Author, Restauranteur and Kentucky Icon

Food is love. No doubt about it. It’s really why I do what I do, and why a lot of my friends, family, and followers do what they do. Cooking, entertaining, and enjoying a great meal with great friends is what life is all about.

Bluegrass chef and restaurateur Ouita Michel and I have a lot in common. She lives by this mantra. So much so that “Food is love” is written boldly and in black Sharpie marker in the autographed copy of her cookbook Just a Few Miles South: Timeless Recipes From Our Favorite Places.

Ouita Michel is one of my favorites–and so are her restaurants sprinkled throughout Central Kentucky. I absolutely could not wait for her cookbook to be released…and you better believe I was just about first in line that chilly, foggy morning when she was signing copies of her new cookbook inside her flagship shop, The Midway Bakery.

Recently Steve and I spent the most amazing day with Ouita Michel and Bites of the Bluegrass for the Just a Few Miles South Culinary Tour at the Holly Hill and Co.Cooking Studio, then made our way to the beautifully restored Woodford Hotel where Michel took us through the Bourbon Tasting Wheel to better understand which flavors paired best with bourbon. Our tour took us through the windy roadways adorned by the rolling Bluegrass hills and beautiful horse farms as we explored some lovely venues and then ended up back at Holly Hill Inn for a flavorful tour of other grounds and gardens and a wonderful meal and cocktails. What a great opportunity!

Her book is beautifully written and, in its own elegantly understated way, it is beautifully illustrated. The recipes are simple, and neither are the drawings. The book draws you into a simpler time, a classic mindset, and, it goes without saying, is full of delicious recipes made with ingredients you can pick up at your local farmers market, roadside stand, or supermarket.

The recipes are from her restaurants. In addition to the Midway Bakery, Michel and her husband, Chris, own several eateries. Each restaurant has its own niche, each has its own menu favorite (although some dishes from one restaurant can be found at another,) and each has its own flair. Sandwiches are featured from Windy Corner, off the scenic Paris Pike in northern Fayette County near Lexington, and Wallace Station, near Midway, off Old Frankfort Pike–which has to be one of the most beautiful drives in the entire state, Some of the same recipes are served as Smithtown Seafood, a hole-in-the-wall fried fish shop inside West 6th Brewery. Zim’s Cafe, a Kentucky diner, in historic downtown Lexington, also features some of the recipes in the book. And some of the recipes began, from scratch just like most of her ingredients, in the kitchen of Holly Hill Inn, her first restaurant and which she often calls “the mothership.” Honeywood, a more modern eatery located in a posh shopping area in Lexington, also has a voice in the story.

Each one of her restaurants offers a unique experience. As I mentioned, two are located in the most picturesque settings. Where else but Kentucky could you grab a Po Boy in the corner lot of one of the most pristine horse farms in the Bluegrass? And there’s a recipe for it in the book. Windy Corner Fish and Seafood Po Boys take a new spin on an old-fashioned New Orleans standard. Each of the restaurants offers sustainable, farm-to-table freshness that blends Kentucky’s traditional and celebrated favorite foods and Michel’s unique vision for making each dish a celebratory taste sensation.

Like our In the Curious Kitchen products, her recipes are made with products stamped Kentucky Proud. That’s the official state marketing program for agricultural products that are grown, produced, and processed by in-state farms and farm businesses. The restaurants source their ingredients through local growers and producers.

Some of the recipes are traditional Kentucky favorites like Buttermilk Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, and Whitesburg Soup Beans.

Some of the recipes take an ordinary recipe up a notch or two. The Big Blue Burger, for example, is an homage to the University of Kentucky, my alma mater (and Steve’s, too,) and where Michel also attended and was a debate champ. Of course, it features Blue Cheese and their world-class Bourbon Bacon Jam to make an ordinary burger into an all-star choice.

I also like that with some of the recipes, there is a mini history lesson. Margaret Ware’s Egg Salad is a straightforward, simple egg salad recipe but it introduces the reader to Midway native Margaret Ware Parrish, who was related to Judge Caleb Wallace, an early Woodford County (KY)native for whom Wallace Station is named. Apparently, Ms.Ware didn’t cook but she loved egg salad so Michel would make it for her by the quart–and with nothing fancy in it. She does offer up an alternate prep using pickle relish and also pairs this tried and true recipe up with chopped asparagus for a simple, quick lunch–or maybe even a nice addition to a charcuterie board.

It’s not all simple sandwiches though, she features a delightful chapter dedicated to breakfasts and a Soups, Stews, and Salads section. There are also recipes that are a bit more sophisticated. Her Greek Salad is wonderful and the Bourbon Banh Mi is different but in a fabulous way. Her dessert sections are equally delicious. Pies, cookies, brownies, and bars–all classic faves from The Midway Bakery.

I could peruse this book for hours. It’s mesmerizing.

Cheers!

MK

P.S. Black and white prints from the cookbook are also available at some of her locations.

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