A Fancy Tailgate Spread, Win, Place, or Show?
Late spring is prime season for equestrian events. With three big races making up the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, along with many other horse related activities, there are lots of chances to create a fun and fancy tailgate spread honoring those occasions.
The most famous of the three races, the Kentucky Derby, happened just this past weekend. You needn’t make a trip to Churchill Downs or sport a fancy hat to celebrate this longstanding racing tradition with some traditional food and drink.
Relive this year’s Kentucky Derby with its signature Mint Julep, a combination of bourbon, superfine sugar, and mint leaves served over crushed ice in a silver tumbler. Complement the Juleps with some delicious southern hors d’oeuvres such as Ham and Biscuits, Spiced Pecans, and Cucumber and Cream Cheese sandwiches.
The Kentucky version of the latter classic tea sandwich is the Benedictine spread, a cooling combination of grated cucumber, onions, cream cheese, and a touch of hot sauce, sandwiched between crustless white bread. Or try making a savory Kentucky burgoo—this official dish of the bluegrass state is loaded with various meats and game and potatoes, corn, and tomatoes. Don’t forget the pecan pie and bourbon balls for dessert!
Moving on, the Preakness will take place at Baltimore’s Pimlico track in a couple weeks. What else but Maryland’s crab cake would stand as the signature dish of the Preakness? Another staple is Maryland kettle fried chicken. To top it all off, try strawberry shortcake for dessert.
New York’s Belmont stakes is a decidedly less food focused event, more casual in tone. For some fun Belmont inspired fare, try braised short ribs, Long Island oysters or clams casino, New York strip steaks, and of course, cheesecake for dessert.
To complete the trifecta of horse race cocktails, there are couple of other drinks to mix. Baltimore’s Preakness has the Black Eyed Susan, which packs a real punch with a combo of orange juice, pineapple juice, rum, triple sec, and vodka. Then there is the Belmont Breeze, a concoction that contains blended whisky, cream sherry, club soda, lemon-lime soda, lemon juice, simple syrup, orange juice and cranberry juice. Or try the pre-1997 official Belmont drink, the White Carnation, which includes vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice, and soda. Although the races are over within a few action packed seconds, the fun memories of the day will last a whole lot longer.
Tailgating rituals also find their way to horse shows, fox hunts, and steeplechase races across the country. There is often friendly competition among neighboring tailgaters. Some have claimed the same spot for years, and bring elaborate multi-course feasts and fully stocked bars. In the Philadelphia area, late May brings a horse show and country fair where the tea shop offers a signature blend of iced tea with mint and lemon and the candy shop makes kids young and old happy with refreshing lemon sticks—a lemon candy straw stuck into a lemon half.
You can use some of these ideas for any outdoor event that calls for a bit of elegance. From the steeplechase to outdoor symphonies to a creekside picnic, enjoy the lovely spring weather along with some fancy canapés and drinks. It’s worth a little extra effort to make a sumptuous spread worthy of champions and take your tailgating upscale. You can bet on it!
Made with powdered sugar, frozen phyllo dough, crumbled blue cheese, balsamic vinegar, sweet onion, butter-flavored cooking spray, honey, apricot nectar, raisins, dried figs
Serves/Makes: 8
- 1 cup diced dried figs
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup apricot nectar
- 1/3 cup honey
- butter-flavored cooking spray
- 2 cups coarsely chopped sweet onion
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
- 8 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
- 2 teaspoons powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 30 minutes.
Coat a medium nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add onion and vinegar; cook 20 minutes or until deep golden, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in fig mixture and cheese. Set aside.
Place 1 phyllo sheet on work surface (cover remaining dough to keep from drying); lightly coat with cooking spray. Working with 1 phyllo sheet at a time, coat remaining 7 phyllo sheets with cooking spray, placing one on top of the other. Place a sheet of plastic wrap over phyllo, pressing gently to seal sheets together; discard plastic wrap.
Spoon onion mixture along 1 long edge of phyllo, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold over the short edges of phyllo to cover 2 inches of onion mixture on each end.
Starting at long edge with 2-inch border, roll up jelly-roll fashion (Do not roll tightly, or strudel may split). Place strudel, seam side down, on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Score diagonal slits into top of strudel using a sharp knife. Lightly spray strudel with cooking spray.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle powdered sugar over top. Serve warm.
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