Chef Ouita’s Winter 2012 Dinner Club

Menus and Chef’s Notes

In January and the first weekend in February, Chef Ouita Michel invites guests to her first-ever Winter Dinner Club, which in 2012 will honor celebrated women chefs. “We’ve cooked with and/or admired these chefs throughout our careers,” Chef Ouita said. “The food we are preparing speaks comfort, which we yearn for in winter.”
Please make plans to join us for each of these themed dinners, extraordinary both for the remarkable food for which these women are renowned and for the opportunity for Chef Ouita to introduce their food on her menus!

Please note: Menus are subject to change.
To review our inspiration for the entire Winter Club series, please see January's menus and menu notes, which appear below the Feb. 3-4 menu.

February 3-4

The Silk Road Returns to Midway

Inspired by Madhur Jaffrey
$40

From Chef Ouita: Ismail Merchant, the famous Indian filmmaker and friend of local personality Michael Blowen, came to Holly Hill Inn in 2002 as a guest chef. It was the first time I had ever attempted an Indian menu. In 10 years, this is only my second attempt. Made-from-scratch Indian cuisine is absolutely delicious and requires a lot of time and attention to detail. Madhur Jaffrey is my favorite Indian cookbook author. Her books make me feel as if I’m in India exploring the spice markets and slapping breads into clay ovens. The seasoning of this food makes you come alive; I believe the spice mixes literally have healing powers. Of all the menus in this series, as a chef, this is the one I am the most excited to prepare.

The Silk Road Returns to Midway Menu

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Fritters
Bengalese “fried morsels” and roasted moong dal with spinach

Halibut in Banana Leaves
Fresh halibut bathed in coriander chutney, wrapped in leaves and steamed

Lucknow’s Northern Indian Leg of Kentucky Lamb
Slow-cooked and fork-tender, and seasoned with 10 secret spices in a rich gravy

Roasted Spiced Eggplant with Quince
From Kashmir

Green Beans with Coconut
From Kerala

Basmati Pilaf

Paratha
Indian flat bread

Chutneys and Relishes
Apple Raita — This traditional cooling sauce of yogurt is sweetened with minced Granny Smith apple
Cucumber with Fresh Coconut — peanuts, cucumber and fresh coconut chopped together with green chilies and lemon
Walnut Chutney
Tomato Chutney — with apricots

Tropical Fruits with Honey
Sesame Cookies
Clay’s Magic Chai


January 6-7

Epiphany and Mardi Gras Celebration

Inspired by Susan Spicer of Bayona and Ella Brennan of Commander’s Palace, New Orleans
$40

From Chef Ouita: In 1969, my father and mother moved from Laramie, Wyo., to New Orleans so that my dad could enroll in Tulane University for his doctorate. That move began a long love affair with the food of New Orleans. The Carnival season traditionally begins with Twelfth Night, or Epiphany, and we thought it would be great to start our Mardi Gras season here in Midway inspired by Chef Susan Spicer
and restaurateur extraordinaire Ella Brennan from Commander’s Palace.

Epiphany and Mardi Gras Celebration Menu

Pickled Shrimp
Kelly’s primo white Canaveral shrimp in spiced vinegar marinade

Poached Oyster with Leeks and Bacon en Croute
A single gently poached oyster sauced with creamed leeks and crumbled bacon on square of Carrie’s handmade puff pastry

Bayona House Salad
Woodford baby lettuces with dried figs, Barren County Blue cheese, toasted walnuts and sherry vinaigrette

Commander’s Turtle Soup
A culinary classic

Mardi Gras Crew Chicken Etouffe
With wild and dirty rice, smoked onion and smothered greens

Pecan Roulade with Praline Mousse


January 13-14

Winter Vegetarian Feast

Inspired by the vegetable perfection of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse
$35

From Chef Ouita: I have met Alice Waters three times, read her books, made countless number of her recipes and cooked for her twice. She was a guest at Holly Hill Inn on one especially wonderful evening. I have never had the pleasure of dining at Chez Panisse, but I feel in many ways I’ve been there, by cooking many recipes from the Chez Panisse cookbooks. Alice Waters loves Kentucky and feels connected to our landscape and our culture through the poetry and writing of Wendell Berry. In this way, we are linked to her farm-based cuisine through our own Kentucky farms.

Winter Vegetarian Feast Menu

Sheltowee Mushroom Custard
Infused with roasted garlic, on a bed of roasted oyster and shiitake mushrooms, thin-sliced roasted potato and drizzled with parsley sauce

Spinach Soup
Brilliant green finished with extra-virgin olive oil, Parmesan and buttered croutons

Winter Citrus Salad
Blood oranges, pink grapefruit, navel oranges, tangerines, lemon and lime with watercress and Belgian endive

Organic Rutabaga Tortelli with Sage
A celebration of the marvelous produce from Three Springs Farm! Handmade pasta wrapped around a puree of rutabaga and sauced with butter, fresh sage and Parmesan, served with organic salsify, baby carrots and turnips

Red Banana Tartlet
Baby tarts filled with rum custard and brûléed bananas, drizzled with rum caramel


January 20-21

Italian Homeland

Inspired by Lidia Bastianich of Felidia’s
$40

From Chef Ouita: I was a student at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., in 1990 when Lidia Bastianich came to cook as an honored chef for our Women in Foodservice dinner. Her first book had just come out and I desperately wanted to cook on her team. Luck was with me and for two days she taught us how to make gnocchi, pasta and this veal shank dish called stinco. It is a cooking moment I go back to every time I make gnocchi. The dinner was wonderful and Lidia was even better.

Italian Homeland Menu

Swiss Chard Crostada
Flaky tart filled with slow-cooked chard, garlic and Parmesan

Mussels on the Half Shell with Parsley Sauce
Penn Cove mussels, steamed and shucked, then marinated with a vibrant emerald parsley sauce

Clam Soup
Kelly’s superfresh middleneck clams, steamed and shucked, with extra-virgin olive oil, zucchini, garlic, Chardonnay, Italian parsley and crushed red pepper

Fennel Salad
Shaved fennel with gaeta olive, lemon juice, zest and extra-virgin olive oil

Roast Veal Shanks with Chifeletti
Lidia’s signature slow-roasted veal shanks served with a rich pan gravy, crispy fried potato crescents and sautéed escarole

Chocolate Zabaglione Cake
Chocolate sponge cake filled with chocolate marsala custard and Amarene cherries


January 27-28

Southern Comfort

Inspired by Edna Lewis
$35

From Chef Ouita: Edna Lewis is whom I see when I think of myself in 20 or 25 years. I’ll be mostly sitting on the porch at Holly Hill, cooking once a week, letting the younger cooks come to me for my critiques, passing on my secrets. She wasn’t just a country cook; Edna Lewis was a technician and had a mastery of flavor and subtlety that I am still in pursuit of in my own cooking. Her cooking was at once appealing, comforting and also sophisticated with a layered and depth of flavor that can only come from careful development of a dish over years of practice.

Southern Comfort Menu

Cheese Straws and Benne Wafers

Lump Crab Soup

Watercress and Woodford Lettuces Salad
With scallion, cucumber and radish in vinaigrette

Edna’s Famous Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Made with Hickory Run Farm Kentucky Proud chicken

Slow-cooked and Juicy Beef Brisket
Made with Rivercrest Farm’s grass-fed beef, smothered in onions

Simmered Mustard and Turnip Greens
In pork jus with cornmeal dumplings

Glazed Organic Three Springs Farm Carrots

Buttered Organic Three Springs Farm Jerusalem Artichokes

Organic Sweet Potato Pie


For reservations, please call Donna at (859) 846-4732.

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