On The Road culinary adventures goes to Louisville, KY with Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon

Chef Ghyslain Maurais

Some of the pastries offered at Ghyslain

With Chefs Laurent Géroli & Ghyslain Maurais at Ghyslain on Market

Hard to top the last few days, the job for the final event was left to Chef Ghyslain Maurais as our guests gathered at Ghyslain’s On Market. While Ghyslain demonstrated pastry techniques that we could manage at home, guests indulged on charcuterie, fresh fruit, and a tasting of breakfast sandwiches.  Listening to Ghyslain’s background and humorous anecdotes, everyone laughed and enjoyed the pastry demonstration.  His “assistant” was Laurent Géroli, Executive Chef of The Brown Hotel and a close friend of Ghyslain.   As one last indulgence, a beautiful dessert Ghyslain prepared, his chocolate mousse in a dark chocolate shell, went home with our guests.

Goodbyes are hard after a few days of camaraderie around great food, wine, bourbon, and shared experiences in a beautiful city.  Strangers become friends and friends are now more like family.

What started as a quest for the ultimate bourbon for many of our guests, ended in a completely different experience than what they could ever have anticipated.  The guests that had never traveled to Kentucky were dazzled.  They didn’t know what to expect when they stepped off the plane in Louisville, however, when they left, they were ready to make plans to return.

The folks living in the Louisville area were exposed to people, places, foods, and restaurants they were not familiar with and were impressed with what they experienced.  Everyone learned something new, whether it was about cooking, the region, bourbon, or the people they met.  Everyone took away something more than what they came for.  That is what we design when we plan these “culinary adventures.”  People leave with a greater appreciation of the culinary world, the chefs and artisans, and have a unique experience in the host city that they would not be able to replicate on their own.

Did they ever get that elusive bottle of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon that they originally came for?  In the end, it did not matter because they walked away with so much more: the experience of the event; an amazing culinary experience; the pleasant surprise of the city of Louisville; the breathtaking beauty of the Kentucky countryside; and new friends.

Here is a video recap of our culinary tour:

Louisville is calling again.  We are already planning a return visit in 2013 with new events and surprises for our On The Road culinary adventure participants.  Stay tuned.

A special thank you goes out to everyone who participated in or contributed to our event: The Brown Hotel, Seviche, A Latin Restaurant, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Bourbon Barrel Foods, La Coop Bistro, the Louisville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Kern’s Kitchen (home of the original Derby Pie®), and Art Eatables® (creator of the small-batch Bourbon Truffle™).

In particular, I want to recognize the individuals who, without them, this adventure would not have been possible: Julian P. Van Winkle, III, J. Preston Van Winkle, Chefs Anthony Lamas and Bobby Benjamin, and Matt Jamie.  We appreciate all of your hard work and time devoted to making this trip to Louisville such a great success.

* We did not photograph food from the dinners as we were being respectful of our guests and the other patrons at the restaurants.

* Some photographs in this post and in the video are used with permission from either our guests, Jesse Hendrix-Inman, John Nation, or the internet.

* The songs in the video can be purchased at Amazon .com or iTunes.

Chef Anthony Lamas has agreed to share his recipe for Bluegrass Soy Red Chile Butter which he served with his seared scallops during our lunch at Bourbon Barrel Foods.  You can purchase the Bluegrass Soy Sauce online.  We should all thank Chef Lamas for this recipe. 🙂

Enjoy!

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Print Recipe

Bluegrass Soy Red Chile Butter

Yield: Approximately 1 cup

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

This recipe for Bluegrass Soy Red Chile Butter from Chef Anthony Lamas was served with seared diver scallops and toasted, chopped Macadamia nuts. Chef Lamas said to pulse the nuts in the food processor just a few times, until they are chunky and not fine. You can order Bluegrass Soy Sauce from Bourbon Barrel Foods.

Ingredients:

4 ounces white wine
1 sliced shallot
Lemon peel of one lemon
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
2 ounces heavy cream
2 ounces Bluegrass Soy Sauce
Juice of one lemon
1/2 lb unsalted butter

2 ounces sambal chile

Directions:

In sauce pot add wine, shallot, lemon peel and ginger. Reduce by half then add cream, soy sauce and reduce until the sauce gets semi-thick. Turn heat off and add lemon juice and while whisking add a Tablespoon of butter at a time. Strain and add chile. Keep warm but not hot.

Serve with seared scallops and top with toasted Macadamia nuts.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Anthony Lamas
Seviche, A Latin Restaurant
Louisville, KY