Kentucky Derby season is in full swing as natives of the Commonwealth lay in big supplies of bourbon for mint juleps; cured meats for biscuit-stuffing; sacks of walnuts for Derby Pie-making, and critters from the hardwood forests to construct mammoth kettles of Burgoo.

There are plenty iconic dishes in Kentucky but perhaps none more so than the Hot Brown. Putatively, a simple sandwich consisting of only a handful of ingredients, the dish has taken on a mythos over the near century since its invention, and now food pilgrims travel from all over the globe to sample this delicacy.

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I first got turned on to Dolly Parton when I was a little kid growing up in rural Kentucky. We got our TV signal out of Knoxville, Tennessee where Dolly was a guest performer on the Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour.

Cas Walker was a giant of a man. An absolute legend in the Smoky Mountains. He was the political boss of a formidable machine that launched him deep into Knoxville politics eventually landing him the mayor-ship of that city.

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Any time spent on the grinder/extruder is time well spent.

We've been working on our handmade sausage recipes and techniques for almost a year now. We've made Texas hot guts, pure pork, Sweet Italian, Polish and a few experimental-style sausages during this time.

The subject of boudin has come up periodically when we've been wool gathering and/or bragging amongst ourselves about how good a job we're doing, but we'd never tackled the legend.

Til now.

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Texas food vs Southern Food.

What's the difference?

Out here in the great state we've got chicken fried steak. Over in Alabama they've got country fried steak.

Out here in Texas we've got chile con queso. Over in Kentucky they've got beer cheese spread.

Out here in Texas we've got smoked pork ribs. Over in Mississippi they've got baked ribs simmered in barbecue sauce.

Out here in Texas we've got Texas Red Chili. Over in Dixie there are dozens of variations on the form with nobody ready to whup your ass if you throw a bean in the kettle.

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By now we're all aware that Hubig's Pies burned to the ground last week in New Orleans. Multiple fundraisers are underway to ensure that the pie factory will be rebuilt and the legend can continue putting out the finest pastry in Lousiana.

From Hubig's Facebook page.

This recipe is by Leon Galatoire of the famous restaurant

Hubig Pie Lemon Bread Pudding

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We have a life long love of gators.

Perhaps this was brought on by old actioners like Alligator [screenplay by John Sayles!], the incredible 80s film wherein a beastly, 36 foot long gator attacks a stretch limo and occasionally erupts out of the Chicago sewer system to devour unwary residents of the Windy City.

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It's Hatch Chile season in Austin Texas which means one thing. Eat as many as you can right now and as the season winds down build a big fire in the backyard and roast 15 pounds to put up in the freezer.

Earlier this year I was passing through Madisonville, Tennessee the home of Benton's Country Hams. Owner Alan Benton doesn't just sell cured hog meat though. He also sells some very fine stone ground grits from Falls Mill in Belvidere Tennessee.

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I love South Carolina.

Although it's been a coon's age {see comments} since I last visited the Palmetto State, I was fortunate to spend many blissful months there when I was a teenager on vacation from life on the farm in Knox County, Kentucky.

South Carolinians approach food the way folks from Louisiana do. As they're eating one meal they're planning the next and discussing food related side matters all the while.

It's a good life.

On one of my many visits I was fortunate enough to have a native prepare a big kettle of a jambalaya-like stew of chicken, rice, sausage, peppers, onions and bay leaves called chicken bog.

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In the fish camps of west Alabama the good citizens eat like country kings with endless platters of corn meal crusted catfish being trotted out in little rough hewn buildings that dot the forests surrounding the Tombigbee River as it makes it's way to the Port of Mobile.

As you move eastward in the great state, the focus of eating shifts from catfish to barbecue.

Particularly, the eating of the pig.

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Picked up a bag of buckwheat groats for supper tonight.

I smoked some Nunu's [Youngsville, Louisiana] alligator/crawfish sausage and am rummaging around in my recipe archive that I keep in my head for a plan of attack.

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Even after almost 20 years in professional kitchens I'm still picking up tricks and techniques from some of my friends who are skilled home cooks.

Such is the case as I sit to dine at my buddy Ron's house in verdant Pflugerville Texas.

He's a retired insurance adjuster and an enthusiastic home cook who can bang out a top notch smoked pork shoulder and bottles his own righteously fiery Tex Mex table salsa with loads of jalapenos.

We're having a fish fry and he's anxious to show me his rice pilaf recipe and technique.

It's incredible.

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