Taking comfort

Kentucky’s down-home, signature foods

Imagine sitting in granny’s kitchen as she cooks something special. Mouth-watering smells waft through the air, and an early summer breeze blows through the kitchen. Nothing says safe, cozy and warm like this moment. 

A simple bite of comfort food transports you down memory lane. In Kentucky, it abounds. Top of mind for most is fried chicken, but what are other special dishes that hearken home? 

Rooted in Kentucky kitchens, the Hot Brown, beer cheese, burgoo, Derby Pie and spoonbread are Kentucky’s ultimate comfort foods. 

Beer Cheese 

Over 50 years ago, legend says Joe Allman, cousin to Winchester restaurateur Johnny Allman, invented beer cheese so Johnny could have a unique snack in his restaurants along the Kentucky River, says Kerry Hollifield, national sales director at Hall’s Beer Cheese. 

“Johnny wanted his cousin to come up with a recipe that would make his customers thirsty and increase beer sales,” says Hollifield. “They gave beer cheese away for free, and people started buying more beer. Then beer cheese became an iconic product.” 

Legend says Joe Allman was the first to concoct beer cheese, now a Winchester classic. Photo: Hall’s Beer Cheese 

A combination of an American lager, aged Wisconsin cheddar and a proprietary blend of spices, the original Hall’s Beer Cheese is still on the menu at Halls on the River (formerly the old Driftwood) in Winchester. It’s served with saltine crackers and crudites and is on the Ma Bell burger, named after Jean Bell, legendary employee and beer cheese maker. 

“People assume it will have a heavy beer flavor, but it comes as a tasting note at the end,” Hollifield says. “It’s a mild cheddar flavor with a snap of spices and a smooth, creamy texture.” 

If you can’t make it to the restaurant, Hall’s Beer Cheese is sold across the state at Kroger, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco, Total Wine and Liquor Barn, as well as online. 

“In central Kentucky, beer cheese is second nature,” Hollifield says, but he confirms it’s expanding in popularity across the entire state and beyond. Winchester hosts the Beer Cheese Festival every June to celebrate this unique dish. 

With its snappy flavor and versatility, beer cheese is known as the life of the party, says Hollifield. 

“It’s a great snack that represents Southern comfort, friends, family and camaraderie,” he says. 

The Hot Brown 

It’s 1926, and The Brown Hotel is hosting another dance. The band breaks, and revelers descend on the dining space for sustenance. They look for the popular late-night dish—ham and eggs—but find chef Fred Schmidt’s new creation. 

He calls it the Hot Brown, and it soon becomes “one of the great sandwiches of America,” says Marc Salmon, the hotel’s human resources director and in-house historian. 

With its open face, crustless Texas toast, 7 ounces of hand-carved turkey, warm and bubbly Mornay sauce, applewood smoked bacon and Roma tomatoes, the dish stands the test of time. 

Created in 1926, the Hot Brown is a Louisville staple, still served daily at The Brown Hotel. Photo: The Brown Hotel 

“It’s a taste of tradition,” says Salmon, who has been with the Brown Hotel for 22 years. He says it’s important for the Hot Brown to remain true to the original, so the recipe has never changed. 

The Hot Brown is served daily at The Lobby Bar and Grill for dinner; for breakfast and lunch at J. Grahams; and in guest rooms through room service. The hotel serves 68,000 Hot Browns a year, averaging 180 a day. 

“Kentuckians take a lot of pride in history. Being a part of something people have enjoyed for almost 100 years is special,” Salmon says. 

A few years ago, The Brown Hotel served a special guest his first Hot Brown—the grandson of its inventor, Fred Schmidt. Driving past Louisville, he wanted to try his grandfather’s sandwich at the original location. 

“He had no idea how famous his grandfather was,” Salmon says. “He loved it.” 

Derby Pie 

When Walter and Leaudra Kern moved to Kentucky over 70 years ago, they planned to be there as a support for their children. Little did they know, they were about to build a Kentucky dessert staple and a fourth-generation, family-owned business. 

Kern’s Kitchen is the only place an official Derby Pie is made because it holds a federal trademark. Leaudra created the dessert for the Melrose Inn in 1954. To name her creation, family and co-workers put names in a hat. By luck of the draw, the “Derby Pie” was born. 

It was her “authentic, unique recipe” says Rebecca Rupp, president of Kern’s Kitchen. “There were amazing flavors in what she was creating.” 

Kern’s Kitchen is the one-and-only producer of Derby Pie, and the recipe is a closely guarded secret. Photo: Kern’s Kitchen 

Over 1,000 pies were sold by 1960, and the Kerns left the Melrose Inn a year later to start baking pies from their home kitchen. By the 1980s, their grandson, the late Alan Rupp, transformed the business into the household name it is today. 

“My dad took what was created and built it,” Rebecca Rupp says. “It’s definitely a legacy that my father built that is unique and authentic to our city and community. It was important to him and in turn, important to me.” 

The Kern’s Derby Pie is a chocolate walnut pie, but beyond that, the recipe is a secret. Every piece of the pie is made by hand, from cracking eggs and walnuts to making the dough. 

“Our crust has our name on it eight times, so you get eight slices,” says Rupp. “If it doesn’t say Kern’s Kitchen on your slice, it’s not an original Derby Pie.” 

Across the Bluegrass State, you can order the pie from Kern’s Kitchen’s website, as well as at Kroger, Sam’s Club, Walmart, Costco and Meijer. 

“Our Derby Pie gives you that feeling of homeyness. It’s like a big hug from your grandma,” Rupp says. 

Burgoo 

Burgoo has always had a home on Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn’s menu, says Patrick Bosley, third-generation owner of the popular Owensboro restaurant. 

“We have good burgoo and always have,” says Bosley. “And we haven’t changed the recipe.” 

Passed down from Bosley’s grandparents, Moonlite’s burgoo combines mutton, chicken, potatoes, corn, cabbage, a blend of seasonings and tomato paste. 

Available on the menu and on the buffet, Moonlite Bar-B-Q’s burgoo is made with mutton, chicken, vegetables and spices. Photo: Moonlite Bar-B-Q 

“It warms you up, fills you up and triggers lots of memories of home and the past,” Bosley says. “We don’t have a secret recipe. Our secret to success is that we just cook everything from scratch, and that’s what makes it remarkable. We’re cooking like grandma and grandpa.” 

Burgoo, a summer soup, is rooted in pioneer days when churches hosted Sunday picnics and communities celebrated barn raisings. The entirety of the sheep was used, even leftovers like necks and shanks. They were de-boned and boiled for burgoo, says Bosley. 

Today, choice pieces of lamb are used in Moonlite’s burgoo, which can be purchased as an entire meal with cornbread or as a side to an entree. “It’s eating a little bit of history,” he says. 

Burgoo can be ordered by the gallon on Moonlite’s website, allowing anyone to experience that “taste of home.” 

Spoonbread 

With indigenous origins, spoonbread is a staple of Southern cuisine. Berea is the spoonbread capital and hosts the Spoonbread Festival every September. 

Richard T. Hougen managed the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel & Restaurant from 1940 to 1976 and is the reason for spoonbread’s fame. 

“Spoonbread is like if cornbread and corn pudding had a baby,” says Abbye Crowe, Boone Taverns’ sales and marketing director. “It’s really good with butter or honey, and is the perfect side dish with fried chicken and greens.” 

Spoonbread is a mix of cornmeal, eggs, milk, butter and baking powder, beaten with a spoon. Photo: Historic Boone Tavern Hotel & Restaurant 

A mix of cornmeal, eggs, milk, butter and baking powder, spoonbread is delicate, like a souffle. It needs to be eaten with a spoon, thus the name. 

Over 225 eggs are used every day to make spoonbread at Boone Tavern, and 56 gallons of it are served a week. Anyone who orders an entree gets spoonbread on the side. 

Boone Tavern is located on the campus of Berea College, where 70% of the student body hails from Appalachia. Crowe says having spoonbread on campus is like “having a little piece of home.” 

“Spoonbread is a piece of what Kentucky has to offer. It’s warm, satisfying and homey, and that’s what Kentucky is, too,” she says. 

COMFORT FOOD FESTIVALS 

Kentucky’s comfort food is worth celebrating. Check out these festivals dedicated to beer cheese, burgoo and spoonbread, and visit KentuckyLiving.com for a selection of comfort food recipes. 

Beer Cheese Festival 

On June 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., beer cheese overflows in downtown Winchester. The annual Beer Cheese Festival gathers at least a dozen professional beer cheese makers from around the country to show off their tasty product. Visitors sample beer cheese and vote on favorites, and a panel of judges also vote. Amateur beer cheese makers have their own contest, and winners are chosen only by judges. 

“There are all these takes on the original beer cheese, venturing into different spice levels like mild, spicy and super hot,” says Whitney Leggett, Winchester’s director of strategic communication and downtown development. 

Honorees receive a monetary prize and as Leggett says, “more importantly—bragging rights.” 

Burgoo Festival 

The 31st Anderson County Burgoo Festival will take place Oct. 10–12 on Main Street in Lawrenceburg, celebrating the traditional Kentucky soup. 

The county’s longest-running festival includes live music, more than 100 arts and crafts vendors, festival rides, pageants and of course, a burgoo cookoff. 

Attendees can bring a chair to Century Bank Park to catch a concert. Past festivals have featured entertainers like Second Hand News, Walker Montgomery, Jeff Bates, Alex Miller and The Killin’ Time Band. This year’s entertainment hasn’t yet been announced. 

“We’ve had people come from two and three hours away,” says Tony Best, the festival president. “A lot of them come just for the burgoo.” 

Spoonbread Festival 

A signature event of the Berea Chamber of Commerce, the Spoonbread Festival celebrates food and community, this year September 19–21. 

The festival opens with a big pan of spoonbread from the Historic Boone Tavern Hotel & Restaurant. Their classic recipe has remained the same for over 75 years. 

“We serve spoonbread out of a large pan at the festival, and everyone gets a bite,” says Abbye Crowe, Boone Tavern’s sales and marketing director. 

The weekend’s activities range from a 5K race and balloon glow to a spoonbread eating contest and car show. Attendees explore vendor tents offering local crafts and goods, listen to live music and performances, enjoy carnival rides and games and partake in a hearty helping of Berea nostalgia. 

Comfort foods from your kitchen 

The possibilities are endless for creating your own version of Kentucky’s most famous comfort foods. Clear off your kitchen counters and bake spoonbread instead of cornbread for dinner or a Hot Brown for a holiday breakfast. Here are some ideas to get you started. 

Make it Snappy  

Although Hall’s Snappy Beer Cheese has a proprietary blend of spices, people purchase their beer cheese at home and make a plethora of tasty dishes. Here’s one recommended by Hall’s Beer Cheese. 

Hall’s Hot & Snappy Beer Cheese Mac 

• 1 lb box corkscrew pasta 
• 2 (8 oz) pkg Hall’s Hot & Snappy beer cheese 
• 1 ¼ C half-and-half 
• 2 Tbsp flour 
• 1 C grated parmesan  
• 1 C grated gruyere  
• ½ C chopped fresh herb mix (suggested: thyme, sage and rosemary)  
• 2 medium jalapeños, diced, with seeds removed  
• Pinch of salt and pepper to taste 
• ¼ C Panko seasoned breadcrumbs  
• 1 lb cooked thick-cut bacon, chopped 
• 1 stick butter, melted  

Preheat oven to 375°. Cook pasta according to instructions and set aside (since this dish requires additional baking in the oven, al dente is recommend).  

In a 3- to 4-quart pot set on medium-low heat, stir in the packages of Hall’s Beer Cheese. Slowly whisk in half-and-half until beer cheese is melted and mixture is blended to a liquid. Continue to whisk, adding 1 teaspoon of flour at a time. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add parmesan and gruyere cheese, whisking until melted and fully combined. Slowly fold in half of the herbs, reserving the remainder for topping. Bring mixture to slow bubble and slowly spoon in cooked pasta, making sure to coat all the noodles with the beer cheese sauce.  

Grease an 8×11-inch oven-safe baking dish (cooking spray or butter works). Spoon in pasta and beer cheese mixture evenly across the dish; set aside. 

In a separate pan, sauté bacon until golden brown, adding diced jalapeños to pan halfway through to avoid burning peppers. Using a slotted spoon, remove the cooked bacon and jalapeños; set aside. In a large bowl, combine breadcrumbs, melted butter, remaining chopped herbs, sautéed bacon and jalapeños, until topping is moist. Using a silicon or wood spatula, spread topping evenly across pasta mixture.  

Bake uncovered for 40 minutes. 

The Burgoo Recipe 

• 4 lb mutton 
• 3 lb chicken 
• 5 lb potatoes, peeled and diced 
• 3/4 lb cabbage, ground or chopped fine 
• 3/4 lb onion, ground or chopped fine 
• 2 (17 oz) cans corn or 2 C fresh corn 
• 3/4 C tomato ketchup 
• Juice of one lemon 
• 3/4 C distilled vinegar 
• 1/2 C Worcestershire sauce 
• 3 (10 3/4 oz) cans tomato puree 
• 2 1/2 Tbsp salt, or more to taste 
• 2 Tbsp black pepper 
• 1 tsp cayenne (more if you like) 
• Add water to desired consistency 

Boil mutton in enough water to cover. Cook until tender, about two to three hours. Discard broth and bones, and chop meat fine. Set aside.  

Boil chicken in 2 gallons of water in large kettle until tender. Remove chicken, add potatoes, cabbage, onion, corn, ketchup and 1 gallon of water to chicken broth. Bring to a boil.  

Chop chicken meat, discarding bones and skin. When potatoes are tender, add chicken, mutton, lemon, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, tomato puree, salt and pepper.  

Let simmer for two hours or longer, stirring often from the bottom as it thickens. Enjoy with cornbread, crackers or bread. Yields 3 gallons burgoo. 

The Brown Hotel’s World Famous Hot Brown  

2 oz butter 

• 2 oz all-purpose flour 
• 8 oz heavy cream 
• 8 oz whole milk 
• 1/2 C Pecorino Romano cheese, reserving 1 Tbsp for garnish 
• Pinch ground nutmeg 
• Salt and pepper 
• 14 oz roasted turkey breast, sliced thick 
• 4 slices of Texas toast (crust trimmed) 
• 4 slices crispy bacon 
• 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced in half 
• Parmesan cheese 
• Paprika 
• Parsley 

In a 2‑quart saucepan, melt butter, and slowly whisk in flour until combined, forming a thick paste (roux). Continue to cook roux for two minutes over medium‑low heat, stirring frequently. Whisk heavy cream and whole milk into the roux and cook over medium heat until cream begins to simmer, about two-three minutes. Remove sauce from heat and slowly whisk in Pecorino Romano cheese until the Mornay sauce is smooth. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. 

For each Hot Brown, place two slices of toast minus crusts in an oven-safe dish—cut one slice in half corner-to-corner to make two triangles and leave the other slice in a square shape. Cover the square slice with 7 ounces of turkey. Take the two halves of Roma tomato and two toast points and set them alongside the base of the turkey and toast.  

Next, pour half the Mornay sauce to completely cover the dish. Sprinkle with additional Pecorino Romano cheese. Place the entire dish under a broiler until cheese begins to brown and bubble. Remove from broiler, cross two pieces of crispy bacon on top, and sprinkle with Parmesan, paprika, parsley, to taste. Serve immediately. Makes two Hot Browns. 

Famous Spoonbread Recipe 

• 3 C milk 
• 1 1/4 C white cornmeal 
• 3 eggs 
• 2 Tbsp butter 
• 1 3/4 tsp baking powder 
• 1 tsp salt 

Preheat oven to 375º. Bring milk to a rapid boil; stir in cornmeal. Cook until very thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool. The mixture will be very stiff.  

Add well-beaten eggs, salt, baking powder and melted butter. Beat with an electric mixer for 15 minutes. Pour into a well-greased 9×13-inch casserole dish and bake 20–30 minutes. Serve from pan by the spoonful with butter.