Easy & Elegant Equestrian Event Recipes to Share
When Gloria Austin, founder and philanthropist behind the Equine Heritage Institute, and researcher Mary Chris Foxworthy released A Cookbook for Horse Lovers: Recipes, History and Culture Surrounding Horses and Feeding Their People, it posited how the evolution of cooking was adjacent to our relationship with horses.
“The most enjoyable equestrian events,” Austin observed, “[are] all structured around the fellowship of sharing a meal with one’s buddies with similar interests. Horses, of course.”
“Horse shows required eating something to keep one’s energy up for the competition. Picnics were often part of the show and even judged for spectators to witness. The sometimes formal, sometimes casual dinner parties were an opportunity to share a day’s activities in conversation. If you study sociology you understand the cultural importance of sharing a meal.
“We only eat with the people who are important to us.”
Planning & Portability
What we serve and how we serve it are important, too. Austin says there are three P’s to equestrian culinary hospitality: Planning, Portability and Presentation.
“Tailgate picnics require packing cold and hot foods, plus table settings in the rear boot,” Austin said, referring to the ‘trunk’ in carriage driving, “and the proper wine is a wonderful addition.”
Planning the care and feeding of equestrians is best achieved with that most priceless of kitchen ingredients (no, not saffron): Extra hands and/or volunteers.
“Once we are hunting during our formal season, we tailgate after weekday hunts but have a breakfast after hunts on weekends,” says New York foxhunter, Linda Scorsone, who likes to do her cooking in advance. “Generally two or three members put on a breakfast at a home near the meet, often belonging to one of our friendly landowners. These logistics require easy food that can transport easily and warm up quickly.”
One such easy dish is a boneless pork loin roast, marinated overnight in soy sauce, garlic powder, pepper and lime juice, before covering with aluminum foil and cooking at 350 degrees until (depending on its size) medium to well done.
“The first time I made this [roast] I was so worried it would over-cook that I took it raw to the house we were using. It was a big, early December meet with holiday flair, so a lot of people were there. But the oven couldn’t handle a 15-lb. pork roast and it took much longer to cook than expected. Fortunately, everyone had a pretty good buzz by the time was the food was ready!”
For dependability (and Portability) the Opening Day Breakfast with Windy Hollow Hunt, a “traditional New York country hunt” in Port Jervis, rides on deviled eggs.
WHH honorary secretary Heidi White’s recipe starts with seven eggs in a pan with water one inch above the eggs. Cover and bring to boil. Remove from heat and let stand 15 minutes before pouring off the water and putting in ice water until the eggs are cool (10 minutes). After peeling the boiled eggs, cut them in half, remove the yoks, and put the halved whites in your egg carrier. Mash the yolks in a bowl with a quarter-cup of mayonnaise, one teaspoon each of yellow mustard, white vinegar, and sugar, and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt.
Spoon some mashed yolk into each half before (don’t forget, Presentation) sprinkling with smoked paprika to garnish.
Presentation
Whether you’ve a preference for linen tablecloths, silver chafing dishes and crystal goblets, or rustic chips ‘n’ dip, there’s a tailgating or picnic style for everyone.
But if you’re looking for thematic inspiration, one place to turn might be the Genesee Valley Hunt Club and Opening Day GVH Hunt Races in Geneseo, New York, which have been known to attract equestrians whose “culinary equitation” is an art form. GVH Hunt Races have included tailgate prizes for Best Culinary Experience, Best Hunt/Equestrian Theme, and Best New York State Farm to Tailgate, judged on presentation and taste by chefs and celebrity judges.
But don’t be intimidated. One previous winner, Sue Erdle, of West Sparta, made an elegantly streamlined modern day Ploughman’s Lunch, based on the traditional English cold meal served on a chopping board, using thick-cut bread and ham, hard cheese, onions, butter, pickles and chutney.
Whatever your hospitality style, British rider and writer James Delingpole paints a perfect picture of what it feels like any and every time:
“Hunting is so brilliant because it combines so many things that make life worth living. The matchless beauty of our countryside; the camaraderie of shared danger; the glamour of a cocktail party; the spirit of a warehouse rave; the thrill of the chase; the dressing up in fabulous costumes. People who were strangers an hour before now feel like your oldest friends.”
Share a few recipes with the people important to you. Horse people, of course.
Brined & Honey Garlic Rotisserie Turkey Legs
‘A Cookbook for Horse Lovers’
Yield: 6 turkey legs
6 turkey legs
3 quarts water
1/2 cup table salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh herbs of your choice to make an herb brush
- Put the brine ingredients (water, salt, brown sugar) in a container large enough to hold the drumsticks, and stir until the sugar and salt dissolve. Add drumsticks, cover, and refrigerate for 1-4 hours.
- Put the baste ingredients (remaining ingredients) in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute in the microwave, or until you can smell the garlic and the butter is melted.
- Make an herb brush by tying sprigs together at the base of the stems.
- Skewer drumsticks on the spit and spit forks. Run the spit through the narrowest part of the meat, n the middle of the bone, and secure the knob of the drumstick on the spit fork. Add a second drumstick with the bone-end pointing in the other direction to the same fork, the same way, with the spit through the narrow part of the meat, fork through the thick part of the drumstick. Repeat, putting two drumsticks on each spit fork. Wrap the bone end of each drumstick with a small square of aluminum foil to keep from burning. Let the skewer sit at room temperature while you prepare the grill.
- Set your grill up for Indirect Medium-High Heat (400F) according to manufacturer instructions for your grill. Put the spit on the grill, start the rotisserie, and cook, covered, for 30 minutes. Using the herb brush, heavily baste the drumsticks. Cook covered for another 5 minutes. Baste drumsticks again and cook for a final 5 minutes. Remove spit from grill, remove drumsticks from spit and let drumsticks rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Apple Venison Rotisserie Roast
‘A Cookbook for Horse Lovers’
Serves: 8
2-4 pound boneless venison roast
Marinade
2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 apple, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
Water
- Mix marinade ingredients together, except for water, in large bowl.
- Place roast in pot large enough to fit roast and have room for the liquid.
- Pour marinade over roast. Add water until marinade covers roast completely.
- Place in refrigerator and marinate overnight (or 10-12 hours).
- Heat grill to 225F
- Put roast on rotisserie. Grill for 2-3 hours, until roast reaches internal temperature of 125F.
- Remove from rotisserie and let meat sit until internal temperature reaches 135F (rare) or 145F (medium).
GVH Scotch Eggs with Mustard/Maple Syrup Dip
Hard boil one dozen eggs (more if desired)
Prepare equal number ¼-lb breakfast or sage sausage patties
Sprinkle a layor of Panko breadcrumbs in a flat pan
Peel eggs and rool in Panko
Gently coat each sausage pattie with Panko and shape around egg, sealing carefully
Refrigerate overnight
Reshape and place 1” apart on non-stick baking sheet
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, rotating once halfway.
Cut in half and serve with mustard/maple syrup dip.
Mustard/Maple Syrup Dip
Combine half sharp creamy mustard with half maple syrup
Serve in pitcher or bowl with spoon
The Importance of a Good Breakfast
The father of our country (and First Horseman), George Washington, also appreciated a good breakfast – of corncakes and milk — before a pre-dawn ride to the field on his favorite hunter, Blueskin.
Sometimes the meal was the better part of the day. A 1768 New Year’s Day entry by Washington to his diary quips, “Fox hunting in my own Neck with Mr. Alexander and Mr. Colvill. Catched [sic] nothing.”
