April went by on jet skies and we realized that we hadn't broken bread with many of friends in too long. So we decided to throw a spur-of-the-moment Kentucky Derby Party. Amazingly enough, everyone was free and seemed delighted by the idea. I had great fun coming up with a menu and then I had even more fun watching the food disappear from the table. That has to be one of a cook's greatest satisfactions.

TEA SANDWICHES
The sliced cucumber was served on mint butter and topped with chopped mint.
Since there were several southerners in the group, Pimento Cheese was called for.This recipe is my current favorite. This comes from Sitty Bell Powell Staub and was published in the 2003 Pimento Cheese Invitational collection.
PIMENTO CHEESE
- 1 pound Colby Longhorn cheese, grated
- 1/2 pound sharp Cheddar, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 7 ounce jar diced pimento, drained
- 1/2 cup Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
- 1/2 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon read pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Process grated cheeses and minced garlic cloves in a food processor. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, adding the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Store in the refrigerator, but allow the mixture to reach room temperature before making the sandwiches.
Other sandwiches used Benedictine Sandwich Spread as the filling. The spread was created by Miss Jennie C. Benedict of Louisville,KY in the 1890's for tea sandwiches.
BENEDICTINE SANDWICH SPREAD
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and grated
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and grated
- 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- Salt
- Green food coloring
Place cream cheese in a bowl and mash with a fork until smooth. Wrap cucumber in cheese cloth, then squeeze out and discard the juice. Add the cucumber to the cream cheese and mix thoroughly.
Wrap the onion in cheesecloth and squeeze juice into the cream cheese mixture. Discard the onions.
Mix the mayonnaise and Tabasco sauce into the cream cheese mixture. Season to taste with salt, then add 1 drop of green food coloring. Mix well. Serve on thinly sliced white sandwich bread, top with another slice of bread, trim and cut into finger sandwiches.

ASPARAGUS WRAPPED IN PROSCIUTTO
I used a trick from Harris Salat (The Japanese Food Report) to give the asparagus greater depth of flavor. Boil one cup of dashi with 1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Let the mixture cool. Bring a pot of water to boiling and put in the asparagus for 10 seconds; remove and shock in an ice-water bath. marinate the vegetables in the dash-soy stock over night. You don't know what the diference is, but the process defintely adds umami notes to the vegetables.

STRAWBERRIES WITH CHOCOLATE FONDUE
The strawberrries would have been good by themselves, but I couldn't resist gilding the lily and served them with a Chocolute Fondue. This recipe is from Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk. It couldn't have been any easier.
CHOCOLATE FONDUE
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 14-ounce can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk.
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a heavy saucepan, over medium heat, melt choclate chips and butter with Eagle Brand and water. Cook and stir constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vanilla.
Serve warm as a fruit dipping sauce.

Deviled Eggs with Jalapeno
We gave the deviled eggs a a southwestern taste by adding some diced jalapeno pepper to the mix.
Last, but not least, were Ina Garten's Rosemary Cashews. These are irresistable.
ROSEMARY CHASHEWS
- 1 pound roasted, unsalted cashews
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Spread the cashews out on a sheet pan. Toast in the oven until warm, about 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar,salt and butter. Thoroughly toss the warm cashews with the spiced butter and serve warm. I should add that they are as good served at room temperature.
One of the guests, "You've created the perfect High Tea." Of course, High Tea doesn't normally include Mint Juleps. But that's the subject of another post.
Recent Comments