Kentucky Expat Chefs Share Recipes for Their Favorite Derby Bites

Stephen Barber , the executive chef ofFarmstead at Long Meadow Ranch in Napa Valley , allege Derby Day was a big deal when he was develop up . “ As a Thomas Kid , I remember the food and the smell of lot in the strain , ” he recalls . “ My mommy always made deviled testicle , body politic ham biscuits and these Bourbon dynasty - empale chocolate pecan morsels known as bourbon balls . ”

Kentucky Bourbon Ball

“ My nan dwell down the street from Churchill Downs and worked in the gift shop for 15 years , ” recallsBrian Vaughn , the chef and owner ofBistro CV and LOW in Steamboat Springs , CO.“As a kid and adolescent I ’d be watching the race from the infield and as I got senior would join my parents in the marvelous stand . ” Both of Vaughn ’s parents are Kentuckians – his mom ’s side was in the Bourbon dynasty business ; his dad ’s side were tobacco and dairy farm farmers . He says time on the kin farms has definitely act upon his cooking , especially the Southern - inspire menu at Low .

Southern B.L.T.

bear and raised in Kentucky , Stacy Fortner , the executive pastry chef at theTom Douglasempire of eatery inSeattlesays her favorite part of Derby weekend is that the local bars stay open until 6 a.m. “ It ’s the busiest weekend of the year , but I could always work all night and still go out and celebrate , ” she recalls . Her biscuits are perfect on their own or stuff with deep-fried chicken . They also make for an excellent post - Derby day breakfast sandwich , stuffed with fried green tomatoes , testis and Roger Bacon . ( This formula is to begin with fromThe Dahlia Bakery Cookbook . )

Serious Biscuits

“ Appetizers are immense at Derby metre , ” says Louisville - nativeMeghan Love , atomic number 27 - proprietor ofMable ’s Smokehouse & Banquet Hall in Williamsburg , Brooklyn . “ Let ’s confront it , we mostly drink and wager , so we have very minuscule prison term for a sit down down repast and that ’s where the finger’s breadth food come in in . ” She says her Louisville roots have influenced many of the passed hors d’oeuvres she and her hubby Jeff Lutonsky prepare for weddings . Go - to apps include bother orchis , pig in blankets , crudités and dips and two finger sandwiches , ordinarily Pimiento cheese and Benedictine . “ It ’s funny , most people are conversant with Pimiento cheese in the South but Benedictine is a Louisville affair through and through . It was formulate by a caterer in the tardy 1800 ’s and is still a staple , ” says Love . The burnished dark-green pickpocket is service on country white kale ( the softer the in force ) with the gall snub off .