Chef Jeff Carter, The 2nd Appalachian Homecoming, Pesto Festo, Slow Food TN Valley.

S11:E31.7/27/2024

The 2nd Annual Appalachian Homecoming celebrates Modern Appalachian Cuisine, Music, and Art. August 1-4. My guest, Chef Jeff Carter, Executive Chef with Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro talks about the 2nd Annual Appalachian Homecoming. Including:

• Jim Lauderdale and the Po Ramblin’ Boys and Dinner on August 1st at Dancing Bear, Townsend.
• Bacon at the Brewery Dinner with Darrell and Allan Benton of Bentons Smoky Mountain Cured Hams, Chef Jeff Carter of Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro, Chef Trevor Stockton of RT Lodge, Chef David Rule of The Appalachian at the Peaceful Side Brewery, Maryville August 2nd.
• Appalachian Homecoming August 3rd at Dancing Bear beginning at 9:00 am with Panelists, Chefs, and an Appalachian Lunch followed by immersive workshops in foraging, art, mountain craft, and music.
• Bluegrass Brunch, August 4th.
• Ending with the 15th Annual Pesto Festo benefitting Slow Food TN Valley Sunday evening at Dancing Bear. All events are ticketed https://dancingbearlodge.com/event/appalachian-homecoming-2024/ for more information.

Links:

2nd Annual Appalachian Homecoming - https://dancingbearlodge.com/event/appalachian-homecoming-2024/

15th annual Pesto Festo Benefitting Slow Food Tennessee Valley - https://dancingbearlodge.com/event/appalachian-homecoming-2024-sunday/

Emi Sunshine ( Sang our theme song when she was 9-years-old) - https://www.theemisunshine.com/

Chef Jeff Carter, Executive Chef, Oldham Hospitality including Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro

Cooking Over an Open Fire with Chefs David Olson and Joseph Lenn

S11:E27. 07/06/2024

Cooking Over an Open Fire with Chefs David Olson and Joseph Lenn

Live Fire Cooking with Chef David Olson, Live Fire Republic, and James Beard award-winning chef Joseph Lenn, owner of J.C. Holdway. Keep that kitchen cool; cook it outside!. How to cook juicy chicken and trout over live fire with Chef David Olsen of Live Fire Republic and Chef Joseph Lenn, owner of J.C. Holdway, Knoxville, TN. Also, news about the Appalachian Homecoming event at Dancing Bear Lodge, Townsend, TN. A grouping of chefs, farmers, and friends discussing and focusing on modern Appalachian cuisine. All on my latest radio broadcast and podcast.⁣

Live Fire Republic: https://livefirerepublic.com/

JC Holdway: https://www.jcholdway.com/

Emi Sunshine (sang our theme song when she was 9 years old!): https://theemisunshine.com/

Chef Joseph Lenn, Owner of J.C. Holdway: https://www.jcholdway.com/ with a prize catch. Photo: from Chef Lenn’s instagram page.

Chef David Olson creator of Live fire Republic: https://livefirerepublic.com/  and Amy Campbell. 2022.

The Townsend in the Smokies Fall Festival -Loving on people through food

S10:E37. 9/23/2023

The Townsend in the Smokies Fall Festival

Today, we are setting the table with loving people through food, loving on the honey bee, and news of an old-fashioned fall festival taking place Friday and Saturday, September 29, and 30th at the Townsend Visitor Center in Townsend, TN. This festival includes lots of Bluegrass music, old-fashioned southern food, vendors with honey, and a church group out of Morristown making and selling apple butter.

My guests are Jill Hepperley and her Mother Cheryl Free of Townsend, TN - Cheryl is an incredible Southern cook who opens her home every Sunday to the community for a good home-cooked meal. She and Jill reach people in dark places with biscuits and unconditional love. They will be serving up Beans and Hoe-Cakes (Pinto Beans and fried Cornbread) Fried Bologna, and Fried Apple Pies at the Townsend Fall Festival all for the greater good and I can’t wait for them to tell you about how they love on people through food.

We also visit with apiarists and owners of Smoky Ridge Apiaries, Judy and Coly O’Dell of Maryville TN. They are passionate about helping honey bees, and protecting honey bees, and freely give their time and expertise to help people set up hives and raise bees. They will also be set up at the Townsend Fall festival with their honey, Muddy Pond Sorghum, pollen, skincare, crafts, and more, and most importantly, a happy smile for everyone.

The Townsend in the Smokies Fall Festival takes place Sept. 29-30, 2023 from 10-11, both days. The festival provides an atmosphere where family and friends of all ages can partake in time-honored Appalachian traditions at a free community event. This event takes place in Townsend TN. at the Townsend Visitor’s Center. Crafts & Demonstrations: from 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Food: from 10 a.m.–6 p.m., and bluegrass Music: 11 a.m. With a play area for children, ax throwing, music pickers jamming, Fowler’s Country Ground Cornmeal, and a huge on list of vendors. Also the Bible Aires Baptist Church will be there making and selling Apple Butter, and Cheryl and Jill who you just heard from will be cooking Beans and Hoe-Cakes , Fried Bologna, and Fried Apple Pies. There is a shuttle service from multiple locations in Townsend on both days to alleviate parking congestion. More information: Smokymountains.org/townsend fall festival.

Links:

Townsend Fall Festival: https://www.smokymountains.org/townsendfallfestival/

RIO Townsend Links:

The Church where Amy recorded Cheryl Free and Jill Hepperly is Rio Townsend: https://riotownsend.com/

Rio Restore is the name of the particular fundraiser that the funds from the foods that they are cooking at the Fall Festival will be directly going to. They have a facebook page describing this particular mission: https://www.facebook.com/events/851391833018828/?ref=newsfeed

or by email: info@riorestore.org Or visit a local Rio Church in Blount Knox, Louden County

Smoky Ridge Apiaries: https://smokeyridgeapiaries.com/

Apple Butter, Bible Aires Baptist Church, Morristown TN: https://www.facebook.com/people/Bible-Aires-Baptist-Church/100064721914706/

Jay Tipton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0q8mXYAIk8

Blue Ribbon Country Fair: www.gsmheritagecenter.org

Emi Sunshine (sang our theme song at the age of 9!) https://theemisunshine.com/

Cheryl Free, her daughter Jill Hepperly and Daisy at Rio Townsned. They will be serving beans, hoe cakes, fried bologna, and friend apple pies at the Townsend in the Smokys Fall Festival September 29, and 30 as a fundraiser for their mission https://www.facebook.com/events/851391833018828/?ref=newsfeed . Photo: Amy Campbell.

Judy and Coley O’Dell, owners of Smoky Ridge Apiaries: https://smokeyridgeapiaries.com/ They will be selling honey, Muddy Pond Sorghum, and all of their related skin care and craft products at the Townsend in the Smokys Fall Festival. Photo: Amy Campbell.

The self-serve honey stand at Smoky Ridge Apiaries: https://smokeyridgeapiaries.com/

The Bible Aires Baptist Church from Morristown TN will be cooking and selling apple butter at the Townsend Fall Festival. https://www.facebook.com/people/Bible-Aires-Baptist-Church/100064721914706/

Jars of apple butter from Bible Aires Baptist Church, Morristown, TN. They will have this apple butter for sale at the Townsend Fall Festival. https://www.facebook.com/people/Bible-Aires-Baptist-Church/100064721914706/

Chef David Rule, Trotter’s Whole Hog BBQ, Sevierville, Tennessee

S9:E22. 06/11/2022 and 6/18/2022.

Today, we are setting the table with BBQ. Our guest is Chef David Rule, co-owner of the soon-to-be-open Trotter’s Whole Hog BBQ in historic downtown Sevierville, TN, right close to the Dolly Parton state near the courthouse. In addition, Fred Sauceman’s Pot Luck Radio Series features a special appetizer found at Ridgewood BBQ in Bluff City, TN.

Links:

Trotter’s Whole Hog BBQ: https://www.trottersbbq.com/

The Appalachian: https://theappalachianrestaurant.com/

Fred Sauceman: https://www.facebook.com/fred.sauceman

Ridgewood BBQ: http://www.ridgewoodbbq.com/

Emi Sunshine (sings our theme song): https://theemisunshine.com/

Cornbread and Cornbread Salad with Josh Lowans

S9:E19. 05/21/2022

Cornbread, Cornbread, Cornbread, and Cornbread Salad with Josh Lowans.

We are setting the table today with cornbread. I've assembled an all-star lineup of guests today to talk about this soul-satisfying staple.

• Karen Shankles has twice won first place at the annual National Cornbread Festival cook-off. Today, she shares her recipe for Festive Good Luck Corn Bread Skillet with us.
• James Beard Award-winning food writer Ronni Lundy lets us know how she makes her skillet cornbread that goes with a pot of soup beans. And she also shares with us what she calls her tao of cornbread.
• Food preservationist with deep family ties to the East TN mountains and mountain cooking Shannon Walker lets us know how he makes his cornbread and his thoughts on cast iron cookware and old ways.
• And “Mountain Man”, Josh Lowans of Salubrious Farms, Walland, Knoxville, describes a Cornbread salad recipe that his better half Meagan makes and is his family's go-to recipe.

Links:

Karen Shankles: She co-owns an accounting firm in Knoxville. Here is her Linkedin link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-shankles-45095054

Ronni Lundy: http://www.ronnilundy.com/

Adrian Miller: https://adrianemiller.com/about/meet-adrian/

Josh Lowans: On Instagram @joshlowans

Shannon Walker: On Instagram @newchilhoweevisions

National cornbread Festival: https://nationalcornbread.com/

Emi Sunshine (sings our theme song): https://theemisunshine.com/

Recipes:

Festive Good Luck Corn Bread Skillet. Karen Shankles shared this recipe that won the grand prize at the National Corn Bread Festival in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, in 2015. Link to Karen Shankle's prize-winning Festive Good Luck Cornbread Skillet recipe: https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/festive-good-luck-cornbread-skillet

Corn Bread Salad: This recipe is one that Josh Lowans shared with Amy. His wife Meagan makes this dish often for their family, and the recipe comes from her.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pan day-old cornbread (Josh recommends using Benton's bacon lard rendered from an entire pound of Benton's bacon. Megan prefers to use Three Rivers Cornmeal)
• 2 - 3 really ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1 can of pinto beans drained, not rinsed
• Fresh corn cut off of the cob
• Shredded cheese of your choice
• Ranch dip (make your own with herbs of your choice, sour cream, and mayonnaise)

To assemble, layer in this order:

• Crumble cornbread and place in the bottom of the serving container
• Layer pinto beans on top of the cornbread
• Layer cut corn over the beans
• Layer the diced tomatoes over the corn
• Layer ranch dressing (homemade)
• Layer of bacon (use Benton's bacon if you can get it)
• Layer Cheese on the top

Tips:

• Chill for 2 hours before serving.
• Don't use pre-made ranch dressing; it is too runny. Instead, Josh Lowans recommends using ranch dip and making your own. He suggests making it thick so the cornbread won't become soggy.
• This salad looks pretty in a clear glass serving container.

Homemade Ranch Dressing - There are countless recipes for homemade ranch dressing. Ingredients are Mayonnaise, Buttermilk, Sour Cream, Black Pepper, Salt, Garlic, and Onion; options include parsley, chives, and dill.

Seed Saver John Coykendall on Cushaw Squash

Season 8, Episode 37. October 9, 2021.

Seed Saver John Coykendall on Cushaw Squash

In this episode my featured guest is Knoxville Native, seed saver, artist and farmer John Coykendall. John will let us know the origins, qualities,, and culinary uses of Cushaw squash. I (Amy Campbell) share a recipe from John's book for baked cushaw, courtesy of Mrs. Cornelia Weldon, mother of Sarah Weldon Hackenburg who took many of the photos for John Coykendall and Christina Melton’s book Preserving Our Roots: My Journey to Save Seed and Stories. Fred Sauceman, Food historian, Writer, and Professor of Appalachian Studies at ETSU shares a segment on the Native American origins of Cushaw squash.

Recipes below, please keep scrolling

Links: Link to find John Coykendall and Christina Melton’s book Preserving Our Roots: My Journey to Save Seed and Stories: https://www.abebooks.com/Preserving-Roots-Journey-Save-Seeds-Stories/31015307272/bd

Contact John Coykendall: If you would like to contact John Coykendall, please write an email to me, and I can provide you with his contact information. I just don’t want to put it on this website for security reasons. Please use this link: https://www.tennesseefarmtable.com/contact-us

Fred Sauceman: https://www.facebook.com/fred.sauceman

Emi Sunshine (Sings our theme song): http://theemisunshine.com/

Cushaw Recipes:

Baked Cushaw:

This recipe with you for baked cushaw, this recipe comes from John Coykendall and Christina Melton’s book and it is courtesy of Mrs. Cornelia Weldon who is the mother of Sarah Weldon Hackenburg who took many of the photos for John Coykendall and Christina Melton’s Book Preserving Our Roots: My Journey to Save Seed and Stories

Here are the tools you will need:

• A vegetable peeler.
• A 3 quart shallow baking dish.

Here are the ingredients that you will need:

• 1 Medium Cushaw
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• Peel your cushaw. Cut it into quarters and scoop out the seeds. Cute the flesh into pieces and boil until tender. If you do not want to peel the cushaw, follow John Coykendall’s direction of softening up the flesh for cooking. Cut the cushaw in half. Scoop out the seed. Place each side down on a baking pan in the oven. Fill the pan with as much water as you can. Bake at 200 until the squash collapses. Scoop out the softened flesh. Some people blend it in a blender to make it smooth, or you can mash it with a potato masher to keep it a little chunky.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mash cooked cushaw and mix with remaining ingredients. Place in a 3-quart shallow baking dish and bake one hour. Serve warm.

Recipe for Cushaw Custard shared from Fred Sauceman

Prepare the cushaw: Peel your cushaw. Cut it into quarters and scoop out the seeds. Cute the flesh into pieces and boil until tender.

If you do not want to peel the cushaw, follow John Coykendall’s direction of softening up the flesh for cooking. Cut the cushaw in half. Scoop out the seed. Place each side down on a baking pan in the oven. Fill the pan with as much water as you can. Bake at 200 until the squash collapses. Scoop out the softened flesh. Some people blend it in a blender to make it smooth, or you can mash it with a potato masher to keep it a little chunky.

• 1 cup and a half of cooked cushaw
• 2 eggs
• 2Tb flour
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c white sugar
• 1 c milk

Mix and place in unbaked pie shell

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean

John Coykendall photographed in the backyard of his home in October of 2021. Credit: Amy Campbell

Tennessee Apple Butter Making in Appalachia

Season 8, Episode 34. September 11, 2021.

Tennessee Apple Butter Making in Appalachia

Today, we are setting the table with a traditional food of Appalachia “Apple Butter”. Each year in the fall time of the Mountain South, you can find pockets of people who get together, and cook down bushels of apples, sugar and sometimes cinnamon into this biscuit slathering favorite. It is one of those old fashioned foods that is still a favorite on dinner tables near and far, and makes a favorite gift for the holidays. Almost as important as the final product is the sense of community and preservation of culinary traditions that these “Apple Butter makings” preserve.

Our featured guest is Derek Blankenship who is an Orthapedic Therapist at an East, Tennessee long term health and heath care facility in East Tennessee. Derrick and his family keep a family tradition of making apple butter each year at this time of the year in Fall Branch, TN. The recipe that they use dates back to 1905.

Fred Sauceman - Professor of Appalachian Studies, ETSU, Johnson City, Tennessee with a 
And also Amy shares a recipe for “Apple Butter Pork Roast” by way of “All Recipes”.

And I (Amy Campbell) also share a recipe for “Apple Butter Pork Roast”, and Fred Sauceman shares a segment of Apple Butter making in the Mountain South, and a recipe for sausage balls with apple butter.

Links:

Fred Sauceman: -https://www.facebook.com/fred.sauceman?fref=ts

Fall Branch Volunteer Fire Department: https://fallbranchvfd.org/

Apple Butter Pork Roast Recipe

Serves 6, Cook time: 3 hours, Prep time: 15 minutes

This recipe was found on the website: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/60492/apple-butter-pork-loin/

Ingredients:

• 2, 2 pound boneless pork loin roast (for a total of 4 pounds).
• Seasoning salt to taste
• 2 cups apple juice
• 1/2 cup apple butter
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 2 Tb water1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves


Step 1: Preheat oven to 350

Step 2: Season the pork loins with seasoning salt, and place them in a 9x13 inch baking dish or small roasting pan. Pour apple juice over the pork, and cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.

Step 3: Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven. While the pork is roasting, mix together the apple butter, brown sugar, water, cinnamon, and cloves. Remove pork roasts from the oven, and spread with apple butter mixture.

Step 4: Cover, and return to the oven for 2 hours, or until fork-tender.

Derrick Blankenship’s whole family is involved with the canning of the Apple Butter.

Derek Blankenship and daughter making apple butter.

Canning the Apple Butter is a family event.

John Coykendall, Seed Saver, and Cades Cove Memories

Season 8, Episode 32. 08/28/2021.

John Coykendall, Seed Saver, and Cades Cove Memories

Guests include: John Coykendall, Seed Saver Lois Shular Caughron and Ruth Caughron Davis Cades Cove Preservation Association Annual Homecoming Event

Setting the table with old-time, heirloom seed, and seed saving stories with seed saver John Coykendall, and memories of Cades Cove from Lois Shular Caughron and her daughter Ruth Caughron Davis. Lois and Ruth share memories of Kermit Caughron who was known as the bee man and was always giving people his “bean seed”. His home and garden sat near the Cades Cove loop until 1999. Visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park touring Cades Cove often met Kermit. Kermit often shared his honey, and bean seed from his garden with visitors to the park. Kermit’s widow Louis Shular Caughron is known as the last woman out of the cove. She was the last of resident of Cades Cove after the establishment of the park took the land and homes of the residents of Cades Cove.

And I, (Amy) also share news of an event taking place Saturday, August 28th, from 10:00 - 5:00 P.M. at the Cades Cove Preservation Association in Maryville, “The Annual Cades Cove Homecoming”.

Links:

• Cades Cove Homecoming event and Cades Cove Preservation Association: http://www.cadescovepreservation.com/
• John Coykendall book: https://lsupress.org/books/detail/preserving-our-roots/
• Seed Saver Exchange where John saves and shares his seed: https://www.seedsavers.org/

John Coykendall signs his book Preserving Our Roots: My Journey to Save Seeds and Stories. (Photo Amy Campbell)

Tennessee berries, cobblers, and memories of Cades Cove

Season 8, Episode 27. 07/17/2021 ⁣

⁣ Tennessee berries, cobblers, and memories of Cades Cove.⁣

⁣ On this episode of the Tennessee Farm Table, Amy sets the table with berries of the season, locations of regional pick-your-own farms, recipes for fruit desserts, blackberry jam, and a Blackberry slump grunt from Dee Dee Constantine. Amy’s guests are Farmers Susan and John Keller of Blount County, TN, Dee Dee Constantine, Ruth Davis, and Lois Shuler Caughron (known as the last woman out of the Cove)⁣ ⁣ Lois and Ruth share memories of Kermit Caughron, how he enjoyed making “dew” from fruits of the season when a resident of Cades Cove, and news about a book signing at the Cades Cove Preservation Association.⁣

In addition to the podcast, The Tennessee Farm table is broadcast weekly by radio on Saturdays 9-9:30 WDVX, Knoxville, and 2-2:30 WUTC, Chattanooga. These are listener-supported non-commercial radio stations committed to delivering regionally produced programming like The Tennessee Farm Table. The Tennessee Farm Table is solely created, funded, produced, and financed by Campbell Creative and is not owned or produced by WDVX or WUTC.⁣

For recipes, keep scrolling, they are on this page.

Links to guests:

Susan and John Keller, Farmers and Owners of Kelmont Farms: Available by phone (865) 982-4267

Dee Dee Constantine: https://twitter.com/skilletsister?lang=en

Cades Cove Preservation Association: http://www.cadescovepreservation.com/

Berry Farms that were mentioned in the show:

Beauchene Berry Farm - U-Pick 9020 Bluegrass Rd Knoxville TN 37922 (865) 693-4221 Open: Tues, Fri, Sat Check this facebook page for directions and updates: https://www.facebook.com/BlueberriesAndBlackberriesOnBluegrassRoad/

Honeys Blueberry Farm - U-Pick 4333 Kingston Hwy. Louden TN 37774 Phone: (720)-239-2472 Check this facebook page for directions and updated information: Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Farm/Honeys-Blueberry-Farm-214740178566045/

Blueberry Hill Farm, Noris, TN Is not open this year for u-pick, but, they might be found at the Norris TN farmers’ market from time to time. http://tnblueberries.com/

Santa’s Berry Farm 620 Towee Falls Rd (40.42 mi) Tellico Plains, TN, TN 37385 Phone: (423) 253-6742 https://www.facebook.com/grampysanta/

Tennessee Blackberries on the vine.

Recipes:

Susan Keller’s recipe for Miss Lily’s Blackberry Cobbler. This recipe comes from her Grandmother (Lilian Bays Hitch).

Ingredients:

1 c self rising flour

1 c sugar

1 c milk

1 stick butter (melt this in a 9x13 pan)

Directions:

1. Mix flour, sugar, and milk until smooth.
2. Pour this batter over the melted butter in the pan
3. Place on top of all this about a quart of blackberries. (Use fresh, frozen, prepared filling)
4. Bake at 350 degrees (about 30 minutes), until it is set. *Use any fruit you want

Recipe for Blackberry Grunt Slump provided by Dee Dee Constantine.

Ingredients:

4 c fresh berries, or frozen berries, defrosted, drained.

1 c All purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 T sugar

2 T butter

1/3 c whole milk

To make the dumplings:

1. Wisk flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a medium size bowl.
2. Cut the butter into small cubes. Add to the flower. Using your hands, or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles a corse meal.
3. Add milk, stir just until it is moist, form the mixture into a ball and set to the side.
4. Put berries in a 2 quart saucepan. Add 1/2 to 3/4 c sugar. Depending on how sweet the berries are and how sweet you want your desert.
5. Add 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp. lemon zest, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/3 c water.
6. Heat this mixture over medium high heat until it starts to boil. Stir a few times to be sure all berries are covered with sauce.
7. Take your dumpling dough and tear it off into spoon size chunks of dough (about 6) and drop these onto your berries.
8. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and let it simmer for about 25 minutes. Do not peek inside the pot while it is cooking because you will let the steam out.
9. Serve hot, cold, with toppings of your choice.

Recipe 3:

Blackberry Jam from Minnie Pearl Cooks

Ingredients:

9 cups blackberries

6 cups sugar

Directions:

Wash and drain berries. Combine berries and sugar

Slowly bring to a boil.

Cook until mixture almost reaches jelly point.

Spread in shallow pan.

Let stand until cool or overnight.

*If syrup is too thick, reheat and add boiling water, 1/4 cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached. If syrup is too thin, cook again until desired consistency is reached. Pour into hot, sterilized jars, and process for 20 minutes in a hot water bath. Or, follow directions for hot water bath using the Ball Blue Book. I use the Ball Blue book for all my canning directions. Makes 3 - 4 pints.

⁣ The entire TennesseeFarmTable.com Web site, and all contents on the site as well as all podcasts are copyright @2014-2021 by Campbell Creative. All rights reserved. ⁣