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Featured Recipes:
Mary Cannon's Hot Water Corn Cakes
Mary Cannon was Minnie Pearl’s longtime housekeeper. She liked to make this as a side dish for wilted lettuce salad (below).
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups white cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups boiling water
6 tablespoons bacon drippings or vegetable oil
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Place three tablespoons of bacon drippings or oil in a large iron skillet and place in the oven to heat (you can also heat it on the stovetop at medium heat).
Stir the cornmeal, salt, baking soda and baking powder together. While stirring with a fork, slowly add the boiling water into the dry ingredients. Stir in the remaining drippings and blend until everything is well moistened. When cool enough to handle, form large egg-shaped cakes in your hands and place in the hot skillet. Bake 20 minutes (or fry on stovetop) until golden brown (if frying, turn once). Serve hot with butter. Makes 10 cakes.
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Wilted Lettuce Salad
This is an Appalachian specialty. You may want to substitute dandelion greens or spinach, arugula, or a combination of greens.
Ingredients:
- 4 pieces of bacon, fried crisp, drippings
reserved
- 1 large head leaf lettuce, torn into
medium-size pieces
- 4 scallions, chopped, white and green
parts separated
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- pinch each of salt and fresh ground black
pepper
- 2 large hard-cooked eggs, peeled and
chopped, optional
Directions:
Cook bacon and reserve the drippings. Combine the lettuce and green tops of the scallions in a salad bowl.
Heat two tablespoons of bacon drippings, olive oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper in a medium pan over medium-high flame. Stir to dissolve sugar and bring to simmer. Add white parts of scallions and stir-fry about 30 seconds.
Pour a little of the hot dressing over the greens and toss to coat the greens (only enough to lightly coat). Add more salt and pepper, if desired. Crumble bacon and top with eggs, if desired. Serves 4 to 6.
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Oatmeal Pan Cake with Broiled Pecan-Coconut Topping
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups boiling water
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter,
softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Topping:
-
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons whole milk or
half-and-half
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup flaked coconut
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Butter a 9”x13”x2” pan. Combine the boiling water and oats in a small bowl; set aside to cool.
Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Combine the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer five minutes, until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in the oatmeal until thoroughly blended. With mixer on lowest speed, gradually add flour mixture. Transfer to buttered pan an bake 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
To make the topping: While the cake bakes, melt the butter in a saucepan, stirring in the remaining ingredients. When the cake is done, remove it from the oven an preheat the broiler. Arrange a rack about four inches from the broiler. Spread the topping over the cake and place the cake beneath the broiler. Broil one to two minutes, watching carefully as the topping turns golden brown. Cook the cake in a pan on a wire rack. Cut into squares.
Makes one 9”x13”x2” cake.
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Sister Nell's Prune Spice Cake
This cake is good with brown sugar frosting or simply drizzled with a glaze or dusted with confectioner’s sugar.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups pitted prunes, quartered
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsps. ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp. ground cardamon or allspice
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 and a quarter cups sugar
- 2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest (rind)
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
Brown Sugar Frosting (optional):
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Butter and flour a 10” springform pan or a 10” Bundt pan and set aside.
Sift together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine the butter, sugar, zest and vanilla in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed five minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating and scraping well after each addition. On the lowest speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour. Don’t overmix.
Fold the prunes in by hand. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and spread batter to edges. Bake 50-55 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Run the tip of a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it.
Makes one 10” cake.
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