The Recipes

A Note About Recipes --from Chef Marion
Recipes with exact measurements and specific portions are fine for mass-produced commodity ingredients, but don’t really work for farm-to-field-to-forest-to-fishery-to-fork cookery. There’s a reason pre-WW2 cookbooks use terms like ‘smidgeon, pinch, handful, and scoop’ as guidelines, whereas post-1950s cookbooks use exact measurements, along with terms like ‘one box, two cans, a package of’ as instructions. Factory-produced food is designed to be exactly the same, always, so an egg is the same size, shape, weight, color, and flavor every time, year-round in every store in America. Conversely, the eggs from our chickens are never the same size or flavor. Ever. They change every day. As they should. These recipes are much the same. They are meant to change, and are open to your interpretation. Don’t expect too much in the way of heavy-handed direction, or dictatorial rules. People made bread for thousands of years before you were born, under conditions we cant even imagine, and they survived just fine, so don’t worry about your bread not being ‘perfect’. Every cook is different, just like every oven is different, and every day in every house is different; different temperature, different humidity, different amount of attention you are able to give as life spins around you. Have fun with these, and create your own version of our food. That’s what we’ve always done here in Appalachia. 

Goin' Sugarin

Maple Glazed Lamb

If you can’t find maple mustard, you can mix maple and your favorite mustard together 50/50.

Ingredients:
Lamb chops
Maple mustard
Salt
Black Pepper

Coat chops with mixture and let rest an hour. Salt and pepper to taste, then fire-grill to your preference. I prefer mid-rare; rare can be a bit chewy and over medium will get tough.  

Maple Vinaigrette

Paw Paw Palooza

Attack of the Killer 'Maters

Appalachian Bison Roast

Salt of the Earth

Apple of My Eye

Seared Duck Breast with Apples & Onions

Ingredients:
Duck Breasts
Apples, cored and sliced
Onions, julienned

Score duck skin, then lightly oil and salt & pepper breasts. Heat a cast iron skillet to medium hot and lay breasts skin side down in skillet. Sear for two minutes, then transfer skillet to oven at 325 degrees for eight to ten minutes. Remove breasts and set aside. Return skillet to heat on medium. Sear onions in the duck fat and stir until lightly caramelized. Add apples and stir until apples soften. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slice duck breasts across grain and top with apples and onions.  

Baked Apples

Paw Paw Palooza

Attack of the Killer 'Maters

Appalachian Bison Roast

Salt of the Earth

Pawpaw-palooza

Pawpaw Mojo

Mojo is native to the Caribbean, and is made of equal parts fruit juice or pulp, oil, and vinegar. Our Appalachian take on it uses pawpaws, homemade vinegar, and ubiquitous bacon grease that is so beloved here. Use only half as much bacon grease as the other two ingredients, it’s a heavier emulsifier than standard olive oil.

Ingredients:
Pawpaw pulp
Rendered bacon grease
Apple Cider vinegar
Salt
White pepper

In a blender, add equal amounts pawpaw and vinegar, and blend on high. Add fat pinches of salt and fine ground white pepper, then set blender on medium and drizzle in melted bacon grease. Refrigerate and use liberally when needed. Keeps a mighty long time. 

Pawpaw Pie

Pawpaw Bread Pudding

Attack of the Killer 'Maters

Appalachian Bison Roast

Salt of the Earth

Attack of the Killer 'Maters

Tomato Pie

Ingredients:
Fresh, very ripe tomatoes
Unsalted butter
Whole cream, about a cup per pie
Fresh eggs
Herbs of your choice ( I like marjoram for this dish)

Lightly toast the pie crust at 325 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Set aside. Melt a small chunk of butter in a heavy pot. Whisk two eggs into each cup of cream, then add to pot and warm on low heat, whisking constantly. Turn off heat and whisk in chopped herbs, salt, and plenty of black pepper. Thick slice tomatoes and layer in crust to ¾ full. Pour batter over tomatoes until well covered, then shake pie gently to distribute batter and coat all tomatoes. Layer another round of tomatoes on top and press into batter. Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. If crust isn’t brown and crispy at this point, increase heat to 350 until browned. Let set for at least an hour. Serve warm, or refrigerate for up to 5 days.  

Pie Crust Tips

Paw Paw Palooza

Attack of the Killer 'Maters

Appalachian Bison Roast

Salt of the Earth

Appalachian Bison Roast

Cornbread

This recipe has actual measurements because baking is science. Cooking is more like woodcarving or sculpture, a free-form process of creation, but baking requires procedure and proper proportions. That said, you will still need to vary things a bit to get good results. We use Bloody Butcher cornmeal when its available, but its sudden popularity is making it hard to get. Blue corn also makes for beautiful cornbread. And so it’s on record, using sugar in cornbread is blasphemy. This ain’t dessert.

Ingredients:
3 cups medium-ground cornmeal
½ cup corn flour
Tsp salt
Tsp baking powder
Tsp baking soda
Melted butter or bacon grease
4 eggs
2 cups milk or buttermilk

Mix all dry ingredients together and make a well in the center. Mix eggs and milk together and pour into well, then work the batter gently until mixed. Overworking will make the cornbread tough. Heat a baking pan or cast iron skillet in a 400 degree oven. Pour butter or bacon grease in pan, swirl it up the sides, then pour batter in pan. Bake until done, about 20 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick.  

Sour Corn

Walnut Cake

Attack of the Killer 'Maters

Appalachian Bison Roast

Salt of the Earth

Salt of the Earth

Bacon

Ingredients:
A slab of pork belly
5 lb Salt (NOT iodized)
Dark Brown Sugar
Ground Cedar Berries (Juniper Berries will work)
Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Wash pork belly in a 5% white vinegar solution and dry thoroughly. Starting with the inner side of the belly, rub vigorously with brown sugar, cedar berries, and black pepper (adjust amounts to your taste), then turn over and rub the smooth side. Lay slab inner side down in a nonreactive pan on a heavy layer of salt, then rub smooth side with salt. Store in a cool dry place for two weeks. Remove from salt and brush off excess. Place on a nonreactive rack and continue aging in a cool dry place for two more weeks, or longer if desired. Wash with 5% white vinegar solution, and hot smoke with your own choice of wood smoke (I use a combination of hickory, apple, and cherry for most traditional Appalachian pork cures.) Cool and refrigerate. Slice ¼ inch thick and fry in a cast iron skillet.   

Cured Trout

Pickled Fruit

Attack of the Killer 'Maters

Appalachian Bison Roast

Salt of the Earth