The Bourbon Country Cookbook ― New Southern Entertaining: 95 Recipes and More from a Modern Kentucky Kitchen

Bourbon, the first uniquely American distilled spirit, is nearly synonymous with Kentucky, its birthplace. The region conjures images of verdant hills of bluegrass, rolling pastures punctuated like an intricate quilt with horse farms’ defining white fences, cold bourbon cocktails sweating in the sun, and hundreds of well-dressed racegoers urging their steeds of choice to the finish line—all culminating into one distinctive southern heritage.

However, bourbon has come a long way since it was first distilled in the late 1700s, and its popularity and refinement have never been greater. At the same time, southern cuisine has evolved to keep up with bourbon’s evolution through once unheard-of collaborations between kitchen and bar, a renewed interest in seasonal local ingredients, and the influence of the delicious food traditions of the region’s growing migrant populations.

This book distills the spirit and hospitality—both new and old—of great southern food and drink into 90 accessible recipes designed to help you achieve the ease and elegance of Bourbon Country entertaining in your own home. Arranged by the kind of traditional fare you’d find on a Kentucky table—pickles, vegetables, ancient grains, bounties from the barnyard, bourbon cocktails, and more—these recipes pay homage to the rituals and victuals of yesteryear while embracing the new southern palate and the flavors of modern Kentucky bourbon.

Tim Laird is an authority on wines and spirits with more than thirty years of experience in the hospitality industry. He is the chief entertaining officer of Brown-Forman, a major producer of fine wines and spirits (including Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, and Old Forester whiskeys and bourbons) based in Louisville, Kentucky. Laird hosts two local weekly television shows—Secrets of Bluegrass Chefs and Secrets of Louisville Chefs—and is a featured columnist for Louisville’s Food & Dining Magazine. He has appeared on Today, The Early Show, Fox & Friends, The Tonight Show, and World News Now, among many others.

David Danielson is the executive chef at Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby. Prior to joining the team at Churchill Downs, Chef Danielson held executive chef positions at the Rockefeller Center in New York with Restaurant Associates, the United Nations Plaza Hotel, and The Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. Over the course of his more than 20 years in the industry, Chef Danielson has managed and catered numerous momentous events including the Kentucky Derby, the Super Bowl, the US Open, the PGA championship, and the Olympics, among others. He was featured in People for the food he cooked for the 2016 Kentucky Derby.