Good morning. The Kentucky Derby kicks off tomorrow at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., two minutes of excitement bracketed by drinks and snacks, a prelude to dinner with as many people as you can fit around your table.
The race is a reminder that while our young nation may have birthed itself in opposition to the British crown, its culture rhymes with the one across the ocean. Louisville is our Ascot, our Cheltenham. Look at the ladies in their hats and finery, the gentlemen in their pastels and seersucker, untitled aristocrats all, with good money on the line. (You know I’m betting on Journalism.)
So of course I’ll be making mint juleps (above) and Benedictine dip, to serve with sliced vegetables alongside the cocktails. Those are two great tastes of Kentucky’s largest city. I’m not immune to the charms of high society.
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For dinner after the race, served over a tablecloth: roast beef with potatoes, watercress and Henry Bain sauce, a condiment that came out of Louisville’s Pendennis Club during the 19th century and is named for the headwaiter there who developed it. Stir together over medium heat some mango chutney, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chili sauce and ketchup, salt, pepper and a dash of hot sauce. You could daub that on a laptop case and have a very good dinner.
Make a Derby pie for dessert, accompany it with a single jigger of bourbon and branch water, and count your winnings. (Or not! As Henny Youngman once said, “I played a great horse yesterday. It took seven horses to beat him.”)
On Sunday, I’m thinking, we could jog north and west from Kentucky, toward the plains and the marvels of the loose meat sandwich of Sioux City, Iowa, essentially a Sloppy Joe without the tomatoes, served with dill pickles and yellow mustard on a hamburger bun. Not aristocratic, but still very fine eating.
Alternatively, you might make chowder-soaked toast. Or spring tofu soup. I could see the merits of mushroom scampi for supper, too, particularly if you are able to forage up some oyster mushrooms to use in place of the recipe’s call for buttons. That and a strawberry cake for dessert? Good living.
But if none of that appeals, there are many thousands more recipes to choose from waiting for you on New York Times Cooking. Go take a look and see what you find. (You’ll need a subscription, of course. If you haven’t taken one out yet, you can do so here.)
Please write for help if you find yourself jammed up with your account: cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you. Or if you want to send us a rocket or deliver a compliment, you can write to me: hellosam@nytimes.com. I can’t respond to every letter. But I do read each one I get.
Now, it’s a considerable distance from anything to do with pluots or chicken thighs (and I’m very late to it besides), but “The Last of Us,” on Max, is well worth watching.
Saw a terrific menu description for a ham sandwich at a deli the other day: “Thinly sliced meat from a pig’s leg.” Accurate!
In case you missed it, my colleagues A.O. Scott and Aliza Aufrichtig delivered an amazing “Poetry Challenge” to readers of The Times this week. It’s not too late to play along and memorize a poem with them. This will pay dividends for months, I promise.
Finally, Lorde’s back: “What Was That.” Listen to that while you’re muddling mint. I’ll see you on Sunday.
