Lexington, KY - Many cookbooks penned by working chefs are born from the same literary muse: requests. Requests from friends and family, and requests, especially, from gormandized restaurant diners. You can only imagine how many requests Jonathan Lundy, the chef and owner of Jonathan at Gratz Park, has received over the decade-plus tenure of his refined downtown eatery.
For fans of the restaurant, Lundy's first cookbook, "Jonathan's Bluegrass Table: Redefining Kentucky Cuisine" may seem like a "best of" compilation from menus come and gone; for Southern cooking votaries, the tome is a cosmopolitan collection of recipes from a region in the country not often regarded with an epicurean palette. For the author, it's an effort to help establish and define the unique culinary atmosphere of Lexington and the surrounding region outside of the typical Southern strongholds, like New Orleans and Charleston, S.C., which dominate the cookbook industry.
"There is a part of me that wants this (book) to help the Lexington or Bluegrass scene," Lundy said. "I want people to see this place better, to help establish Lexington's reputation. This book has an undeniable feel for that."
The book relies heavily on the region's Southern sensibilities, with standards like shrimp and grits, the hot brown, pork chops, fried green tomatoes and cornbread making an appearance, but also emanates undeniable Bluegrass influences -
see "sorghum-glazed seared sea scallops," "grilled lamb rack with mint julep jelly" and "coffee-seared pork chops" (made with "Maker's Mark red-eye gravy").
With nearly 150 recipes, the book is broken down into nine relevant sections: salads, soups ("More than Burgoo"), starters, entrees, brunch, breads, sides, desserts and drinks ("Un-Commonwealth Cocktails"), and is dog-eared by professional and personal insights about a food item's preparation or heritage. But the wording is sparse, according to Lundy, for good reason, "I'm not an author. I'm a cook," he said.
What does come through in the prose is Lundy's jovial attitude toward cooking, which should be inviting, not rigorous. "This isn't a manual or a text book," he said. "This is a basic idea of what we're doing, and how I have a playful approach to food and how this should be looked at, thought about, executed once or twice. Then from there, I encourage people to do their own thing. It's not about recreating; I wouldn't expect these (recipes) to be religiously followed."
Admittedly, the process from turning the idea into a tangible product took "many, many years longer than it should have," Lundy said, but he's also quick to confess that school was never his forte growing up. "Quite frankly, I can't spell very well."
After a few failed attempts at secondary education here in Lexington, Lundy landed a non-paying position in New Orleans working in Emeril Lagasse's first restaurant, Emeril's (yes, "Kick it up a notch" Emeril). From there, Lagasse put the call in to Johnson & Wales, a prominent private university in Rhode Island, on Lundy's behalf, and two years later he had completed the culinary program. Upon returning to Lexington, Lundy nabbed a job at a la lucie, only to be whisked off to the restaurant's sister location, Roy and Nadine's, where he quickly became the head chef. "There I was: 23 years old, willing and able to work all the time. That was a big time learning experience," Lundy said.
That experience - over five and a half years -
cemented in Lundy's mind what he wanted to do with himself. This November, Jonathan at Gratz Park celebrated their 11th anniversary.
When the impetus for the book finally came to a boil (about two years ago), Lundy began working with an editor, Business Lexington (this magazine's sister publication) columnist Paul Sanders, in preparing material to be sent to potential agents. One of those agents bit, and negotiations with presses began. And then last fall's economic crisis struck hard. Without that super-chef status or a Food Network logo on the cover, Lundy's book was left to gather dust on the shelves. "I didn't have any sort of national presence. I didn't have a TV show," Lundy said. "The vibe became very conservative."
After other setbacks, Lundy realized that if this book was going to become a reality, it was going to have to be a self-fulfilled endeavor. He and local photographer Lee Thomas, whom Lundy credits with the successful completion of the book, set out to capture the vibrant photography found on nearly every page and hammer out the details with the printer.
In the end, it's a very attractive and comprehensive cookbook, most certainly for a self-published venture, and a feather in the cap for such a young chef in the Bluegrass. Especially for one who can't spell that well.
"I feel a lot of pride in the fact that there may very well be other chefs in the state of Kentucky who are better than I am, that may have been around longer, that may be more financially well off, that may be more well-known, that may be a lot of things," Lundy conceded, "but there ain't nobody in my position that's going to have their own book yet."
"Jonathan's Bluegrass Table" will be available in mid-December, with a pre-sale through Dec. 15. Preorders are being accepted at Jonathan at Gratz Park (120 W. 2nd St.) and through the restaurant's Web site, www.jagp.info.
Pork Jowl Cracklings
with Kentucky Hot Slaw
from "Jonathan's Bluegrass Table"
Kentucky Hot Slaw
Ingredients:
6 cups sliced green cabbage, quarter-inch thick
1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper, quarter-inch thick
1/2 cup sliced yellow bell pepper, quarter-inch thick
1/2 cup sliced green bell pepper, quarter-inch thick
1/2 cup sliced red onion, quarter-inch thick
1/4 cup shredded carrots
2 cups Hot Slaw Dressing
2 ounces vegetable oil
1/2 cup Pork Jowl Cracklings
Method: In a large skillet or saute pan, preheat oil, add cabbage, peppers, onion and carrots and saute for
about 3- 4 minutes, stirring often.
Pour in the Hot Slaw Dressing and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add half of the Pork Jowl Cracklings and stir.
Pour into serving dish and sprinkle with remaining cracklings.
Serves 4
Pork Jowl Cracklings
Ingredients:
2 pounds whole smoked pork jowl (whole uncut slab bacon may be substituted)
Vegetable oil, as needed
Water, as needed
Method: Cut the pork into half-inch cubes. Be sure to remove any rind from the pork.
Place the diced pork into a 4-6 inch tall, thick-bottomed pot. Cover the pork with a half-and-half mixture of vegetable oil and water.
Place the pot over medium heat and allow the mixture to simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes.
As the pork cooks, fat will be released from the pork and water will evaporate from the pan. When the water is almost all the way evaporated, the pork will start to darken and stick to the bottom of the pan. Slowly add 1 cup of water and stir. Continue to simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Repeat this process one more time. At the end of the last cooking step, do not add water. Remove pot from heat and carefully pour contents through a strainer over a metal bowl to catch the hot oil.
Dump the strained pork over paper towels to absorb excess grease. As the pork cools, it will become crispy. When cooled to room temperature, store in an airtight container. Cracklings can be stored for up to one week.
It is important to reserve cooking fat for the production of the Hot Slaw Dressing.
Hot Slaw Dressing
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups cider vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup whole grain mustard
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly-ground pepper
1 1/2 cups reserved oil (from Pork Jowl Cracklings)
Method: Mix all ingredients together. Can be made up to one week ahead of time and stored in a refrigerator. When refrigerated, the oil solidifies and separates from the other ingredients, so the dressing must be at room temperature at the time of cooking to ensure proper proportions. Mix well before using.