Derby week is upon us. I lived in the Bluegrass State for 10 years, and I still celebrate. You should, too. I mean, who DOESN'T need a license to party all week long? I'll share some recipes leading up to the Run for the Roses to make sure your Derby Party is boss. We'll start with Country Ham Biscuits.

Country Ham is the best ham. All other hams are vastly inferior. Country Hams are like regular hams, but cured in salt and hung out to dry. The result is an aged, salty, delicious hunk of pork. It's ham heaven.

For Derby, you need a legit country ham. I recommend Father's Country Hams; they're from Bremen, Kentucky, so they're the REAL DEAL. Order one and cook it however you fancy. My preferred method is this one from culinary mastermind Alton Brown (I don't use the pickle juice, just the Dr. Pepper).

You must serve country ham biscuits at your Derby party. It's a law--or at least it should be. You can use my favorite recipe for cream cheese biscuits, or you can use my fail-proof biscuit recipe: buy the frozen ones and bake them and tell everyone you used a centuries-old family recipe to create the delicious biscuits about which everyone raves.

Put some country ham pieces in the biscuits and VOILA: Derby party appetizer. You can make the biscuits smaller than normal to really step up your finger food game. Place a few paper doilies on a store-bought tray and you're classier than a top-hatted-man in a monocle store.

Tomorrow, I'll share the next recipe on our Derby menu. I'm not telling you what it is yet, but I will say that you're going to need bourbon. Lots of bourbon...

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