It was time for the Garden Club of Lexington to update its Bluegrass Winners cookbook, because most of our copies are worn out. For 20 years, this cookbook has been the one cooks turn to when preparing holiday feasts, Derby parties, bridal brunches, or family gatherings.
The club’s new book, Entertaining with Bluegrass Winners has updated menus and recipes that reflect the changing seasons at Central Kentucky’s horse farms. In this book, racing historian Edward L. Bowen provides a detailed history of the 40 thoroughbred farms that are featured.
Winter begins with a formal dinner at John Magnier’s Ashford Stud. Ashford mirrors Magnier’s native Ireland with its sturdy stone walls and wooden barns with high-pitched slate roofs, Bowen writes.
The menu features bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, blue cheese stuffed cherry tomatoes, grilled Romaine salad with vinaigrette, braised peas and celery, veal Bluegrass, bran rolls, and Grand Marnier souffles with creme Anglaise.
At Crestwood Farm, owned by Pope McLean, a winter buffet menu offers herbed tomatoes, fruit salad with vinaigrette dressing, sour cream biscuits, buttered Kentucky asparagus, chicken tetrazzini, and lemon curd tarts.
During the 1970s and early ‘80s, John R. Gaines’ Gainesway Farm was known for its elegant cocktail parties. A winter cocktail party at the farm today, which now is owned by Graham Beck, features hummus, white corn bisque, filet de boeuf a la creme tomate, crustless spinach tart, mahogany glazed salmon, bourbon truffles, and oatmeal lace cookies.
Alice Chandler and her family have been an integral part of the Bluegrass thoroughbred industry for decades. Her grandfather bred and owned thoroughbreds, and her father Hal Price Headley, was a prime force behind Keeneland, Bowen said. Chandler shares her menu for a Christmas dinner for 12 at Mill Ridge Farm.
The menu features pate with toast points, mushroom bisque, three pear salad with spicy pecans, broccoli with roasted red peppers, Mill Ridge scalloped potatoes, standing prime rib roast and horseradish sauce, icebox rolls, and Kentucky bourbon cake and egg nog.
During its heyday, Spendthrift Farm was the scene of many lavish parties when Leslie Combs II owned the breeding operation. A winter supper at Spendthrift features mini salmon croquettes with parsley sauce, fried chicken, corn pudding, ratatouille, biscuits, and banana cake with caramel icing.
When Celeste and Emler Neuman entertain with a winter brunch at Xalapa Farm, they serve milk punch, endive and Granny Smith apple salad, grillades and grits, eggs Benedict, garlic bread, and homemade peppermint ice cream.
Here are two recipes from the book that is available for $29.95 at bookstores. Proceeds support the gardens at Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate.
Gainesway Farm crustless spinach tart
2 packages (8 ounces each) frozen leaf spinach
2 pounds fresh ricotta cheese
5 eggs
3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
6 to 8 ounces cherry tomatoes
6 to 8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Preheat oven to 320 degrees. Defrost spinach and squeeze water completely out. Mix spinach with ricotta cheese, eggs, dill, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture into 9- by 12-inch casserole dish. Cut tomatoes in half and place cut side up on top of spinach mixture. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Bake at 320 degrees until pie is set, about 1 hour. Cut into squares and serve. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
Mill Ridge Farm mushroom bisque
2 sticks unsalted butter
6 cups mushrooms, sliced
8 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons salt
5 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
4 cups half & half
1/2 cup chives, chopped
1/2 cup sherry
Sour cream and flat-leaf parsley to garnish
Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute until tender. Add flour, mustard, and salt, stirring constantly for about 1 minute. Flour should not brown.
Add broth and bay leaf and cook uncovered at low temperature until mixture thickens. Slowly stir in half & half and add chives. Heat thoroughly but do not boil. Remove bay leaf and add sherry just before serving. Garnish with sour cream and top with sprig of flat-leaf parsley. Makes 12 servings.
