party on “Derby Day” for more than a decade, and we have missed it and our friends these last two years. Although always fans of the Derby, we are not from Kentucky, so first we had to do some research. [And yes, we know that Jack Daniel’s is from Tennessee].

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The beverage aspect is, of course, critical. In fact, bourbon as an official drink might have been a significant reason for us choosing this as our party. A trip to Kentucky helped with the bourbon “research.” And, while we do make juleps on Derby Day, we naturally do not mix the good stuff.

And, of course, there are roses – it is after all the Run for the Roses. Thanks to a couple of cats who could not be trusted, we would keep the flowers locked in the bathroom until right before guests arrived, when the cats would make themselves scarce.

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The party menu evolved a lot over the first few years. After one year of making fried chicken bites for more than 50 guests, we declared that insane. For a couple years we did bit-size mac ‘n cheese in mini muffin tins. Also an insane amount of work, and it turned out that people were more than willing to scoop gooey mac ‘n cheese from a big pan and didn’t need it in convenient, bit-sized form. I recommend the recipe from The Glory of Southern Cooking. It’s 2 pounds of cheese to a pound of mac. Just don’t skimp on the cayenne. We time it so that the pans of mac ‘n cheese come out of the oven shortly after the race.

Another guest favorite is candied bourbon bacon. It doesn’t seem to matter how much bacon there is, it is never enough. These are super easy. Line a sheet pan with foil, and put a metal rack on the foil. Arrange bacon in a single layer on the rack. Bruch with bourbon so that all of the bacon surface is wet. Sprinkle with brown sugar – about 3/4 cup to a pound. Bake at 350 until crisp – about 30 minutes. Transfer to another wire rack to cool. You really want to make sure to transfer them – otherwise they are going to stick. I make these in advance, but warm them again before serving. They can also be served at room temperature.

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Over the years we got much better about doing more ahead of time. Even so, it’s a lot of work to keep platters filled with food and drinks in guests hands. This is where friends come in – we have amazing bartender and server friends who help and allow us to actually spend some time with the guests.

If/when we do this again in 2022, it is going to be epic. It will also mean that we have to include everybody’s favorite dishes, and it sometimes amazes me what those are. One friend always wants the chicken salad in endive spears. That seems like an odd choice to me considering everything else that has become standard. Another friend threatens me – I think she’s kidding but I’m not entirely sure – if there’s not sausage wrapped in bacon. The sausage in bacon started with a recipe from The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking called “Double Oink Roll-Ups.” I’ve modified it to include a lot less butter and more sausage. We have a local butcher that makes a Jamaican spiced sausage that, while not true to the Kentucky theme, gives these an excellent kick. I’ve also done them with a chicken/apple sausage and stuffing mix in place of the breadcrumbs, which gives them a bit of a Thanksgiving flavor. The recipe below is for a reasonable number – the party prep usually involves about four times that.

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Happy Derby Day, all.

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