Appalachian Christmas Past

People sometimes look at me in disbelief when I describe Christmas in the 1950s at my grandmother's house. My maternal grandparents were farmers, and nearly everything on our Christmas table was grown, cured and canned on their 50 acres. We did not have, for example, oranges or celery, two holiday staples that were scarce and expensive back then, at least in our little town.

Holiday decorations were primarily gathered from the woods and the garden. Holly for the mantelpiece, mistletoe for the door frame and an eastern red cedar Christmas tree seemed in bountiful supply to a small boy. My uncle, who was blind in one eye, nevertheless could aim a .22 rifle with sufficient accuracy to bring down a clump of mistletoe from the crown of a towering oak tree, typically with one shot. American holly, now somewhat rare, provided evergreen boughs and bright red berries.

We made popcorn strings for the tree, decked it out with blown glass ornaments--some once belonging to my great grandmother--suspended from the branches, and topped it with a star cut from plywood and painted by my grandfather.

Our holiday feast consisted of country ham, cornbread dressing, deviled eggs, baked sweet potatoes in their jackets, home canned green beans cooked with ham hock, turnip greens, canned Silver Queen corn, biscuits, red-eye gravy, and a plain yellow cake with my grandmother's caramel frosting. All the butter, eggs and milk came from our cows and chickens.

In these days of trendy, farm-to-table restaurants selling fried chicken for twenty dollars a plate, it is worth remembering that once all food was farm-to-table, and that time was not so long ago. No matter which holiday you celebrate at this time of year, recall for a moment how things used to be, and be humbled by the idea that our ancestors once depended upon their own hands for survival itself.

Native American Nuts

Amid the lush abundance of America's eastern forests are several species of nut trees that once formed an important part of the diet of both humans and wildlife. It may take some searching to find a commercial source for native nuts in your area, but if you can locate them, these "antique" foods will bring traditional flavor to your holiday table.

As a child, I would often help gather hickory nuts and black walnuts in late fall. Trekking to the woods was only part of the task, and arguably the most enjoyable. Once the nuts were gathered, separating them from their shells required a lot of labor. Black walnuts, in particular, have durable shells. Here is a list of North American nuts, with some suggestions as to what to do with them.

Black Walnut (Jugulans nigra) nuts are perhaps the most widely available native nut variety. They are sold in plastic bags, typically appearing in the produce departments of grocery stores in November. Black walnuts have a distinctive flavor wholly unlike the familiar English walnut. One of the best uses is to combine them with chocolate in fudge. Try them in savory dishes, as well. In Appalachian Cooking, you will find a recipe for black walnut pesto, for example.

Native Pecan (Carya illinoisensis) have been commercially available for a few years now. Look for them in the bulk section of well-stocked stores. Smaller than the hybrid pecans found everywhere, the natives taste much like hickory nuts to me, and are not as sweet as the hybrids. Use them in any recipe calling for pecans or hickory nuts.

Hickory Nut (Carya ovata, and others) Widely considered the most delicious of the several species of hickory nuts, the shagbark hickory is also a magnificent tree. The largest known specimen is in Savage Gulf Natural Area, in Tennessee. It is over 150 feet tall. Shagbark nuts are seldom seen in the grocery, but I had no trouble finding sources for them online. You can use hickory nuts in any recipe that calls for walnuts or pecans.

Oddballs (Various species) Beechnuts and chinquapins can sometimes be found in farmer's markets. Beechnuts have a unique flavor, while chinquapins taste a lot like chestnuts, to which they are related.

If you are game to try native American nuts and other foods, check out Wild Pantry, located in Tellico Plains, TN. They ship nuts and many other products listed on their web site.

Food Gifts for the Holidays

'Tis the season once again. During the holidays, my thoughts typically turn to things I can make in the kitchen to share with friends and family. Here are some ideas that go beyond the usual cookies and other baked goods. Make no mistake, we love cookies and other sweets. These suggestions are intended to broaden the scope of your food-themed gift giving.

Jams, Jellies, Conserves and Preserves
Almost as popular as baked goods, canned fruit spreads and preserves make wonderful gifts. Missed the chance for perfect berries at the farmer's market last summer? No worries. Make pomegranate jelly with bottled juice, sugar and powdered fruit pectin. Use in-season citrus fruit to prepare citrus curd, then process it in small jars for giving. You can find recipes for many such items with a quick Google search.

Pickles
Another category of preserved foods that we don't often consider, pickles can be made from just about any vegetable that will not become mushy due to the heat of processing. If you did not make pickles last summer, consider using vegetables that are in season now, such as winter squash, carrots, and beets. If you can a batch in the next week or two, they will be ready to eat by New Year's Eve.

Dry Products
One of my favorite gifts to give when I was just learning to cook was a bean soup mix. Go to the nearest store with a bulk section and purchase small amounts of 2 or 3 legumes and one grain, such as barley or wild rice. Also buy some dehydrated onions and garlic, bay leaves, and sun-dried tomatoes. You can get creative with additional flavorings. Dried thyme, oregano, marjoram or basil, along with dehydrated vegetables such as carrots, can also be included. Use your imagination. Purchase decorative jars for your gifts, or use canning jars from the grocery store. Combine these ingredients in whatever amounts suit you, and then fill small jars with the mixture. Tip: Don't overdo it on the grain, or the soup may become too thick. A tablespoon of dry wild rice is plenty for a half pint of soup mix. Because the components are dehydrated, a half-pint of the soup mix will make 4 to 6 servings. Be sure to include the instructions: Soak the mixture in the refrigerator overnight in enough water to cover by one inch. The next day bring slowly to a boil, adjust the heat and simmer about an hour and a half, or until the largest beans are tender. Serve with crusty bread for a warming supper.

If you grow and dry your own herbs, make teas or seasoning mixes for gifting. Herbal product recipes abound.

Tinctures
Make homemade vanilla extract with purchased vanilla beans, vodka, and decorative bottles. You can find recipes for this and other tinctures online. Kick up the flavor with Tennessee whiskey or another liquor instead of vodka. Whatever you select, be sure it is 90 proof or above, for maximum preservative effect.

And one more idea...
Visit your favorite food purveyors. Look for products you'd love to try, but haven't yet. Buy two of everything. Make a gift basket for a special friend with one of each of the products. Keep the other as a holiday gift to yourself.

Mushroom Season

The cool, damp weather of autumn typically brings on the appearance of numerous varieties of wild mushrooms in the southern Appalachians. One tree on the University of Tennessee campus, for example, provides a flush of oyster mushrooms in time for Christmas dinner, almost like clockwork. In the rich forests that cloak our mountains, numerous other wild varieties appear, including the apricot-scented chanterelles, and fat, shiny porcini, along with several lesser-know ones. One should never harvest or consume wild mushrooms without being absolutely certain of their identity. If you forage, do so in the company of an experienced forager. Or purchase foraged mushrooms at your farmer's market.

Grocers tend to stock more exotic mushrooms this time of year, not only because many wild species are in season, but also because consumers are more willing to splurge on food purchases during the holidays. Chanterelles, for example, can command $40 per pound, or more. Fortunately, you only need a small amount, 2 or 3 ounces, to create a stunning dish. Chanterelles go beautifully with seafood and cream. Porcini, "little pigs" in Italian, are marvelous in stews and rich, dark gravies.

If you want to lessen the strain on the budget, opt for cultivated mushrooms. If you search around a bit, you may be surprised at how many you can find. Besides white button, crimini and Portobello, all of which are actually the same species of fungus, you are likely to encounter oyster, shiitake, king oyster, beech, enoki, maitaki, and several others. The color of the mushroom can be a guide to using it in the kitchen. Brown mushrooms, such as crimini and shiitake, work well in rich dishes with red meats, while white ones, such as buttons, enoki and common oysters, go better with chicken, seafood and vegetable dishes.

Absent the availability of fresh mushrooms, go with dried ones. Many varieties are available, and they are all handled in the same way. Place the dried mushrooms in a heatproof bowl and cover them with an inch or so of boiling-hot water. Allow to stand at room temperature until the water cools to warm, then remove the mushrooms, squeezing any excess liquid back into the bowl, and cut off any tough, woody portions. Discard these, but keep the soaking water, after straining it through a fine sieve to remove any grit. Proceed with your recipe as if using fresh mushrooms, and use the soaking water in the sauce, as if it were stock.

Basic Mushroom Soup
Nothing in this recipe is set in stone. Feel free to make changes, based on the ingredients available to you. If using dried mushrooms, measure after soaking and chopping.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onions (scallions, leeks, shallots, etc.)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped mushrooms, any variety or a mixture
3 cups vegetable or meat stock, including soaking water, if using
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh parsley (or other herb), for garnish

Heat the vegetable oil in a soup pot and add the onions, celery and mushrooms. Cover, lower the heat and sweat the vegetables until the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the liquid(s) and thyme sprigs, adjusting the heat to maintain a slow simmer. Cook the soup for 30 minutes, then add the milk or cream. Do not allow the soup to boil, but keep it hot. Taste and correct the seasoning. Serve, garnished with a few sprinkles of parsley.

East Tennessee Beer

There was a time, easily within living memory, when you could not buy beer in many parts of East Tennessee. Now, however, you can brew it in a lot of places, so many, in fact, that there is even a book on the subject. You can find it easily online.

I live near Knoxville, more or less in the center of the East Tennessee region, and the largest city. We have so many brewers and brewpubs, it is becoming difficult to keep up. Among my personal favorites are Crafty Bastard Brewery, located in Emory Place, just north of downtown off Central Avenue. Alliance Brewing, located south of the river on Sevier Avenue, is another great brewer with a pub on premises. I also like Fanatic Brewing's Tennessee Blonde, and Local Motion IPA by Blackhorse, who donates a portion of sales to the Legacy Parks Foundation. I could go on, there is Hexagon, Saw Works, Schulz Brau, and probably two or three new ones by now that I have not yet heard about.

Expanding our horizons outside the region, we find the Washington County is producing some mighty good beer. Yee Haw Brewing, in Johnson City, is available throughout much of the area, and they make a truly fine range of brews. From Jonesborough, Tennessee's oldest town, comes Depot Street Brewing, with, among several others, Loose Caboose Lager and an IPA that is among the best examples of the style that I have had the pleasure to try. These are a little harder to find in Knoxville than Yee Haw, but the specialty beer stores have them.

These are but a few examples. Many more craft brewers can be found throughout East Tennessee. Besides enjoying their products by the bottle, why not include them in your holiday party snacks, too? Here is a recipe for a beer cheese ball. It is based on one published years ago in the Knoxville News-Sentinel. You won't need a whole bottle of beer for this recipe, but we assume you can find another use for the remainder. You can make the cheese ball extra special with regional cheeses, too, such as Sweetwater Valley Cheddar. Any cheese that grates well can be used.

Please note that I receive no compensation for my food and beverage recommendations, which are based solely on my personal shopping and dining.

Beer Cheese Ball

This is based on a recipe originally submitted to the Knoxville News-Sentinel, by Becky Swann, Jefferson City, TN. While you can use any beer you like, a rich, not-too-bitter ale works very well. The cheese ball will keep in the refrigerator for one week. Save time at the holidays, and make it ahead. Wrap in plastic wrap as directed. Chill. Then wrap in two layers of aluminum foil and freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator the day before your party, and bring to room temperature about an hour before guests arrive. For an interesting and attractive variation, use a mixture of chopped nuts and chopped fresh parsley to decorate the cheese ball.

Makes one cheese ball

1 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts

10 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, or regional cheese of your choice

16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Local craft beer of your choice
Chopped nuts of your choice, about 3/4 cup

Finely chop the green onions. Shred the Cheddar cheese and combine in a large bowl with the onions. Add cream cheese, garlic, and Worcestershire. Using an electric mixer, combine the ingredients with enough beer to just moisten. Add the beer by tablespoons until you have a moldable consistency. Shape into a ball, then roll in the chopped nuts to completely coat. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator.

American Persimmon Frozen Yogurt

Our native persimmons are a treat most people have never experienced. Persimmons are available only for a short period in late autumn, and are highly perishable. As a result, you have to live near a persimmon tree in order to enjoy them.

Or know someone who does. I am lucky enough to know someone with connections to some of the finest, sweetest persimmons I have tasted. My friend's gift of a quart of them inspired me to devise this simple way to preserve their unique flavor for up to three months in the freezer.

Persimmon Frozen Yogurt

                This recipe makes 1 ½ cups of frozen yogurt. The recipe can be easily multiplied if you have many persimmons. For best results, when making a larger quantity, use an ice cream freezer to freeze the yogurt, rather than still-freezing as directed in the recipe. The key to still-frozen desserts is getting them to freeze as quickly as possible. Make sure all ingredients are thoroughly chilled before placing in the freezer. Choose a plastic storage container with a tight fitting lid. A shallow, rectangular container works best. If possible, choose one that will hold the yogurt mixture to a depth of ½ inch, with another ½ inch of headspace to allow for expansion. Freeze the yogurt uncovered, but cover the container after 12 hours to avoid drying out the frozen yogurt.

1 pound ripe persimmons, washed and stemmed

¼ teaspoon black peppercorns

¼ cup water

3 tablespoons sugar

¼ cup Greek-style yogurt, chilled

                 Process the persimmons in a food processor, then transfer to a sieve and press out the pulp with the back of a spoon. You should have ½ to ¾ cup of puree. Discard the skins and seeds. Place the puree in the refrigerator to chill while you continue with the recipe.

                Toast the peppercorns in a heavy skillet over high heat until they are fragrant and begin to smoke. Carefully transfer to a mortar and crack the peppercorns with the pestle. Place the peppercorns, water and sugar in a small saucepan. Set the pan over high heat, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid is reduced to ¼ cup, about 4 minutes.

                Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature. Strain the cooled syrup through a fine sieve into a bowl and chill it.

                When the syrup is cold, combine it with the persimmon puree and the yogurt. Transfer the mixture to a suitable container and freeze overnight in the freezer.

The frozen yogurt is delicious with poached or baked pears, which are also in season now.

Vegan Stuffed Peppers

by John Tullock, September 25, 2017

Perfectly ripe red bell peppers appear in the markets in September. I devised the following recipe to showcase them, replacing the typical ground meat stuffing with one featuring quinoa, nuts and squash.

This dish is not only vegan, it includes mostly ingredients that are indigenous to North America. The recipe is easily multiplied. Toast the seeds by tossing them in a dry skillet over high heat until one or two seeds pop and many seeds are browned. If you wish, drizzle hot seeds with a little oil and some salt or a spice. Then let them cool to room temperature before using in this recipe. I like to toast half a cup of seeds and then save the extra for a snack. You can also gussie up the sauce by adding parsley, basil or fresh thyme.

Vegan Stuffed Peppers

(2 servings)

1 ripe bell pepper

1 cup quinoa, measured after cooking

2 tablespoons toasted pepitas

2 tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds

1 baby zucchini or yellow squash, chopped

3 ramp bulbs, chopped (or 1/4 cup chopped onion)

4 oil-packed sun-dried tomato halves, chopped

2 teaspoons oil from sun-dried tomatoes

2 medium tomatoes, peeled and seeded

2 teaspoons champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar

1 ramp bulb, chopped

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

 Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Split the pepper in half lengthwise, taking care to cut so that each half retains half the stem. Carefully remove seeds and membranes and discard. Drop the pepper halves into boiling water, blanch for one minute, then drain them in a colander and refresh under cold running water. Set aside to drain on a kitchen towel.

Combine the quinoa, pepitas, sunflower seeds, squash, ramps, sun-dried tomatoes, and oil in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Stuff the pepper halves with the quinoa mixture, mounding it up. Set them in a baking dish, pour ¼ inch of water into the bottom of the dish, cover, and place in the oven. Bake 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and keep warm.

In a blender or food processor, chop the peeled fresh tomatoes to a sauce consistency. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Serve a pepper half on a pool of the sauce.

Back With Our New Look

Hello, everyone! I am back to blogging with a whole new look and theme for the site. Welcome to "East Tennessee Food," where we will explore the history and culture that has shaped my home region's foodways. I am also pleased to announce that my newest book, Appalachian Cooking: New and Traditional Recipes is scheduled for release in 2018 from Countryman Press. In it, I will share some of the best recipes in the style of cooking that has developed in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina.

A good place to begin exploring the food of the Southern Appalachians is to examine the history of the region, which has shaped human culture ever since the first people arrived here in prehistoric times.

The people of the southern Appalachians have a proud and often poorly understood history, shaped in many ways by the natural topography of the region. People have lived here approximately 30,000 years, for much of that time sustaining themselves as hunter-gatherers. For the most part, from the mountains westward to the Mississippi River, and eastward to the edges of the Carolina piedmont, the region was covered in deciduous forest sheltering a level of biodiversity scarcely duplicated anywhere in the temperate zone. This rich panoply of plants and animals was exploited by the indigenous people in a variety of ways. Eventually, agriculture arrived, and the people grew the corn, beans and squash of Mesoamerica.

When Europeans arrived in the region in the 16th Century, they brought with them their foodways, new varieties of vegetables, and new kinds of domesticated animals, that were soon integrated with the native abundance to produce a new, neither entirely indigenous nor entirely European, but wholly American, cuisine. In his seminal work, Southern Food, the late John Egerton avers that the cuisine of the region began to be "southern" when the Spanish pig encountered the indigenous corn. Indeed, these two commodities have been important in the agricultural economy of both East Tennessee and Western North Carolina for more than two centuries.

The mountains, largely inaccessible until relatively modern times, and the fertile valleys along the rivers, their acres of farmland interspersed with remnant woods and lazy creeks, represent the two major contributions to the current regional cuisine of the Appalachian South. Mountain cooks relied upon recipes handed down by word of mouth, made do with whatever was seasonal or on hand, and practiced kitchen economy to a fault.The mountainous topography and harsh winters limited somewhat the variety of cultivated foods, while at the same time providing game, fruits, nuts, and greens in glorious abundance.

In the valleys, it is possible to grow a greater variety of food. Broad, flat expanses of land permitted grain and forage crop production that in turn fed herds of livestock. River bottoms were replenished every few years by floods when rainfall was unusually abundant, the rich topsoil permitting production of virtually any vegetable crop suited to the temperate zone. At one time, the triangle enclosed by the confluence of the Holston and French Broad Rivers, where the come together neat Knoxville to form the Tennessee River, was known as "The Asparagus Patch," because its farms produced such a variety and abundance of vegetables.