PrintGourmet cooking may not be the first thing that springs to mind when you think about top equestrians such as Chester Weber or Jan Byyny, but everyone has to eat, and a few of the top horse people in the United States have a particular talent for cooking.
If you’ve ever wanted the opportunity to eat like your favorite equestrian, here’s your chance to try out four delicious recipes. These tasty dishes are guaranteed to feed your nutritional needs so you can put that much more focus and energy into improving your equestrian education. They’re also easy to make, since few horse people have the time for intensive food preparation.
Chester Weber’s Popovers
With seven Four-In-Hand Driving National Championships under his belt, Chester Weber is more likely to be recognized for his driving ability than his cooking prowess.
But Weber has another passion beyond horses. He spent four years at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration (N.Y.) from 1993-1997 and also participated in an internship program with Sir Terrance Conran's restaurant group in London, England, where he worked extensively in the kitchens of several of the top restaurants in London that were part of the group. So Weber knows his way around a kitchen. When he’s not competing his winning team of warmbloods in combined driving, Weber enjoys cooking for his family and friends at his Live Oak Farm in Ocala, Fla.
“I often fix popovers for family holidays and on weekends for breakfast when friends come and visit Live Oak,” he said. “They are a little piece of heaven if you add salted butter and fresh preserves.”
Popovers
Pre-heat oven to 475°
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tablespoon salad oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
Preparation:
Place the milk, eggs, oil and salt in a blender. Blend at high speed until well mixed. Add the flour to the mixture in the blender container, and blend just until the batter is smooth. Pour batter into greased popover cups, filling about half full. Bake at 475° for 15 minutes; reduce to 350° and bake 25 to 30 minutes longer. A few minutes before removing from oven, prick popover with a fork to let steam escape. Serve popovers hot.
Maple Crest Farm Summer Salad Soup (Gazpacho)
Sisters Reese and Lindsey Koffler of Lexington, Ky., are extremely competitive riders, but they’ve shared everything from the Grand Prix dressage horse Goubergh’s Kasper—who helped Lindsey earn her USDF gold medal and Reese compete at the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Grand Prix Dressage Championship—to the recipe for this refreshing and healthy soup.
“Lindsey created the recipe and started making it in the summer. We take it out to the ring while we teach, or sit down with a bowl for lunch,” said Reese. “It’s super refreshing during the hot Kentucky summers. It makes me think of summer and the farm and my family. Sometimes we make it and take it to the horse shows; we try to take a good healthy lunch on the road, and you can eat this alone or pair it with a sandwich or some bread. I’m not a big eater during shows, or in the middle of the day, and this is nice and light and packs well in a cooler.”
Gazpacho
Ingredients:
