Suddenly It's Spring

Although we are in for a spate of cold weather, maybe two, before we are done, heavy rains during the month of February, followed by a warm spell, has brought many of the spring bulbs into bloom, along with some ephemeral natives, such as toothwort. The quickening buds and warming temperatures have me thinking of my favorite spring tonic, kilt lettuce.

My friend, Amy Campbell, recently demonstrated how to make kilt lettuce in an appearance on Live at Five at Four, on WBIR-TV, Knoxville. This time-honored dish could not be simpler to make.

Fill a big, heatproof bowl with fresh lettuce leaves and several scallions cut into bite-size pieces. In a skillet, fry some bacon, one strip for every serving of salad. When the bacon is crisp, remove it with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels. For two servings, pour off all but 2 tablespoons of drippings. Return the skillet to the heat and add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. As soon as it comes to a boil, pour over the lettuce. Toss and stir the lettuce until most of it is wilted. Grind some black pepper over the salad, garnish with crumbled bacon, and serve at once.

I came up with a vegetarian version that contains less fat and calories. You can find that recipe in Appalachian Cooking.

Dreaming of Summer

Winters here in the Tennessee Valley are often mild. Snow in the forecast sends people rushing to the grocery store for provisions, even if the prediction is for only a dusting. Valley residents learn quickly that predicting our weather is an art, not a science.

Mild though they may be, our winters are typically overcast and rainy. A few warm, sunny days always punctuate the gloom, and serve to make our longing for spring even more acute.

Thinking ahead to the summer, hamburgers and hot dogs come to mind, and both of those need mustard. If you have never tried making homemade beer mustard, you are really missing out. It is both better and cheaper than anything in the market. All you need is a kitchen scale and a blender, and you can wing it without the scale. Here are the basics. You can find the detailed recipe in Appalachian Cooking.

I like to use equal parts, about one ounce each, of brown and yellow mustard seeds. Feel free to alter that ratio or to use all of one or the other. If you don't have a scale, an ounce of mustard seeds is a bit more than two tablespoons. Exact amounts are not critical, unless you are trying to maintain a consistent flavor.

Put the seeds in a pint jar and pour over them a little more than a cup of beer. The choice of beer will make a big difference in the final product. Choose a craft IPA, rather than an American-style lager. I have had good results with several regional beers, including Sweetwater (Atlanta), Highland (Asheville), Yee Haw (Johnson City) and Depot Street (Jonesborough). I aim to make a batch soon with Hop Candy IPA from Crafty Bastard Brewery (Knoxville).

Allow the jar to sit at room temperature for 24 hours. The seeds will absorb the beer and swell. Add salt, sugar, vinegar, onion powder and dry mustard according to the recipe. Stir the mixture well and place it in the refrigerator, tightly covered. Leave it to age for a month or more.

After aging the mustard, transfer the contents of the jar to a blender. Wash the jar with hot, soapy water and set aside for the finished mustard. Blend the mustard until it is of the consistency you prefer. It can take several minutes. Be patient. I like mine on the grainy side, so I blend for about 4 minutes. The longer you blend, the smoother the finished mustard will be. After blending, return the mustard to the jar and replace it in the refrigerator. It will only get better with additional age.

You can use this same method to prepare your own Dijon mustard, using wine and wine vinegar instead of the beer mustard ingredients. Mustard is an ancient condiment, so the possible variations are endless.

Start now, and your well-aged homemade mustard will be ready to slather on grilled goodies by the Spring Equinox.

The Starving Moon

Welcome to February, known to the Cherokee as the "Starving Moon." It was a time when stored food was running low, but the spring greens and awakening wildlife had yet to appear. No doubt, it was a time when the most vulnerable often died.

We are fortunate to have any and all foods available to us year round, from fresh asparagus in January to strawberries for Christmas. This is a recent phenomenon. Supermarkets did not begin to appear everywhere until after World War II. I can recall my mother, who was born in 1926, saying that celery and oranges were special treats available only during the Christmas season.

Thus, we need only go back in time a few decades to know that pickled, dried, and otherwise preserved foods were essential to our ancestor's survival in the Appalachian region. Most famously, our hams and bacon form the flavor base for iconic Appalachian foods. Beans or greens made without cured pork have only recently come into vogue, and are definitely non-traditional.

Our ancestors made pickles out of everything from watermelon rinds to pig's feet, demonstrating that the "zero waste" food movement is, in fact, old hat around here. To this day, I stock the pantry every summer with pickles, the choice depending upon what is seasonally or locally abundant. Using them throughout the cold months brings a touch of warm weather to the table. Did you know that pickled okra can substitute for fresh in a gumbo or fry? It will have lost its thickening ability, but the characteristic flavor remains. You can make pickles out of virtually any vegetable or fruit.

Dried foods were also important to our ancestors. Apple stack cake would not be the same without dried apples for the filling. Green beans, or "leather britches," were typically strung on thread and hung on the side of a building to dry in the sun. Dried herbs not only provided flavor enhancement in the kitchen, but also were the basis of numerous home remedies.

Home canning and freezing are enjoying a resurgence. These are among the best preservation methods for a wide range of foods, provided the methods are properly carried out. Nevertheless, if you want the true experience of traditional flavors, plan on pickling or drying some of your produce during the coming season.

Next Starving Moon, you will be glad you did.