Inspiration for Your Spring Table
It’s (finally!) springtime in Kentucky. What will you celebrate? An Easter brunch, a Kentucky Derby party for friends and family, a Mother’s Day or graduation dinner? Here’s how the flavors of springtime in Kentucky inspire Chef Ouita Michel.
“Kentucky in spring is, for us, the beginning of our culinary year. We focus on traditional Kentucky dishes done our way. We must make cheese wafers, chive-scented spoonbread, fresh asparagus, local lamb, and mint juleps.” Ouita Michel. As you plan your celebrations, here are some of our favorite ingredients from springtime menus through the years at Holly Hill.
First cultivated in Frankfort, Ky. on the banks of the Kentucky River, Bibb lettuce is a tender, compact butterhead lettuce, originally called limestone lettuce and often grown hydroponically. Chef Ouita says that Bibb lettuce should always be handled gently and torn by hand, so it maintains its elegantly organic shape on the plate.
Asparagus
The quintessential Kentucky spring vegetable, asparagus takes three years before it can be harvested but the wait is well worth it. Chef Ouita recommends briefly blanching the spears and serving them as a stand-alone course dressed with an orange hazelnut vinaigrette. Asparagus can be found in farmers markets starting in late April to early May.
A dream of a side dish, we love to make these with local Weisenberger cornmeal and Capriole goat cheese from Indiana. As Chef Ouita says, yellow cornmeal is fine for family but always use white cornmeal for company. Spoonbread is a featherweight version of cornbread taken to new heights. It can be baked in individual portions or one large dish and dressed up with fresh herbs, lemon confit, toasted nuts or buttery poached seafood. The lemon confit really perks up the sweetness of the cornmeal and balances the tang of the goat cheese.
Back in the day, Kentucky spring lamb was a thing. Much sought after by epicures in big cities like New York and Chicago, what used to be called spring lamb is now known as young lamb and available year round from a growing number of farmers across the state.
Guests at our Holly Hill restaurants have been enjoying lamb dishes on our menus for years and The New York Times once asked Chef Ouita Michel the eternal Easter question – lamb or ham? If the answer is lamb, here’s a delicious recipe from the Kentucky Governor’s Mansion.
Now that you have your celebration all planned out, give yourself a break on the dessert course. There’s no better way to end a wonderful afternoon or evening with friends and family than by sharing a plateful of Kentucky bourbon balls. Unless of course, you’re sharing a glass of Kentucky’s finest, too.
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