Recipes rooted in East Tennessee tempt the taste buds.
By Janet Groene, F47166
January 2016
January 2016
Tennessee, the Volunteer State, spreads a sumptuous feast for RV travelers who seek adventures in cuisine. Trolling for traditional recipes in the mountains of East Tennessee took me from the vibrant restaurant scene in downtown Knoxville to cookstoves in log cabins and iron kettles simmering over campfires.
Tennessee mountaineers knew hard times, yet one old-timer told me, “Mama could make a great meal out of the strings on a dirty mop.” Let these traditional recipes take you on a culinary journey.
Blue Ridge Spoon Bread
Turn a simple soup supper into a feast when you add moist, buttery spoon bread. Traditional recipes call for beating egg yolks and whites separately. Liquid egg substitute makes a slightly heavier bread, but it’s a time-saver.
3 cups milk
1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup liquid egg substitute
Set the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 2-quart casserole dish. Mix the milk and cornmeal together over medium heat, stirring constantly until it’s thick. Whisk in the butter, then the sugar, salt, and egg substitute. Put the batter in the casserole dish and bake for about 30 minutes or until it’s crusty on the outside and moist in the middle.
Cook’s note: Spoon bread can be made in a well-greased Dutch oven nestled in well-started coals. Proceed as above and check for doneness after 30 minutes.
Tennessee Pinto Beans
Many old-timers claim they were raised on “prayers and pinto beans” after crops failed or mills closed. Pinto beans are still a staple food in the mountains, and a slow cooker makes them a snap for RV cooks. Traditional recipes call only for beans and a ham hock or bacon grease. Add onion, molasses, ketchup, or other ingredients at your own risk.
2 1/3 cups pinto beans
2 quarts water
Smoked ham hock, bits of ham, or 1/4 cup bacon grease or butter
Salt, pepper
Wash and pick over the beans and soak them overnight in cold water; or, cover them with boiling water and let them stand for two hours. Then bring the beans to a boil in a pot of water, reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, adding water if necessary. Add meat or fat, salt, and pepper and simmer for another 60 minutes. Serve with cornbread and greens.
Cook’s note: Some cooks discard the water used to soak the beans. Others cook in the same water. You decide. To use a slow cooker, cover the soaked beans with boiling water and cook for four hours on high or six hours on low, adding meat and seasonings after two hours, and more water, if necessary.
Tennessee Hoppin’ John
Tennessee native and University of Tennessee graduate Martha Boggs began growing vegetables for her restaurant long before the farm-to-table movement was trendy. The Hoppin’ John plate served in her restaurant, Bistro at the Bijou in downtown Knoxville, is topped with succulent greens. The landmark eatery is known for country-fresh food.
Ms. Boggs presents a pretty dish with rice on one side, black-eyed peas on the other, and a generous strip of greens in between. With apologies to Martha, here is my shortcut, one-pot version of Hoppin’ John.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 cup finely diced cooked ham
2 1/2 cups chicken, ham, or vegetable broth
1 or 2 14.5-ounce cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
Salt, pepper to taste
Hot sauce
In a saucepan or skillet, sizzle the onion in hot oil, gradually stirring in the rice and ham. Add the broth, bring it to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and cook for 20 to 30 minutes until the rice is tender. Stir in the black-eyed peas to heat through. Season to taste. Serve with greens if you wish. Pass the hot sauce. Serves four to six.
Tennessee Tomato Jam Pizza
It’s easy now to find heirloom tomatoes in farmer’s markets in East Tennessee, but after tasting the perfect pizza at Holly’s 135 in downtown Knoxville, I cheated by using canned tomatoes to make a quick tomato jam.
2 32-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
In a cold saucepan, mix the tomatoes and sugar and let them stand for 10 to 15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil for 3 to 5 minutes. It will thicken more when it cools. Set the jam aside.
1 baked pizza shell
Tomato jam
Diced, cooked applewood smoked bacon
Crumbled feta cheese (optional)
Fried or poached egg(s)
Set the oven to 425 degrees and arrange the pizza shell on a baking sheet. Using the back of a spoon, smear the pizza shell with some of the tomato jam and then top with the diced bacon and crumbled cheese. Bake until hot and bubbly. Top each serving with an egg.
Refrigerate the leftover tomato jam. It’s good as a condiment with cottage cheese, grilled chicken, sandwiches, recipes, or canapes.
German Lasagna
East Tennessee was settled by Scotch-Irish pioneers who came through the Cumberland Gap before the Revolution. However, some Pennsylvania Dutch settlers also took root in the area. Look for Amish products in East Tennessee farmer’s markets and specialty shops.
Make this recipe using flavorful Amish sausage and cheese. If you assemble and refrigerate the dish ahead, allow more baking time.
1 pound sauerkraut
1 16-ounce length of fully cooked smoked sausage, such as Amish kielbasa
1 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon beef concentrate or bouillon granules
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons pepper
1 1/2 cups water
2 to 2 1/2 cups milk
1 12-ounce container Amish cottage cheese
2 eggs
9 lasagna noodles
1 16-ounce package shredded yellow Amish cheese
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray or butter a lasagna pan. Rinse the sauerkraut and drain well. Slice the sausage in coins and set aside. In a large skillet or saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour, bouillon, and seasonings. Over low heat, continue stirring while adding water and then milk to make a medium-thick sauce. In a bowl, whisk the cottage cheese and eggs.
Prepare the lasagna noodles according to the package directions (I use no-boil pasta). Assemble the lasagna in layers by alternating noodles, sauerkraut, sausage, cottage cheese mixture, and sauce. Top the last layer of noodles with some sauce and half of the shredded cheese. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches at least 160 degrees. Top with the remaining shredded cheese and bake another few minutes until it melts. Makes 10 servings.
Persimmon Pudding
The term “persimmon” covers a range of fruit, from the baseball-size, orange-colored Japanese persimmons found in supermarkets to a Florida persimmon that is cooked like apples. Wild persimmons found in the Tennessee hills are small, pulpy, and sticky-sweet when ripe, but inedible when unripe. Use the pulp of any soft, ripe persimmons in this recipe. No electric mixer is required.
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups milk
1 cup sugar
2 cups persimmon pulp
3/4 stick butter
Set the oven to 300 degrees. Mix the flour, baking soda, and pie spice in a clean bowl or bag. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and sugar, and then mix in the persimmon pulp. Add the dry ingredients, and continue mixing until everything is evenly moistened. Melt the butter in a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking pan and tilt the pan to coat the bottom and sides with butter. Add the batter, and bake for one hour. The pudding will be moist and spoonable. Serve it with ice cream or whipped cream.
Buttermilk Pie
Buttermilk is a cooking essential in East Tennessee. Use its richness to make this local favorite.
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon dried lemon zest OR 1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 stick butter, melted
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 deep-dish pastry shell
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the buttermilk in a bowl and keep whisking as you add the remaining ingredients in order. Pour the batter into a pastry pie shell and bake 8 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake another 45 to 50 minutes or until the filling is set, as for custard. Makes eight servings.
Tennessee Chocolate Gravy
Biscuits and sausage gravy is a Southern breakfast staple. A sweet breakfast treat known as Tennessee chocolate gravy is found on East Tennessee menus in country restaurants along the infamous Thunder Road, as well as near the Tail of the Dragon, a curvy stretch of highway that is popular among motorcycle and sports car enthusiasts.
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons Dutch process unsweetened cocoa
2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon butter rum flavoring
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and then stir in the flour and cocoa. Stir constantly over low-medium heat and gradually add the milk and sugar. Cook until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in the flavorings. Spoon over split biscuits. Makes 2 cups of chocolate gravy, about four to five servings.
Jack Daniel’s Musket Balls
Tennesseans are fiercely loyal to their own sippin’ whiskey, Jack Daniel’s. Whiskey balls are an old favorite with RV cooks who need a quick, no-bake cookie.
2 cups chopped, toasted pecans
1 12-ounce box vanilla wafers, finely crushed
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup of your favorite Tennessee whiskey
Additional powdered sugar
Mix everything and form walnut-size balls, pressing tightly. Roll the balls in powdered sugar and set them aside to dry. To store, sift with powdered sugar and keep them cool and dry. Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies.
More Tennessee Treats
- Sorghum syrup is a local sweetener that some old-timers pour over everything on their plate. Try mixing it with grainy mustard to use as a glaze for barbecued ribs.
- Redeye gravy is made with coffee and pan drippings. Sawmill gravy is made with pan drippings thickened with flour and thinned with milk or water.
- Grits here are the real thing, made by grinding the kernels in a grist mill between a pair of burrs, or millstones.
- Tennessee chow-chow is a relish made from gallons of chopped garden vegetables plus vinegar, salt, and each cook’s secret spices. Buy it by the pint at farm markets and use it as East Tennesseans do — atop a bowl of beans or a burger, in deviled eggs, or stirred into gravy.